Marcus Can Blog

The Story of the Feather Pillow

I have been longing to tell this story that I heard from the previous parish priest in Manggahan, Cavite. And now is just the perfect time.

There once was woman who approached a priest and said, “Father, I need to confess about having spread gossips about my friend. What should I do?” The priest then said, “Go grab a feather pillow, climb up to the belfry, tear the pillow and spread all of its content and come back here.”

The woman surprised about the priest’s weird instruction, proceeded anxiously and went to grab a feather pillow and followed just as told by the priest. After a short while, panting heavily after running up and right back down, she happily told the priest, “Father, it’s all done, just like you have said, now what?” Smiling, the priest then said, “Go out of the church and gather every feather that came out of the pillow.”

The woman’s eyes widened in disbelief and blurted, “But father that is just impossible, some of the feathers have been blown by the wind so far from the belfry and so far away from the church’s ground. I just can’t collect every feather even if I wanted to.”

“Miss, that’s exactly the same thing you did when you spread the gossips about your friend. No matter how you try getting everything back, you just can’t do enough to recall what has been said”, the priest simply replied back. The woman shook and bowed her head in regret.

***

I can very well relate to this story especially during the time when I was one of the board members of our village. As much as I’d like to unify the erring officers, it did not happen. So much have been said already, unfortunately not to the concerned person but to other people in the village. This made one issue that may have been resolved if discussed among the people involve but it became one that cannot be fixed anymore as each of those who have heard about it has re-told the story to others—but this time most likely with a twist and it’s either more or less of the original story thus complicating everything in the process.

Getting hopeless and fed up, I decided to quit. But it didn’t stop there as until now I am affected. I hate to think about it, but I am also a victim of loose tongues and idle minds. I don’t know now what I’ll do next, but we’ll soon see.

***

This story also applies to the current hot topic in Philippine media—the Hayden Kho and Katrina Halili sex video scandal. It’s a pity, but the video has spread rapidly, thanks but no thanks to the producers of these pirated copies.

This is one hopeless case. Even if our law enforcement agencies, the OMB (Optical Media Board) and our beloved Congress get to round up every bit of copies and stop its further proliferation, some of it will likely remain inside hidden in private hard drives or even in the innocent looking minute flash drives. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

***

Mood: 4/10 Honks!

Ending work on a Monday

“Tell me why I don’t like Mondays” – Bob Gelfof and Johnny Fingers

“I hate Mondays” – Garfield

Yesterday was the weirdest Monday that I can recall so far. The following are the reasons why:

On my way to work the discussion over the radio was about an episode of the Oprah show where she approved of her guest’s suggestion of introducing teenage girls to vibrators-–and to mention that several Filipina girls called agreeing to the idea.

***

The parking lot was already full when I arrived. If my memory serves me right, it’s been months since it has become one of the most deserted places in our company. For a moment I actually thought that our company isn’t closing after all. Wishful thinking.

***

I am starting my first day of the week listening to one of my most hated things to do: selling (outbound call center account) but for some weird reasons I ended up enjoying the simulation activity. Isn’t that great? So does this mean that I might have the potential to sell?

***

Lastly, after reading one farewell email coming after the other, it has finally dawned on me that this is my last week at work, together with other identified employees. It now feels I’m starting to be sucked into the deep void of the bumhood’s black hole and conceding to the fact that this is really it, I had to excuse myself from our call center training just to compose my own farewell message.

Here’s what I wrote in haste:

Friends and co-workers,

This is my last week at and I’d like to say the following: Thank you, Sorry and Goodbye.

Thanks. For the wonderful years I had with every people I work with.Thanks to my past and present mentors, colleagues and subordinates. Rest assured that every encounter I had with each and every one of you gave me experience and knowledge, and it has made me a better person than I was years ago. Of course, I would like to thank my very recent group who welcomed me like I was already one of the experienced engineers—I really appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity.

Sorry. I apologize to those whom I might have offended in one way or the other; it’s just some times the word constructive doesn’t come together with confrontation. And while I’m at it I’d like to say to those who have offended me (or at least they thought so) as well that I won’t be leaving with any hard feelings.

Goodbye. I’d like to say goodbye those who are yet to leave—whether they like it or not. And lastly, I’d like to say good luck to everyone whether you’re continuing to Vietnam or be pursuing a different life after Intel.

Keep in touch. See you around folks.

