IMHO: We should be prepared for Cyberwars and Cyber Attacks

My partner and I discussed cyberwars over running errands two weekends ago. He mentioned that there's a worm called Stuxnet that can make factory plants explode according to recent news. We discussed this while I complain about my laptop crashing down when it's nearing finals week. I was absentmindedly putting bread, spread, and hotdogs into the grocery cart thinking about how vulnerable these computer systems are. I was mentally listing things I do with my laptop and how I can still be productive without it. (I decided to just wake up early everyday so that I can use the library's computer for work and school for free--working in the library is productive.) Until, I realized, he was really trying to engage me in a discussion so that I will stop thinking about my laptop.

Over text, we exchanged messages talking about international relations and law--whether the UN Security Council will have jurisdiction over this, whether this is similar to the nuclear testing case by France, whether the High Court has jurisdiction, and others. I was thinking whether impunity will be enjoyed by the perpetrator. He decided to write a paper on it while I promised myself to read more about it (since the topic that was approved for my SLR was on the Automated Elections). Risks. Management. IT. Cyberlibertarianism. Just some of the things that got stuck in my head.

IMHO, people should read more about digital armory and how in the future, ICT risk management will be a lucrative niche of our generation.

Is Stuxnet the best malware ever? Will I ever get my laptop back?

Paulyn Duman
Blog #19

IMHO: Confirmation Bias can only be minimized but can never be eradicated

I was getting updates from my Facebook account when one of those Facebook Questions appeared at the right side of my webpage: "How can you remove confirmation bias?" This got me thinking.

So I read on confirmation bias and Wikipedia says:

Confirmation bias (also called confirmatory bias or myside bias) is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true. As a result, people gather evidence and recall information from memory selectively, and interpret it in a biased way.

Before I reached the end part of the article, I felt so sad to almost depressed. I realized I haven't really actively sifted and operated my thought processes in such a way that I put effort in dealing with my prejudices and biases. Most of the time, I resort to heuristics in solving problems without realizing it. I felt so sad that I had to call in a masseuse to get a relaxing body massage (did-I-just-want-to-hear-all-that-I-want-to-hear-all-this-time-drama, naks).

Before I wallow too much in that newly found depression, I wikipedia'd cognitive therapy and it says that it "seeks to help the patient overcome difficulties by identifying and changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses. This involves helping patients develop skills for modifying beliefs, identifying distorted thinking, relating to others in different ways, and changing behaviors." I need to be reminded of this again so I can process these feeling and thoughts on a rational, cognitive level. Confirmation bias is similar to self-fulfilling prophecy in that a conclusion you have nurtured so well in your mind will lead your actions to achieve that conclusion. Confirmation bias is your tendency to favor those information that support your conclusion.


This reminded me of one book of Coelho, Like the Flowing River, where there is one essay where he talked about "The importance of the cat in meditation". It read:

Having recently written a book about madness, I was forced to wonder how many things we do are imposed on us by necessity, or by the absurd. Why wear a tie? Why do clocks run “clockwise”? If we live in a decimal system, why does the day have 24 hours of 60 minutes?

The fact is, many of the rules we obey nowadays have no real foundation. Nevertheless, if we wish to act differently, we are considered “crazy” or “immature”.

Meanwhile, society continues to create some systems which, in the fullness of time, lose their reason for existence, but continue to impose their rules. An interesting Japanese story illustrates what I mean by this:

A great Zen Buddhist master, who was in charge of the Mayu Kagi monastery, had a cat which was his true passion in life. So, during meditation classes, he kept the cat by his side – in order to make the most of his company.

One morning, the master – who was already quite old – passed away. His most adept disciple took his place.

- What shall we do with the cat? – asked the other monks.

As a tribute to the memory of their old instructor, the new master decided to allow the cat to continue attending the Zen-Buddhist classes.

Some disciples from the neighboring monasteries, traveling through those parts, discovered that, in one of the region’s most renowned temples, a cat took part in the meditation sessions. The story began to spread.

Many years passed. The cat died, but the students at the monastery were so used to its presence, they soon found another cat. Meanwhile, the other temples began introducing cats in their meditation sessions: they believed the cat was truly responsible for the fame and excellence of Mayu Kagi’s teaching, and in doing so forgot that the old master was a fine instructor.

