Of Reailty and Realizations - Part 6

Although that one meeting was never followed by another, a few phone calls kept the connection between Kuya and his biological father alive. It all hasn't been easy for either of them, but at the end of the day, one could say that much has been achieved.
Kuya is still now in the USA, working on some papers that will evidence his relationship with his biological father, en route to a grant of American citizenship. He's been there a few months now and obviously, he is missed here. Thankfully, technology has afforded us countless means of communication - e-mail, instant messaging, SMS, MMS and VoIP.
At the end of the day, when one looks at what has become of an almost hopeless situation, you realize that it's all worth it.

FLOPSUCKS!

Last week, my daughter and I went to have lunch at the TechnoHub and decided to try a restaurant that belonged to a chain of restaurants that were among our favorites.

Shortly after we ordered, the waiter ventured that they had free wifi and promptly gave me the password.

However, I had difficulty connecting after re-typing the password and changing the airport configuration countless times.

After we had our lunch, the waiter solicitously inquired if I already successfully connected. No, I said.

I tried again while waiting for dessert. Still no luck.

Dessert came and went but still no wifi. The bill came, and still nada.

So we just paid and left. And I thought that was that.

Days later, Dyosa and Masigasig narrated to me how they were duped into spending a considerable amount in exchange for non-existent wifi.

Turns out that they went to Starbucks, found out there was no wifi and transferred to the resto.

I agree with Dyosa that the food was over-priced considering it wasn’t exceptional, only served in huge plates to create the impression that servings were generous.

But what riles me the most is the blatant misrepresentation.

Shame on you, fakers!

Rejected by Seven Technologies

“Rejected by seven technologies…” Drew wailed in the movie “He’s Not Just That Into You”. She further bemoaned and wished for such times when she only have to wait for a guy’s response on one phone, with one answering machine. Now, she complains, she has to check seven different technologies. If the guy does not respond anyway, she feels she has been rejected by seven technologies. We had a good laugh.

Technology moves progressively. It will never move regressively. That is like its Law of Order, like gravity. But come to think of it, does technology make a hard life harder to bear and on the flip side, a great life greater? Sounds much like, the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer as times go by.

I don’t know. I really don’t know.

Acckk!!!

Have you noticed it? It's very subtle.

I think Google has been customizing my search results based on what country I am at!!

This happens even if you do not select the "mga pahina mula sa pilipinas" option (who translated this into Filipino, Francisco Balagtas? and don't get me started on Facebook)

For example, I searched for "top ICT issues of the day" using google while in the Philippines and these top 3 search results come out:
#
ICT, Open Day, NUI Galway
- [ Isalin ang pahinang ito ]
17 Sep 2008 ... These companies will be coming along to the ICT Open Day to tell you more about ... on a number of key strategic issues, including competitiveness, ... Back to top of page. Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide ...
www.nuigalway.ie/openday/ict/jobs.html - 24k - Naka-cache - Mga katulad na webpage
#
SANS Institute - SANS Security West 2009
- [ Isalin ang pahinang ito ]
Legal Issues in Information Technology and Information Security :: LEG-523 ... SANS instructors are top tier on all training classes. ... LEG 523 is a five-day package delivering the content of the following one-day courses: ...
www.sans.org/securitywest09/description.php?tid=862 - 26k - Naka-cache - Mga katulad na webpage
#
Bremer TAFE teacher named top ICT specialist - TAFE Queensland
- [ Isalin ang pahinang ito ]
The day I can't find one is the day I retire." As well as the honour of being named TAFE Queensland's top ICT teacher, Ms Mair has won a prize package worth ...
www.tafe.qld.gov.au/about_us/news/2007110831.html - 29k - Naka-cache - Mga katulad na webpage