Although I hate the fact that it isn’t a resignation letter (I haven’t written one in my entire career), I sent it out of course to almost everyone I’ve worked with; but like one lit up fuse flickering slowly towards a barrel of explosives, I became somewhat sentimental about the whole thing only when I was on my way home.

All of a sudden I find it ironic that at the start of this week is the beginning of the end of the long years working for what I’ve known as a great place to work. Hasta la vista Intel folks.

***

I have figured out later in the day that the reason why the parking lot was full is because some of my co-workers are already processing their clearances and some brought their car along with them. There is also a job opportunity expo participated by a number of companies and probably the representatives parked their vehicles ahead of some of the employees like me. This is one thing that will be missed by most because if there’s one company that doesn’t have reserved parking slots, it would be Intel. It is only here that ”sorry boss, you’re late…go park somewhere” applies.

***

The sight and feel of yesterday’s job opportunity expo was unexpectedly great – maybe because there isn’t much crowd unlike in the malls. The participating companies range from several business franchisors to cater to those who have finally decided to be entrepreneurs; the ever familiar semiconductors were also present for those who haven’t gotten enough of the manufacturing environment; and of course there were call center companies which lately have become one of my interests. Well, isn’t that great?

***

Mood: 4/10 Honks!

Relearning English the Call Center Way

In my quest to learn English I started attending a call center training that will go on for one week. Although I prepared myself to be corrected, all that mind setting did little to help suppress the shock I got the moment I heard our trainer speak. I haven’t heard such good and fluent English spoken in person for a long while.

The fluency of our trainer got me humbled and speechless. It made me feel that I was totally ignorant of this language the whole time and this may be because even if I have been blogging a lot for a couple of years already, I never had regular English conversation and if ever I had such chance to speak with someone at work, the quality did not come any near to what I am hearing inside this class. I am not saying that there is none in our current company who can speak English impressively but it is just that there is a very big difference compared with the call center standard. And it has something to do with what is called the “American thwang.”

According to our trainer, learning the American accent or pronunciation—funny that even this word is hard to pronounce—will be the majority of our training on top of my favorite grammar discussions. We also practiced listening skills and yesterday, we did tongue twisters that by the end of the class my tongue was just as tired as my mind.

Our trainer also suggested that we evaluate our typing skills by downloading Typing Master—I discovered can still do a decent 50 wpm with 95% accuracy for English words.

There will be three more sessions to go and I am eager to learn more. As painful and embarrassing as it may seem, I will open my mind to what is being taught, for this week I am relearning English. I kill me.

I’m all mixed up once again. It’s just more than 24 hours and I’ve already done several things not so related to each other but has nevertheless kept myself busy, frustrated, confused, and excited – may not be in proper order but may apply all at one point. Yes. I’m once again having that chopsuey day. Well, just to remain optimistic there’s always a good thing about bad things. At least it doesn’t make my day SSDD.

***

After a meeting with the rest of our village’s board of directors yesterday and with our treasurer walking out of the meeting, I finally filed my formal resignation this morning as well. It’s not because I’m fed up with any of them but it’s because of the troubling effect that goes along with the treasurer walking out and her probable termination.

So this morning while trying to decide between eating proper breakfast or leaving on time for one of the most important things I’ll be doing in the next few months to come, with fingers tightly crossed, I hurriedly typed what has been going on inside my mind for weeks, my resignation letter. It’s about time.

Emerald court — I miss the days when this is a common sight.

I really hate doing it but I did the best that I could to explain why I’m leaving this time. I got several compelling reasons and one of which is living a quiet life away from the baseless accusations, gossips and intrigues which are sadly done by elders who are supposed act as well-meaning advisers in the community. Although these may not be directly addressed to me I can’t bear hearing it anymore and this isn’t the environment that I want our baby boy to witness – this is one major reason.

Now I’m back, hopefully, to living as a private individual. Next time, I’ll share some of the homeowners association woos and woes.

***

Other than filing my resignation which I just realize was actually my first as I never had the chance to make one since I joined a team, organization or even a company, I started the first step to another milestone in my life. (Incidentally, I’ll be leaving my current job without it again)

This morning I went to Ateneo Rockwell to register for their MBA Regis program course entrance exam. Although, their building wasn’t exactly as vivid as what they have on their website’s header, I was still thrilled and excited the moment I saw it from afar and it got even more intense when I came inside. The place itself had this professional feel and the surrounding appears to be a very conducive place to learn. What especially caught my attention though was the solemn chapel inside the campus. I’m wondering now if this is filled to its capacity during exams with most of the students asking for divine intervention. Anyway, just in case it is, I’ll just bear kneeling outside.