A generation passed, and technical treatises began to appear about the importance of the cat in Zen meditation. A university professor developed a thesis – which was accepted by the academic community – that felines have the ability to increase human concentration, and eliminate negative energy.

And so, for a whole century, the cat was considered an essential part of Zen-Buddhist studies in that region.

Until a master appeared who was allergic to animal hair, and decided to remove the cat from his daily exercises with the students.

There was a fierce negative reaction – but the master insisted. Since he was an excellent instructor, the students continued to make the same scholarly progress, in spite of the absence of the cat.

Little by little, the monasteries – always in search of new ideas, and already tired of having to feed so many cats – began eliminating the animals from the classes. In twenty years time, new revolutionary theories began to appear – with very convincing titles such as “The Importance of Meditating Without a Cat”, or “Balancing the Zen Universe by Will Power Alone, Without the Help of Animals”.

Another century passed, and the cat withdrew completely from the meditation rituals in that region. But two hundred years were necessary for everything to return to normal – because during all this time, no one asked why the cat was there.

With these thoughts now in my mind, I now have a running question in my head: How many of my decisions have largely involved confirmation biases? Probably a lot.

But my life is so happy now that I realized, maybe pragmatism and confirmation bias work for me. But is that all that is important? Relativity of two coordinates--my life and my happiness.

See the bias?

Blog #18 - Excess Baggage

IMHO: Digital insecurity can be overcome

I have never ever felt so digitally insecure. Not until this week. Let me tell you a story of a relationship I have with Toshi.

My one-year old Toshiba NB200 laptop just didn't want to turn on despite the fact that in the past months he has always been turned on by me. One day, he just wouldn't and I don't know if I have to blame myself. Did I not treat him right? Did I not maintain my relationship with him well? Did I neglect him? I panicked, like any other person would be when the most important thing in your law school-work-extracurricular activities turned his back away from you. “Was it my fault?"

The repairmen said they couldn't pinpoint the problem. "

It's a hardware problem Ma'am."

I know. It wouldn't boot up.

"You may pay P5,000 to fix this kind of problem but unfortunately, we can't fix it."

I felt like my world crumbled. Ice cold water poured over my body. No, I can't cry. But it was so painful. I have all my files with him. I have everything with him. I need to print something that I need to pass on that day. This is what I don't like about technology. I can't help but be so attached to it. I can't help but feel like a whole huge lot of my life depends on it.

But as if it is something automatic in my system, my thoughts suddenly shifted to its problem-solving hemisphere.

"Think Pau, think. This is not a problem, just a challenge."

"I have my 1.5TB HDD with my files that I backed up just recently, check. My files are all backed up and encrypted through Truecrypt.org, check. I have backed up online too through Dropbox.com, check. I have my Flashdisk with me, check."

My only issue is this: I did not encrypt my files in my laptop and because of that I felt so digitally insecure when the repairmen had to open it up. They will run Toshi overnight, trying to figure out what happened to him. They will try to thresh out its issues, bugs, failures--everything Toshi doesn't want the world to know. Toshi is so exposed. They can check ALL my files with him. Everything. And I felt so bad I didn't do anything about it before he crashed.

Now, I'm waiting for the results of another run done to him. I may have to wait 2-3 weeks since it is entirely possible that the problem is his Mother(board) and it will demand that much attention. I can't do anything about that on my own. I need to trust the expert. I can't take it unto my own hands.

I learned my lesson. I hope I will not commit the same mistakes again. I promise to learn how to maintain relationships with electronics. Just like what the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was trying to point out--maintenance is the key.

Toshi please come back to me. I need you. Back.

Blog #17 - Special Edition

IMHO: Megan Fox and Eminem in a Rihanna-chorused video is HOT

For my last blog entry for ICT class, I was thinking on whether to write something about the Automated Election System or Online Psychology--the former kept me up and running last summer and while the latter kept, and still keeps, me perpetually amazed at people.

But, in my humble opinion, this video deserves an entry.