I asked a friend in the US to do the same and these top 3 results come out for him:
#
Amazon.com: Issues in Teaching Using ICT (Issues in Subject ...
Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. ... This text contains a range of issues relating to the use of ICT in the classroom. .... Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of ...
www.amazon.com/Issues-Teaching-Using-Subject-Teaching/dp/0415238676 - 230k - Cached - Similar pages -
#
Amazon.com: Issues in Teaching Using ICT (Issues in Subject ...
Start reading Issues in Teaching Using ICT on your Kindle in under a minute. ... Order it in the next , and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. .... Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of ...
www.amazon.com/Issues-Teaching-Using-Subject-Teaching/dp/0415240034 - 249k - Cached - Similar pages -
#
wearejustlearning.ca » ICT issues
Filed Under (Education, ICT issues, educational technology, ... I was impressed that so many gave up a day of their Christmas holidays to attend this ...
wearejustlearning.ca/?cat=6 - 44k - Cached - Similar pages -

Acckk!!

Facebook Democracy

In light of the recent public outrage at Facebook's change of terms of service, the online networking giant has decided to let the public decide the wording of the controversial terms of service. Users' pages are now stamped with a message linked to a blog post from founder Mark Zuckerberg announcing suggested changes to how Facebook may be governed in the future.

Two documents, called "Facebook Principles" and "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" have been posted for user review and comment. These will not go into effect until they have been voted upon and changed by the users. The comment period closes at 12:01 am Pacific Time on March 29.

So if you think the terms of service affect your interests in the Facebook community then go ahead and cast in your vote!

all hands on the poop deck

Swedish courts are likely to drop a deuce on The Pirate Bay's poop deck sometime in April.

The infamous bittorrenter has provided frugal media patrons with some 600,000 torrents since 2003, from remastered Perfect Strangers episodes to blockbusters months from their theatrical releases. Having just weathered raids by Scandinavian authorities, the site's operators were blindsided by recent charges of "facilitating copyright infringement" filed by several major American film studios, among them, Warner Brothers and MGM.

While the defendants intended the site to be something of a virtual speakeasy for file-swappers worldwide, they've since renounced their hippie culture-sharing angle in the face of a possible two years of imprisonment and millions in fines and damages.

Defendants claim that the site doesn't actually host any of the unauthorized media but simply directs its 22 million users to those files through torrent trackers. Defense furthers that since the accused merely operate the medium, they cannot be accomplices to particular acts of the site's users of which they are unaware (at least under Swedish law).

I still think the operators could have avoided this predicament had they the good sense not to christen their site an allusion to the illegal act they hoped to get away with.

VoIPfriend and Relationships

It used to be when your loved ones worked abroad you exchange letters and recorded tapes to communicate. Every few months, packets would be sent and received to exchange news. Phone calls were reserved for special occasion – birthdays, anniversary, and holidays – as it was too expensive. My parents had this relationship early in their marriage; my mother worked as a nurse Saudi Arabia while my father worked for NFA here in the Philippines. My mother still has her box of old letters and cassette tapes. Back then, only a smaller percentage of the population worked abroad, about 350,982 deployed in 1984 according to DOLE.

Twenty five years later, and the landscape has changed. There are currently more than eight million Filipinos working overseas. Remember the 6-degree of separation theory? Well, applying the concept, how many “steps” do you have to take to connect to an OFW? On my part, one step as my brother works abroad. If I start outside family relations, it’s still one step as my best friend is a nurse about to leave for Brunei. It’s no wonder VoIP has become a big industry in our country.

As communication is very important in any form of relationship, it maybe familial, friendship or l.o.v.e. kind, and usually it is the first aspect to suffer when people are separated by distance. It is that constant need to chat and tell our family and friends about the most mundane things that happen in our daily life that make us feel connected to each other. VoIP solved the void (pun unintended) in relationships created by the mass deployment of Filipinos overseas. VoIP makes these connections easier. I know of several couples who keep their long distance relationship going by simply talking once a week. Parents who work abroad are able to be “parents” to their kids, actively participating in decisions like curfews and punishments. All these at the fraction of the cost of a regular telephone call abroad.

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