Ateneo Rockwell's chapel — Law students do pray here. Photo by: Michael Gomez

The whole registration process went very orderly. I don’t know if this is always the case but when I arrived at the registrar’s counter, there were only four other people transacting and even if I had to go down to the cashier’s office to pay for the exam fee everything was still a breeze. When I left home this morning, I was prepared to be in a long line of students and have asked myself for extra patience. But then Ateneo’s automated system changed my perception of a traditional registration flow – it took me just about 10 minutes to finish the whole transaction and I was happily on my way home just in time for a late lunch and a well-deserved siesta – considering that it’s from Cavite to and from Makati being completed all in the morning wasn’t bad at all.

***

My blogging addiction has stepped up. In my desire to monetize my blog, I’ve been searching for days already on how to do it properly. I’ve also researched on what free or paid blog providers will cater monetization. Somehow, I discovered that in this case the best things aren’t free. And this led me back to Typepad.com.

I made the first steps in signing up with Typepad a couple of weeks ago but I was taken aback when I saw that its 14-day trial period would require me to enter my credit card number. Yesterday, as I ran out of choices and with my eagerness to sign back, I read and re-read the trial period conditions which to my relief say that I won’t be charge if I cancel before the 14-day period. And so I proceeded.

Sadly, my first impression about this paid blogging site isn’t good. For one, my expectation of Typepad being better than WordPress faded soon enough as I had a hard time using its dashboard. I find its features falling short of WordPress’ and just a bit better than Blogger.com. I still have 13 days to exploit it, but as of now I’m already revisiting my Blogger account and have done some re-layouts and modifications. I can see that it’s starting to look a lot like Typepad now. It’s a shame. But of course, I’m not quitting on Typepad yet. In the next days to come, I’ll spend some time using it and will give it another chance to prove its worth. Hopefully, at the end of the trial period is a win-win situation.

Here’s Typepad’s dash.

typepad

Here’s WordPress’.

WP dash.jpg

Now take your pick. I’ll bet a day’s worth of transport fare.

***

Chapel photo credit: Michael Gomez

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Mood: 4/10 Honks!

Practicality = Piracy?

Piracy

On my way to work yesterday, the discussion over the radio got me so immersed into it that I had to maintain the minimum focus required to drive safely. And how can I not, the condition was perfect: nice summer sun, tuned in to Magic 89.9 FM’s morning show with Mo, Mojo and Grace Lee, and they’re talking about my favorite topic—piracy.

I have a love-hate relationship with this radio show. But more often than not, I tune in to this station as I find this lively trio a great companion especially when driving alone and sleepy. Some people call or classify such show as talk radio because most the time there’s incessant blabbing about almost everything under the sun. And when I say everything, it really does mean almost everything. Thus, making the show as one of, if not the only, the most controversial morning shows.

The most dominant character among them is Mo who’s not only a fast talker but is likewise full of ideas that some of it are out of this world, downright offending and some are just not even fit to be discussed during a morning show wherein every mom, dad, uncle, aunt and other mature individuals may be listening and may be with kids at the same time. I’ve heard him discuss about premarital sex, religion, politics, lesbianism and other taboo stuffs, and of course, piracy.

So yesterday was no exemption. The moment I heard him mention the word piracy, I slowed down and listened – the group’s discussion and their exchanges with the callers were interesting albeit I find some of it just irritating. As usual.

Mo was once again defending and reiterating his stand that although he doesn’t directly promote piracy on his radio show, he sees a lot of advantage and benefit out of it other than the obvious difference in price between the licensed and the bootleg. One of the things he pointed out is about the movie industry. According to him, because of piracy which started several years ago, the original films have become available in the Philippines almost at the same time when it is released from its country of origin.

According to him, years ago it would take one film to reach the Philippines almost a couple of months after Hollywood, for example, releases it to cinemas in the US. And this is where piracy comes in handy. Most probably while the film is rolling somewhere in the US, some unscrupulous cinema insider or viewer is recording a copy of the film and immediately distributes it to their contacts inside or outside of the country. Now these contacts sell the film’s copy to people who are so eager to watch it. So when the time comes for the original film to be shown in theaters, the revenue flops. Of course, who wants to pay and watch a re-run? Simple reasoning, yet rude and yet practical. And this, according to Mo, is when producers eventually learn and realize that they need to compete or lose their market share to illegal distributors. At this point of the argument, I caught myself nodding in conformity.