It just helps me stay awake for my exam on Tuesday. It is disturbing, yes. Megan Fox is hot, yes. I love Eminem and Rihanna, yes. Although I am switching from this video to Bob Marley's Turn Your Lights Down Low, I will need to apologize to the reggae master. Or am I really sorry? Maybe not. Maybe not now.

Megan Fox is so hot she shouldn't have been in the Transformers movie. Because Bumblebee SHOULD always have the spotlight!



Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip? - Eminem

With these cars, no Eminem, you can't let it slip.


Lose yourself in the music!

Excuse my incoherence.

Paulyn Duman
http://almostinsightful.blogspot.com/
http://iconmagazine.multiply.com/
Blog #16
(for October 1)

IMHO: People can juggle work, formal school, informal school, advocacies and relationships thru the Internet

For a working law student, it is such a pain to juggle everything. EVERYTHING. In the past 5 years of my life, I have been trying to strike a balance between commuting to work, finishing all my tasks for the day, reading cases in MRT trains and UP-Pantranco jeepneys, not spending lunch time for eating but studying, checking my calendar for midterm and finals schedules vis-a-vis my available leaves, making money from 8 am to 5 pm so that I can pay my bills, rent, tuition and photocopies and dinners and parties with friends. On some days, you spend more for medicines and hospital bills because your immunity system just breaks down.

For the life of me, I don't understand too why I still involve myself with a lot of extra-curricular activities such as student council and advocacies. But when I look at my blockmates, I know I am not alone and it consoles me. Some travel from Manila or Makati to Diliman everyday, even on Saturdays, to make ends meet. On Sundays, some still give the time to volunteer for some causes they believe in. Professors in our block use the net to communicate with their students. Some of us research for work while inside the classrooms as we wait for our professors.

The internet has played a major role in helping us juggle everything. For cases that we can't photocopy because we are still at work, we email each other. For digests, sample exams, reviewers that our block can't make, we find them online. For catharsis, we use instant messengers to rant. Facebook is our escape and Lawphil our partner in saving money from all those photocopies which we may never even have the chance to read.

Now, I am waiting for a confirmation from an online part-time job I applied for (RareJob). I thought, since I now have a DSL connection, I might as well use it to earn income. Since I can't always see my friends in real life because of work-school-extracurric, I use the internet to connect with them. Since I don't have the money and the time to enroll in Language schools, I just go online to learn some German phrases. Since my boyfriend is in Europe, I thank Skype for giving me a way to express how much I feel for him. Since I don't want to spend P18 a day for newspapers, I make PDI my homepage. Since I am for protecting the environment, I check my bills online. Since I don't read all the cases I photocopy which is really a waste of money, I just read my cases online or thru E-juris. Some of the jobs I am eyeing for after law school, I found online.

I manage my work, law school, advocacies, council work, and relationships online. And I only pay for the monthly fee for DSL, electricity, and the purchase price of my laptop.

In my humble opinion, internet is the cheapest management tool there is now.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #15
(for September 24)

IMHO: Software and applications for holograms will be the next big thing

I wrote previously that getting acquired by Google, Yahoo or Facebook is still a next-big thing. But of course, we all want to know what will be the next big thing similar to Google, Yahoo and Facebook.

We all want to know what is the next big thing. So what is it?

Scroll down:

In my humble opinion, software and applications for holograms are the next big thing. I have always envisioned the future without much of the present hardware for phones, computers, and other gadgets. I am all for a paperless and hardware-less future. This has been my dream since I watched Star Wars. Those who can create technologies with this framework can be the next Steve Jobs.


In the next generations, people can watch FIFA through Avatar's (the movie) technology.




Paulyn Duman
Blog #14
(for September 17)

IMHO: ICT will make this generation's teenagers millionaires

When this 16-year old kid got his first million after 2 years in his business, we know that in this generation and probably in the next one, there will be more young millionaires. Of course, this is not unprecedented. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, launched his website in 2004, when he was just a sophomore student at Harvard. After some years, he has become one of the youngest billionaires around the world. I can't help but think of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers whenever I read about these stories. In that book, he said:

"[T] he biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work."

In Outliers, he hopes to show that there are a lot more variables involved in an individual's success than society cares to admit, and he wants people to "move away from the notion that everything that happens to a person is up to that person".

