:: MIS Insights ::

Finishing my Requirements!

TIN - Check! I could hardly remember the route I took five years ago to get to BIR’s Novaliches branch but get one, I did. Thanks Yumi for the directions!

SSS - Check! Never knew I had one until the security guard at SSS pointed me to the upper left section of my E1 Form. Thanks Liz for dragging me to CTC 2 years ago and getting me this.

NBI clearance - Incomplete. What are the chances that there’s another Fernando Mendizabal registered in the Philippines? Guess right and you win a prize!

School Transcript - Incomplete. I need to get one next week once I go to Ateneo for my 621 Moro tradition

Medical Certificate - Incomplete. I’m going back to Makati tomorrow for my medical check-up. They didn’t allow family doctors - so, I need to be checked by their recommended clinic.

Truckload of Forms (Maxicare, BPI, Insurance, etc) - Incomplete. I guess I’ll start on it tomorrow at the Clinic while waiting.

I almost couldn’t log-in back to my WordPress account! Bad Behavior, my WordPress anti-spam plugin, blocked my IP. Upon trying to log-in, I was greeted by :

Your IP has been blacklisted. It is a possible source of spam and we cannot allow you to proceed any further. Please contact the Site Administrator.

In Tagalog, this means:

Please log-in as the administrator and disable the anti-spam plugin to restore normal operations.

Hmm… Very nice. How do I do that when the spam filter prevents me from logging in?

To work around this, I went to my online file directory and renamed the folder that Bad Behavior resided in. After a page reload, Houston, we’re in business.

–

Yes, the SPAM king has returned… and as with my new site banner, it’s full speed ahead.

For those of you who have a hard time getting up from bed (waking up != getting up), let me share a trick I found somewhere (can’t remember, I think it was the Simpsons):

Water. Drink lots of water before you sleep. In this way, you’ll be forced to get up and drag yourself to the comfort room when you wake up.

I heard that Native Americans used to do this before the arrival of the chickens and the alarm clocks.

Try it. It works.

I came across this in Slashdot:

Q: How many Python programmers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: That joke’s not funny.

For the longest time, I’ve always needed (not wanted) a Credit Card. However, without a certificate of employment or an income tax return data sheet, my previous applications for one never got approved.

Six months, four bank accounts with one Metrobank branch and one company later, I finally got a Metrobank VISA Credit Card.

I got my credit card in the mail yesterday. After which, several questions popped up in my head:

Q. What happens if someone uses my credit card illicitly and fraudulently, do I still have to pay for it?

Leo: Yes. Your Credit Card is your responsibility. Someone in company UC got his/her credit card stolen. Within 24 hours, the credit card registered 150,000 Pesos worth of transactions. Poor soul had to pay for it.

Q. What’s the difference between VISA and MasterCard?

Uswitch: Visa and MasterCard are both payment systems, not credit cards in themselves. They rely on providers to issue credit cards using their system.There are no significant differences between them. MasterCard and Visa are the names of the global companies who manage credit cards. They can both be used around the world.

In the end, it boils down to what kinds of systems establishments are using. If you’re going to a VISA-partial country, go get a VISA card. Otherwise…

Q. How will this affect my lifestyle?

Pipboy: [introspectively] Not much. Since I’m just going to use it mainly for online transactions and emergency situations. Part of owning a credit card is knowing the differenct between an Asset and a Liability. Some people, once they get hold (or get lent) money, they think that the money is theirs to spend at will. In that case, credit cards become a liability. However, if one will use it to further a cause that will provide a bigger return on investment, then that’s probably an Asset.

Q. Can I avoid interest if I pay right away?

MetroBank offers an Automatic Debit Arrangement:

The convenience of settling your Metrobank Credit Card bills without having to go to the bank, the ATM or making a call.

I still have to confirm how it works - automatic payment equals no interest. If it does, I’ll see if it’s worth enrolling my card to it - automatic payment equals no credit limit equals very dangerous.

However, if anyone knows the answer to my question above, I’d appreciate your experience and insight

I think that’s all I need right now.
A moment of silence.

Serve in Silence.