Another case that Mo presented or re-presented (as I heard about it a couple of times already) is about computer software piracy. He believes that it is the only way for poor nations, like ours, and its people to compete and put them at par with the rest of the world when it comes to computer literacy. Although, I agree with the need to compete, I don’t however agree with how it is achieved by piracy.

As much as I hated it, Mo’s point got me thinking. Quite frankly, I’ve been pondering lately if I’m cursed for knowing that piracy is stealing. Often times some people, like most of my friends, see it as plain practicality and the need to learn about one software is one good justification to get hold of its bootleg counterpart. I’m not saying that these people are bad. I might say though that they are misinformed or have chosen to keep a blind eye about it.

As I end my driving until I got out of Intel’s parking lot, my mind was occupied with so many questions just from the 20 minutes I spent listening to the radio.

So am I not being practical then?

Am I stupid to believe that I shouldn’t be buying any of these bootleg stuffs? Or am I now alone in this belief or advocacy?

Will my next employer reject me because I did not learn as much software as I can because I don’t have the guts to buy a pirated copy?

Am I going to be left behind then in the end? Do I have to steal to learn?

Is it a good thing that while I teach my boy about good manners and right conduct, he’s watching a pirated educational DVD?

Do I need to seek professional advice to get over with my firm stand against it?

Maybe I’ll think all about it. Although I’m still hoping that in the end my answers will still be a big NO unless they change the law against it. And hopefully whatever the reasons are why most people continue to patronize pirated products, I still hope (or is wish?) that soon enough the fight against piracy will win because I really believe that behind those cheap illegal goods that some of us enjoy others are suffering just because of it.

***

Photo credit: vikrameb

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

What The Foos Is All About

What do you do when you have really nothing more to do? The dreaded question that I had to ask myself today. I finally got tired of staring at the interactive online training and as much as I’d like to attend an instructor-led session, most of it has reached its walk-in participants limit. Now, I was among those left inside our cold gray cubicles facing chances of catching colds, boredom, carpal tunnel syndrome or drowsiness at the very least.

There must be something else out there that would keep me occupied until the end of our working hours. Well, I checked and re-checked emails; refilled my coffee mug for the nth time; got myself exhausted with cubicle hopping with the hope of getting someone to talk to; and have listened to every Journey mp3 songs in my laptop’s hard drive. If I have to repeat the whole process again I’d be so damned and lonely. The long line of cubicles in my area is so empty that someone opening a trash can several columns away can be easily heard.

As desperation sinks in while I sit in my ergo chair watching my wrist- watch’s second hand tick by, it was when I heard the most redeeming invitation of the day. “Cris, laro tayo foosball.” Hmm, the last word sounds familiar yet so foreign. But who cares, when there’s no more work to do what else is next? Yes, play is next.

Moments later I found myself in front of the table with a recessed center and small plastic red and blue men appearing at first to be skewered to stainless rods and with its handles protruding on each sides of the table. I was elbow to elbow with another colleague while we try to push, pull and twist the rods to flick some miniature white soccer ball against those from the other team. I was the slowest but I think I was the happiest player that time. It was my first time to play with the most popular table in our company nowadays—the foosball table.

The foosball table was introduced last year and was first placed in one of the activity rooms along with the billiards table. Since then, several employees have filled their curiosity and have even snuck out during work hours just to play it. It didn’t take long for them to get hooked and when management noticed about the missing headcount inside the production floor, it was later transferred in front of the canteen area to deter employees from just hanging around. Even then, it didn’t fail to attract more fans. Consequently, it got an infamous reputation from most managers—I was one back then.

After watching the expert players intently as before and having played two games (despite being terrible and awkward) already, I now know why it has such following. I discovered that it isn’t like just any child’s play that one aimlessly hits the ball until it passes the stiff goalie. This game requires strategy between partners. It likewise involves skillful ball handling, which to my surprise my partner and our opponent possess. Today I become a fan of this game.

My realization about enjoying this game may be too late already. But with the current business condition wherein work has significantly slowed down and we’ve got nothing more than time, I guess I’ll be seeing a lot of those skewered plastic men in the next days ahead. I still have less than two more months to go and I might as well enjoy it and spend some time learning the back and wrist-breaking game of foosball. If only I could patiently wait behind the long queue of eager players.