Am I just rationalizing through Gladwell's theory these people's success that in my humble opinion, if the Filipino people are born in such an environment, with more access to these things and with a government that supports ICT as an integral, if not fundamental, aspect of education, maybe, just maybe, the young millionaires will sprout across the Pearl of the Orient?

It just makes me restless and frustrated to see our country so behind in ICT and its integration in education and governance. I believe, given the same opportunities, our kids can do equally well in making their millions. These days, it is quite clear where the money is going. In my humble opinion, access to ICT resources and opportunities will largely determine who will be the next big thing in Forbes Magazine. And that next person may just be 9 years old making apps for your Smartphones.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #13
(for September 10)

IMHO: Digital dignity and digital ego cannot exist apart from the real person

My partner posted a blog about digital dignity and proposed that it can be hurt. This digital dignity is supposed to be connected to a digital ego which exists virtually. Hence, one can digitally hurt someone without really hurting the real person (my deduction).

On his Facebook page, comments have been posted about this ephemeral (in my perspective) concept. I argued that digital dignity cannot exist apart from the real person represented by the digits. Moreover, one cannot argue that this dignity is inherent in that digits hence deserved to be respected.

His argument: In MMORPGs, there were instances that a character can be raped. Also, you may be great rivals online but when you see each other in person, so long as you don't know each other's character names online, there exists a separate ego in that "real environment" (my deduction from his arguments). But online, they may be hurting each other's digital ego or dignity.

But what is interesting for me is this: There have been fora on Universal Declaration of Human Rights and New Human rights include Digital Dignity. In one blog also, it says:

What amazes me is the total lack of concern regarding one’s basic ownership of one’s personal data. Why are we not paid when someone reads our data, stores our data, translates it into something compelling to advertisers and other third parties, and then sells it at incredibly high profit margins? Why are we not paid when a spammer sends to our email address or Twitter account unwanted emails about idiotic advertisements?

With that he proposed that persons and data are not free hence there is a need to recognize digital dignity. But still, I don't see any rational analysis that will prove that it exists. Don't we first prove its existence before we even talk about rights that arises from its existence thus the need of protecting it?

On a final note, this is what I commented:

This is stimulating--having triggered too many concepts: ego, digital, dignity, and reality. Oh, and the concept of a digital hurting, which is a witty oxymoron, methinks. In my opinion, there is no dichotomy--whether the ego is in the real or in the virtual environment, because it relates to only one person who is the point of reference. Not because a person is creating many personalities in his or her environment means that there is a need to distinguish such person. Hence, the hurting part cannot be digital (environment) but personal (source). If it is personal, it is not the dignity of the digits that is hurt but the person. My point being, there is no barrier between the digits and the person that represents it.

If my premises and conclusion are valid, then it will bring the train of thought to what Ms. Lorelyn mentioned about the perspective you will take depending on one's knowledge of the person, who contains/owns/has the ego, which can manifest in different environments. It cannot translate to a personal ego and a digital ego because it will not stand the rational/philosophical analysis (i.e. if p then q). That's like schizo. :p Unless we can apply dissociative identity disorder (DID) online.

In my humble opinion, when they say that defriending someone online hurts their digital ego, it really means you are hurting that person and not his or her digits.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #12
(for September 3)

IMHO: Ubiquity is achieved online

Ubiquity.

Among the millions and millions of website hosts, there is a need to collect the good ones. And because there are people who believe in this too, it's not difficult to find a collection of good and useful sites.

In my case, I found this article of Mashable useful--with the framework that one wants to be everywhere all at the same time. The operative word is self-publication and the internet can make your work outlive you or a century.

If you want to showcase YOUR food, artwork, collectibles, books, magazines, food and drink, music and video, software and video games and anything, even your own house and your life like The Truman show movie, you can find the perfect host. To cause a viral, you also have a lot of websites to do just that.

Personalize it.

Whether the internet promotes individualism or community, I haven't really read much literature on it. Only that I know that it promotes. And I like that it promotes self-expression. So when I read this article on websites where you can personalize things, I really thought "Wow, I can make my own bags and shoes online and purchase it! Hmm, but since I made the design, can I be charged only for the materials? Wait, who will own my design? Let's check the terms and conditions."