Can you provide a caption or insight about this picture?

One caption will be chosen among all entries. One winner will get an mp3 player in the year 2016! Another winner will get free webhosting for 12 months and a free subdomain from paminta.com!

So hurry up! The more entries you send, the more chances of winning!

Mechanics / Disclaimer:

• I will choose the winner on September 30, 2006. My Pareto-based criteria is 80% “Because I like It”, 20% “Because it’s witty/funny”
• I declare the contractual limits and requirements of the webhosting package. Batteries and domain name not included.
• I have the right to cancel and terminate the contracts involved in this contest anytime I want.
• All submitted jokes become the property of the community and may be regurtitated as wanted.

Rationale. One of the important traits of an MIS professional is his creativity. The usefulness of learned skills, past experiences and stock knowledge can be amplified by a creative mind. The ability to think out of the box, to spot the obvious and to frame a situation from different perspectives are indispensable characteristics in an MIS professional.

Aloha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hehehe, apologies for the few but loyal readers of my blog. I haven’t been updating my blog because I’ve been *busy* with life - where I define my life as Work, Exercise and Recreation.

Work

• Wrapping up my project with GMA7 (Yes, i’m finishing up their Table Of Contents)
• Negotiating for some school’s Chemistry Inventory System pricing (I hope our proposed budget pushes through)
• Negotiating for another school’s digital yearbook (System Design is complete, awaiting go-signal for implementation)
• Working on three web portals (one’s a done deal, another’s a scope creep and the last one’s being negotiated)
• Gathering requirements for the formal incorporation of my quasi-company (unemployed? do as i do! employ yourself!!!)

Exercise

• I’ve been faithful to Moro, attending an average of 5 days a week
• I still weigh the same, but I feel lighter and better. been cursing fewer morons on the road who don’t know how to drive
• My daily goal is to burn 1200 calories per session while I eat 800-1000 calories worth of food everyday

Recreation

• Been hooked up to lots of anime marathons lately ~ basilisk, samurai 7, samurai deeper kyo, dragon ball…
• Listening to songs and reliving the memories behind them. Some of them are old … some of them new.
• Resurrected Grunt (1Ghz AMD Athlon, 640Mb Ram) for file-serving and retro-gaming purposes. Final Fantasy 7! Woot!

Outlook

Outlook is good in life. However, I’m getting bored with having only a few projects. I almost considered going for a full-time job. As much as I wanted one, God has His own plans for me. On the day of my interview at UC and knivre fpubbyf [I’m sorry, Caesar likes writing company names that way], I :

• was held up by an MMDA officer for swerving along Edsa
• had to argue with the guards to let me park within the campus of my first interview place ~ there was no parking space outside the campus
• had to fill up forms that I *so* love to do
• had to answer a personality test. questions were conducted in a boolean manner and were repeated and rephrased over and over to check the consistency of your answers and personality. I also *love* these tests.
• ran out of parking space at galleria. a level of the basement parking was converted into a function hall for the day
• i couldn’t find the building where i had to take an interview for UC, i got redirected twice ~ walked 2kms in full battle gear of long sleeves, black pants and leather shoes
• the original interviewer at UC didn’t arrive
• waited for an hour and a half to find out. though UC was kind enough to have a replacement interviewer
• replacement interviewer was hot, oh so distractingly hot. did i say she was hot? well, she was hot
• i was supposed to end my day at the gym when i forgot to stuff a shirt in my trusty gym. Since I couldn’t possibly work out topless, I skipped gym for that day

Moral of the story?

There is no such thing as security.

I’d like to explain and connect the dots between all the bullet points I listed, but I trust in my reader’s ability to reflect and think critically. Share your thoughts. I’d appreciate them.

when you’re tired of reading books, it’s probably time to write your own book.

when you’re tired of studying in school, it’s probably time to start your own school.

when you’re tired of being bored, it’s probably time to start doing what you have to do.

when you’re tired, it’s probably time to get some rest.

wow, i got read from outside the philippines! lolz! hello to my father in singapore and my mother in hong kong!

hehe today asia, tomorrow the world!! can’t wait to show up at google.