Picture credit: Pedro Moura Pinheiro

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

How To Generate Ideas

I recently experienced hard times in filling my urge to write and to satisfy my blog readers and subscribers—assuming that they do exist—need to read fresh post. It has become more difficult lately as I don’t only have time to kill but it seems that from the moment I wake up, go to work and come back home, time itself appears to be staring right at me almost saying, “I’m here Cris, what’s next?”

Once again the reminder: Be careful what you wish for, came in late to be retracted. I’ve wished for blogging time, now it’s all I’ve got. The sad thing about it is that my idea bank may be now reaching saturation point. I think I’ve already reached my writing plateau.

Fortunately, the absence of work at work—the irony—had me exploit some available resources that kept me busy while still maintaining our internet usage policy (wink wink). I previously mentioned in one of my blog posts about SkillSoft Books24X7 and right now I just can’t get enough of it. SkillSoft is one of those brilliant things made available for employee skills development.

Now that I’m done with my explanation and defense, let me go on with some of the things I learned about the writing process.

What I find funny when I saw this material is how I got to it. While trying to keep myself busy one day, I typed MBA on the search field of SkillSoft. A few seconds later I was staring at several ebooks with the word MBA high- lighted. Suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the selection, I scrolled further down and it was then that I saw the most interesting thing I’ve seen so far on that lazy day—Methods of Generating Ideas. Despite wondering why this article can only be found under the MBA topic, I was all eyes on my laptop in no time.

The materials showed the following categories and its suggested methods:

Reading and writing. Obviously, reading and writing are the methods. These after all are why most of us learned about things. This idea-generating category encourages one to take notes by free writing and making an outline of the desired topic. One tip I find very helpful is that the outline need not even be perfect at the start which I always try to do and most likely the reason why I end up with anything but perfect. The material even suggests forgetting about grammar, composition and correct flow of ideas while still of course at the drafting stage. Correction, it adds, comes during editing and proofreading which contrary to my belief are actually two different things. The former is the term applied to the first phase of refining. The latter on the other hand is applied on the final phase or the read-through.

Graphic. Not all people work well with words. Others prefer doodling and I was surprised when I read about it because I avoid doodling as I find it a waste of time. This category employs drawing and sketching of one’s ideas that could be converted to text later on. I tried applying it and it works as lately my ideas don’t have an immediate word equivalent to it especially if my vocabulary lags for whatever reason.

Spoken. Besides reading and writing, this is what usually works for me. I like talking especially to those who can converse very well and have so many perspectives of different things. It is during such discussion when my light bulb moments happen. I realize that being one of the most talkative pupil in grade school works for me. I now forgive my teachers and classmates for that frequent demeaning tick mark next to my name for talking in class.

Group. Two heads are better than one, there’s no question about it. In fact, group discussions always generate more ideas…well, especially compared to talking to your own self. It is in this context why brainstorming usually works. Such sessions make everyone feel that their presence in the meeting is important and that their ideas are needed and will be welcomed. This in effect creates a continuous flow of ideas wherein some of it may even be totally out of this world. But then again, remember the familiar phrase “Think out of the box”?

Thinking. Now this last category may sound ridiculous as obviously the writing process does need to be start with a thought – at the very least. Duh! But what made me smile was when I reached the line “think about the subject during unstructured time (such as taking a shower, standing in line and taking a walk).” It didn’t clearly encourage thinking while driving though. Nevertheless, despite being amusing to be considered as a method, I still got some tips out of it.

I now have new methods to come up with more ideas. It is therefore worth remembering and applying the other methods other than mere thinking and just taking notes out of my wild mind. I also now recognize that oftentimes the need to read (stress: read, read, read) or interact with one or more people may be what it takes to have fresh ideas whether I like it or not. At the end of the day what matters most is when all of these are consolidated, selected, refined and written in finality hoping that it will fit the main purpose why the idea was formed in the first place.

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Is Valor For Sale?

This week ABS-CBN reports something about payment for our Filipino war veterans and it struck me a bit. I’m not an expert nor have I followed every development regarding this issue, however, I’ve heard about it already in the past and I’m troubled every time this news reaches me.