I like it not so much about personalizing stuff that makes me happy although that is part of it. I like it because it helps me stimulate my creativity and see things around me in a different light. Like I look at pens, tables, chairs, books, notebooks, etc and make me visualize it in a different form or appearance.

The Value of Ubiquity and Personality

In my humble opinion, it is increasing your social capital, among others. Not to mention physical capital and human capital which you can invest and reap its rewards, whether in the same form or not. The person will die but the URL can live forever. Or can't it?


Paulyn Duman
Blog #11 (for August 27)

IMHO: Choose to get acquired by Google, Yahoo, or Facebook if you still don't have that billion dollar baby

When Raina wrote her Billion Dollar Baby post, it got me thinking. This thing called the internet, manifested through this monitor in front of me, is the one of the richest sources of, well, riches. With all the apps being developed for social networking sites, with all the other social networking sites that sprouted and still are sprouting everywhere, and the million of dollars it can put in your bank account, a lot of people are thinking about the next big thing and we are all waiting for it.

Today, some people got richer. These are the owners of Slide which was acquired by Google for $182 million. At the other side of this story is Facebook acquiring $40-million worth of Social Networking Patents. Lesson is: If you can't create the next big thing just yet, create something that the present big thing/s might decide to acquire (and of course, it has to be from you).

Either that or you do something that will be considered viral that will catch the attention of online communities. Today, Prop 8 was declared unconstitutional and the Scribd account owner who posted the decision got the attention of the Scribd community. It is considered viral if it reaches 100,000 views within 24 hours. This year, some short films have caught the attention of Hollywood and gave them some $30 million-worth of contract. Not bad.

In my humble opinion, getting acquired and being viral are still a next-big-thing.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #10 (for August 20)

IMHO: Children and their parents should be given lessons on online security

Imagine Facebook having 500 million users. Imagine that among those users, criminals are also there probably just two degrees connected to you. You may have viewed their profiles or they may have viewed yours. Imagine someone could probably be browsing your albums now and saving your pictures for his or her own evil purposes.

When the news about the Facebook murderer came out in March, parents panicked. Before them, they see their child safe but virtually they don't know if they are. The panic button in Facebook was advocated but ruled out--committing only to improving the existing system which I am trying to follow now.

This need to do something about the existing system doesn't apply to FB alone. There are a lot of ways to connect with your children online and you want to know who are these people and what they are doing to your children.

How do you control it?



Having a 5-year old niece who plays games on Facebook really made me think about child security online. She doesn't only use Facebook but also Youtube, the latter more frequently than the former. She searches for insects, birds laying eggs, Barney, Toy Story, Barbie and whatever she wants to watch within her 10-minute attention span. When she does so, my mom or my dad is watching her. Sometimes, we ask her to write down on a sheet of paper the things she searched for. Of course, you can always check the browser's history to check what she has been up to.

At her school, they are taught how to use the computer, its parts, and how to take care of it. I haven't checked their curriculum for this year if online security is part it. In my humble opinion, parents should really start getting serious about this and should consider schools which take this seriously too. I have to look for materials on how to teach kids online security. If you got suggestions on this, please let me know.


Paulyn Duman
Blog #9 (for Aug.13)

IMHO: People should prioritize customizing privacy settings but should create their own "About me" site

There has a lot of talk about Facebook and its privacy settings. With more than 500 million friends now connected through what we call FB, there is a lot of potential through this in either building a person's image and reputation or totally wrecking it. As Robert Greene said,

Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation. Guard it with your Life.
Once you lose some of your reputation you are on a slippery slope. Protect your reputation while, at the same time, destroying your enemies' reputations.

But.

The action doesn't stop there. Instead of reacting to all attacks to your privacy, one should also consider making their own "about me" site or a source of information about themselves. Although you don't want the public to get some specific information about you, you don't want to the public to get also WRONG information about you.

Point is: In my humble opinion, you can control to a certain substantial extent the information you want the public to know about you.

Case in point: During the SONA forum at the UP College of Law, our Public Affairs Committee volunteers researched for the credentials of our speakers. Although one may argue that it is best that we just ask from the speakers these information, you cannot also discount the fact that some people will resort to just searching information about you on the net.

Result: Professor Hilbay's credentials that were found were 7 years obsolete while Representative Walden Bellos' credentials were at least 5 years obsolete. This goes without saying that the committee involved in the forum knows better next time to ask straight from the resource speaker what information they want to disclose. But this only proves my point here in this blog that people should consider what the internet says about who they are.


Credit: Thanks to my partner who has been very determined in organizing my virtual life (not only in terms of privacy settings but in terms of content and quantity as well). Although I still have to track all the social networking sites that I have, wittingly or unwittingly, subscribed to, it really makes me feel empowered and more secured to be able to, in a sense, "control" to an extent what strangers can get about me.

I need to check again how one applies for a credit card and see whether the information needed there are available in the net, say for example, from links derived from my name in the search engine. In the process, I need to know whether the information that is said about me in the net is something that I want the public to know.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #8

IMHO: People should stop blaming the internet

I read an article on The art of slow reading and laughed when I saw this:


Funny because I didn't even read the first line of the article and jumped straight to the comments.

Slow Reading vs Speed Reading

I enrolled in a class on Speed Reading before I entered law school. It taught me how to read fast and answer multiple choice questions afterward. What is the price of learning how to speed read? A relaxed eye muscle and a great way to address my attention deficit (disorder). Why does speed reading work for me? Because I learn through second reading which will not happen if I don't finish the whole thing first. When I read slowly, I get stuck at a word or a phrase and almost never finish anything. When I allow my finger or pen to guide my eyes, I finish the whole thing and when I re-read it, this time with my colorful highlights on the page, I see how useless those highlighted phrases are and note on the side that they are useless. But what really is the price of speed reading (without second reading)? Missing some very very specific details. And when they say the devil is in the detail, they were really being truthful.

The article mentioned that two researches concluded that "many of us no longer have the concentration to read articles through to their conclusion." I find myself skipping paragraphs of the SCRA and read only relevant paragraphs to the topic to which the case falls under. When the article said we don't have the concentration to reach the conclusion, I realized I don't read the cases' fallo very often. Do I blame (sweepingly) the internet for this?

Blaming the Internet

And I quote the article:

Which all means that although, because of the internet, we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual titbits, we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, contemplate, and relate all these facts to each other. And so, as Carr writes, "we're losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind. Mentally, we're in perpetual locomotion" (emphasis supplied).

No, I don't blame the internet. That's quite unfair. It has given me a new sense of home, where I can connect to people I care about and things that interest me. I feel like people who are 10,000 km away from me are just my neighbors. I say partly yes to this:

Hitchings does agree that the internet is part of the problem. "It accustoms us to new ways of reading and looking and consuming," Hitchings says, "and it fragments our attention span in a way that's not ideal if you want to read, for instance, Clarissa." He also argues that "the real issue with the internet may be that it erodes, slowly, one's sense of self, one's capacity for the kind of pleasure in isolation that reading has, since printed books became common, been standard".

In my humble opinion, the internet is not a problem. It is not even part of the issue. It is just one of those facts of life that one has to manage. It is a statement of fact: There is a tool called the internet.

Manage the users and the tool

Freedom is a computer application that locks you away from the internet on Mac or Windows computers for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom frees you from distractions, allowing you time to write, analyze, code or create. At the end of the offline period, Freedom allows you back on the internet. But paying $10 for it is discouraging. Discipline now has a price! Before I reached this part of this entry, I clicked on at least 10 other links and post things on Facebook and read the news at Inquirer.net. No, I am not complaining. Not even blaming these sites.

So really, what or who is the problem? It is everything but the users.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #7

IMHO: Knowledge about technology and neurotransmitters can help improve your relationships

When I over-analyze things, I always go back to what I know about Biopsychology and Social Psychology, at least in the first ten minutes. For example, when I am in love or feel a strong connection with one person, I tend to think that it is a function of oxytoxin and vasopressin in my brain and how this person can create that effect. These neurotransmitters, as I recall, can only last 1.8 to 2.5 years, which means after this period, the neurotransmitter for commitment should kick in or the relationship will take its toll (the itch). Or when I ask why I am almost perennially happy, almost never depressed, I think about norepinephrine and thank I have good stock.