Like every other Filipinos, I knew one person who was a veteran of the World War II—my lolo Jose. When I was a kid, and even until now, the thought of him fighting in the front lines during the war always makes me proud. I used to brag about him while I was in grade school as if I was the only one with a veteran grandfather in the class. That admiration grew more when I became mature enough to understand further what it takes to be in a war, be able to survive it and more importantly, win it. So needless to say, I remember him every time I see living bemedalled veterans on TV.

But despite my compassion for these aged, wrinkled and frail Filipino veterans, whom we all consider as heroes, I always would wonder why others are demanding payment for services during the war. What I find more irritating and disappointing is that some won’t even accept the lump sum coming from the recently approved stimulus plan by the new US President Obama just because they think that they deserve more in the form of a monthly pension. I’ve also read somewhere that the reason why some of our veterans are so intent on being paid is because it was promised to them during the war—thus, they defended the nation and helped the Americans in the process. But isn’t it the same as what mercenaries do? Or isn’t this simply implying that their valor is for sale?

I would like to think that I’m misinformed here, and am willing to stand corrected if someone can shed light why our veterans deserve to be given a pension by the US. But then again I’m just basing my opinion on what I’ve been hearing and reading from the news. So either I’m plainly wrong or some individuals or groups are exploiting our veterans’ situation just to make money out of it. I’m just hoping (and would like to believe) though that what the tri-media are trying to relay here isn’t the collective stand of our beloved lolos (and lolas) who really dedicated their own lives in true service of our country and its allies even without being paid–and that to me is a real hero worth bragging for.

Rest in peace, lolo.

Photo credit: CheriGaulke’s Flickr

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Bad Mini

As one way of saving electricity, I’ve been surfing the web for a couple of days already instead of watching the early morning programs and news on TV. This way I also get to use only one electric fan while being inside our bedroom to watch until when our baby wakes up. So lately I’ve been a fan of ZDnet.com updates. And today’s ZDnet’s email feed caught my full attention.

Just like any other employees in our company, I was among those who are considering buying a laptop after we return our company-issued laptops when work is finally (and totally) over in a few more months. It must be some sort of a denial thing or just the thought of not having anything to tinker with while passing time during the layoff period, but whatever the reason is having one inanimate yet reliable companion during this time will be somehow a relief – just in case talking to your spouse and playtime with your children seems routine (read: boring) already. Hehehe. And that inan- imate companion I’m referring to is the mini-laptop or netbook as others prefer to call it.

So among the “filler” activities I’ve done lately to keep me from dozing off in front of my laptop is to check out what might be a good replacement for it. Well isn’t it like talking to your wife upfront and saying that you have someone to replace her already? Just a weird thought. Anyway, after read- ing about the technical specs, the product features and comparing physical design of each available minis, I’ve set my eyes on the attractive HP Mini. Of course, I’ve sneaked during our mall times just to see the actual items in several stores and I’ve read personal reviews (thru blogs) about each al- ready. During all these, my choice of having the HP Mini 1000 got stronger and stronger. Not until this morning.

The ZDnet article: Who’s got the top 10-inch netbook? hit me like a frantic cry of a baby. I got alarmed especially since this review comes from a reliable person who is affiliated to ZDnet.com. Here are some of the excerpts:

…Laptop Magazine has just posted a roundup of the latest 10-inch net- books310. They tested six netbooks including the Acer Aspire One 10- inch311, Asus Eee PC 1000HE, HP Mini 1000, Lenovo IdeaPad S10, MSI Wind U120 and Samsung NC10. Prices range from around $350 for most models to around $450 for the Samsung NC10…

…All of them were able to handle “standard-resolution video, multitask, video-conference and even play World of Warcraft (at low frame rates) reasonably well.” The HP Mini 1000 lagged behind on few tests because it has slower, 4,200rpm hard drive (the rest have 5,400rpm drives), but it basically boils down to design and battery life…

…The HP Mini 1000 and IdeaPad S10 have three-cell batteries, landing them at the bottom of the pile with less than 3 hours of life. The rest have six-cell batteries that lasted anywhere from 4.5 hours (MSI Wind U120 and Acer Aspire One) to more than 7 hours (Asus Eee PC 1000HE)…

…The overall winners were the Asus Eee PC 1000HE and the Acer Aspire One–two brands that already dominate the netbook category. The big surprise? The popular HP Mini came in dead last. Sure, the keyboard is great, but the slow hard drive, fewer ports, and a 3-cell battery are big minuses. Both the HP Mini and the MSI Wind are in sore need of updates…

Ouch! The writer from ZDnet ended his review like a boxer’s knockout punch. He hit the HP Mini several times that its recovery seems like next to impossible. Now I’m dumbfounded as well. I feel like all my efforts in search of my future laptop have been in vain. I would have to have to find those PC stores handouts that my ever supporting wife collected while she follows right behind me as I sneak and secretly drool through the attractive computer shops. Ti abi.

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Who Visits Your Blog?

“The only way to improve the quality of your life is to improve yourself. If you want to grow your organization, you must grow as a leader. If you want to have better children, you must become a better person.” – John Maxwell

In the last months of 2008 and until now my blog site’s hits picked up. The rate of visitors has increased a lot compared to early part of last year and that of course puts a smile on my face. I attributed the improvement to my recent availability and frequent online activity. I’ve visited old contacts’ blogs, became active in several networks like multiply.com and Friendster, wrote more frequently than before and my wife has been promoting it as well to her colleagues and even her manager which left me wondering if I’d be thankful or not for exposing me up to that level. Anyway, she left a comment and it was one of the most flattering comments I ever had.

That visit and comment though just didn’t add one more blog hits. From then on, I got challenged since I now know who’s been reading, who visited and what probably the expectations of my visitors and readers are. The pressure to write sensible blogs with acceptable composition started. I also began to check what my latest posts were and if I violated some of the company’s confidential policies. The good thing is I didn’t but the bad thing on the other hand is that due to the urge to write more, I seem to have written with so much wordiness yet with less appealing topics, that even I hated it. Surprisingly, the hits kept on rising.

Now I’m becoming worried than ever. I asked myself if I know who’s been coming back, why they come back, what their interests are and how they learned about my site in the first place. With that in mind and similar other observations from the blogging world lit my thinking bulb. It’s time I answer the question, “Who are your blog visitors?”

Lurkers. They are often times blessings in disguise because they increase network traffic and they make up the biggest percentage of a website hits. I suspect The problem with having them though is that they don’t leave any (good or bad) comments which keeps you guessing what they are so interested about that they keep on coming back. Among these lurkers are:

Spammers
Advertisers
Enemies who would love to see you fail.
English grammar teachers who are searching for the “I-kill-me-moment” for their next day classes. “Class, please visit crisn.wordpress.com and find as much grammatical error as possible on his post…”
Copycats who secretly grab your ideas and plagiarize it on their own blog site (thanks at least for pingback that they get caught somehow).
Journalists who are desperately trying to meet the deadline and hoping that a keyword or tag from your post would light up their own light bulb.
Your current boss looking for violations in confidentiality.
Your next employer.
Your colleagues who wonder if you’re the same person they know especially if you’ve kept your writing skill (or the lack of it) secret.
Your ex-lover.
Bloggers you visited and commented.
Social engineers and Phishers.

Same feathers. From the famous “birds of the same feathers flock together” cliché. These are visitors and/or readers who may be also members of the internet forum or egroup you’re currently in. More often than not they don’t necessarily mean that they love your site, your subject matter or even your writing style. More likely, they are just there hoping to exchange links and probably get some ideas in the process. So beware and don’t immediately edit that blogroll of yours unless you’re totally convinced that they deserve that sweet spot in your blog site.

Niche audience. These are the people that you want in your blog They are those who have the same interest as yours and can fully relate to your blah, blah, blahs. They understand your jargons and other fancy terms. Unlike lurkers though, they usually keep in touch with you either through comments or emails. With them, the likelihood of an exchange of useful ideas is very high. These are among the people that you should maintain and have a close relationship with. Either add them to your favorites or add them to your blogroll.
The 3 Fs. They are your Family, Friends and Fans all at the same time–by force or by choice. Although they aren’t as frequent as the lurkers, their visits are usually well-meaning and their praises are true. Just a warning though especially if you’re the type who can’t take criticisms. This group of people (or person) may give blunt comments that will hit you like your mother’s whipping spank–it will hurt, but whether you like it or not, it is for your own good. So appreciate and cherish their comments but listen and act accordingly to their criticisms.

As my employment time is counting down my blog hits however is going up. While laid off, blogging I guess will be my main occupation, paid or not, as I try to figure out what my next moves would be. It is just wise then to know my visitors because through it I get to feel what to improve, how to improve it and hopefully perfect it in the end – no matter when and no matter what it would take. After all, I love writing and I’d be all smiles when the day comes that I do what I really love to do.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!