So why do I consider these things? Because I consider science (hard and soft) and technology in keeping and maintaining my relationships. For example, there are things that I really don't understand about men. I tried to decode them and realize that they are in fact very simple. This is not without basis. Their brains are lateralized (their corpus callosum, that which connects the right and the left brain, is thinner than women) which is one of the reasons why they can't multitask, and by knowing this, I know it will be very stressful for them to have a conversation while watching TV. If you know things like these, you know when is the best time to talk to them about things that matter to you without appearing to confrontational.

Aside from knowing that men's brain maps show similar patterns when they just had marijuana and when they see a very beautiful lady (Reader's Digest article) and that there are certain colors that have subtle effects on their brain, which can calm or make them aggressive depending on what you want them to feel, it is important that you know how they react to technology too.

To illustrate: I went to a Globe hub and asked which is more popular, Super Duo (unlimited calls) or Super Txt (unlimited text) and they said it's the latter. I tried an experiment and realized that in the past 3 months that I subscribed to Super Duo, most of my friends aren't into picking up calls. However, even given this apprehension to picking up calls, among my friends, the guys pick up the phone more than the gals (and they also call more than text). Is it because calls are more intrusive and demanding and we don't want to feel like we are being demanded to give attention right away? Is it because through texting, one can control what time to reply and can think first of what to say to whatever that message/call was for? Or is it more sociological than psychological--that we have this culture of texting than calling, so much that we are the text capital of the world?

With this experience, I subscribed to Super Txt to text my female friends and use 235, 236, 232 Globe functions to make cheaper calls to male friends.

But funny thing is, they reply to FB messages or emails faster than through their mobile phone so if you know this, you can choose what media to use in helping maintaining your relationships. At this point, I stop over-analyzing. The synapses in my brain can't handle it anymore.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #4

Other blogs:
IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven
IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception
IMHO: Media diet is good for students and teachers

IMHO: Media diet is healthy for students and teachers

When one of our ICT classmates (Rania J) posted about Droste effect and the problems of Wikipedia as depicted by XKCD Comics, I concluded I need to media diet -- cutting on gaming, watching TV, listening to the radio, microblogging, blogging, texting, emailing, and my favorite appetite, surfing the internet. This kind of surfing is not making the waves for my acquisition of discipline and productivity and better grades.

As a usual consequence of this "fascinated clicking", I will need to digress (as always). These are some of the reasons why I go on board and surf. You may want to try them too. Disclaimer: They might not be healthy for you.

SELF-MEDICATE YOURSELF.

I don't go to doctors right away. Below are safe sites to go to when you don't feel like going to the doctor because you think you're not dying anytime soon anyway (these sites are based on an issue of Reader's Digest):


www.myhealth.gov.ph
www.moh.gov.sg
www.webmd.com
medicineplus.gov
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
www.cochrane.org.au/library
scholar.google.com
www.patientslikeme.com
www.labtestonline.org


DON'T FACEBOOK WAY TOO MUCH.

Instead, waste your time reading other stuff. Below are sites that sure will waste some hours. I'm not even talking about RPGs or browser games which can waste days and lives.

Am I right or what?

Professional Heckler will sure give you that sense of political correctness, or the lack of it. You need to read this like SCRA.
Mental Floss knows you want to.
Maddox says you can't disagree with this.
27bslash because the kitten is lost.
Tunay na Lalake ka ba?


What's out there?

Dark Roast Blend
Mashable

SCRA should illustrate this way!

Questionable Content is a favorite!
Death Note
Cyanide & Happiness
PHD Comics
Order of the Sticks

So you BitTorrent? Then you should know the Subpoena Defense! Downloading movies for free sure is fun but illegal.


And now back to topic. See how much one can binge on one medium alone? This media-binge can cause short attention spans. But the irony of it all is that, although it lessens your attention span, it still makes you stay online for hours, but only for a few minutes per web page! So finally, why is media diet healthy? In my humble opinion, because it can spell much difference between productivity and stagnation. You don't want to rust on things that really matter in real life (like memorizing the Rules of Court). It can improve your coherence and mastery of a subject too!

I will read on media diet later. Ooops. I meant cases. I wonder if the government can implement a law which regulates media consumption. Unconstitutional? If not, really, how?


The girl with ADD:
Paulyn Duman
Blog #3
Go Germany!

Other blogs:
IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven
IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception
IMHO: Media diet is good for students and teachers

IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception

Some areas at the College of Law such as the first floor library, some classrooms at the 2nd floor and the Malcolm theater are considered dead zones.

Why does the UP College of Law have poor cellphone signal reception inside its halls?

There are websites found in the internet, thanks to Google, that tell the searchers the answers.


Among these, I find having thick walls and old buildings as the possible reasons for this problem. Imagine if the building is made of materials in 1950s when the UP College of Law was built in Diliman after being transferred from Manila, it must be really old and may contain "rebar" which interferes with the signal. There may also be other materials found in the concrete which may not facilitate receiving signal from one's service provider. However, found online too are solutions to this problem such as installing signal boosters or antenna at the college.


In my humble opinion, we need to install these facilities in the College because the advantages of having signal in the classrooms outweigh the disadvantages (recall that in the UP College of Engineering, two classes on different dates were robbed while the professors were giving their lectures). If the professors want their students to turn off their phones and not check them during class, they just have to tell them to do so. Being able to make emergency calls or send emergency texts are, for me, non-negotiable in colleges. Another reason why I want to have signal inside Malcom--during summer internship at the Office of Legal Aid, I had to go out of the office/building or place my cellphone at the windowsill so that I can receive texts from my clients. This was not good.

Should the Building Committee now include this in their next agenda? Will the students agree to improving the signal reception at the college? Or to ask the better question, will the Dean and the professors agree to it? Why or why not?

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Trivia: Do you know that places where there are no signal hurt your phone's battery?


Don't be surprised if your battery depletes faster inside Malcolm Hall!

Turn off your phone in areas with no reception (such as a subway or remote area) or in a roaming area, since constantly searching for service depletes the battery fairly quickly. Some phones have an automatic power save feature, but it takes about 30 minutes with no service to kick in. By then, much battery power has been used.


Paulyn Duman
Blog #2


Other blogs:
IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven
IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception
IMHO: Media diet is good for students and teachers

IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven

Church traditions are entering the online community. Recently, e-burol and e-libing --services offered by St. Peter Life Plan Inc. which allow friends and relatives take part in the wake and interment of a deceased loved one--intrigued people traveling along Quezon Avenue. This solicits mixed reviews and feelings since it substitutes for the physical presence of the relatives who are, by Filipino tradition at least, ought to be there, physically present, at the wake. This also poses the question "how much privacy can this facility offer?" At the company's site, it says that not everyone will be allowed to view the online service since a username and password provided by the family members will be required from the users. However, I ask, can the users record it? Can they eventually send it to other relatives who were not able to attend online or offline? Can this be posted on Facebook? Do family members agree on some terms for the file? Is the file a family property? Who owns the file?

Which brings me to another ecclesiastical sacrament: Confession.

In 2008, CNN wrote an article about the emergence of online confessions--not the type you read in Cosmopolitan and FHM--but consist of the same stories only that when one narrates, one asks for forgiveness. To be absolved of your sins is your only ticket to communion, at least for Catholics. Hence, people, or at least me, were told to receive this sacrament at least once a month. But for a busybody like a law student, repentance for sins committed may not be convenient amidst 5000-page of cases. I asked a priest friend if he allows online confession and I was told that the Vatican does not approve of it. "Have discipline and order and put going to the sacrament part of your schedule."

I have nothing against writing your sins in your computer, whether you hit send or not. You try to unburden where it feels like you have to, be it inside the church, while walking around the academic oval or before you go to sleep. When the spirit moves you, you allow it. When you are wrong and you want to admit it, typing it on the keyboard may not only be cathartic but also healthy.

But does the priest have the right to publish your email? Does the church own the copy of the online confessions? Will they violate not only their priesthood vows but also the law in their disclosure? Can the online confessions be admitted as evidence and be not protected by privileged communication? Can it be used as an excerpt in some of the priests' publications such as blogs, articles and books? But the question has been answered by the Vatican--no to online confessions.

Forgiveness cannot be downloaded nor sent through email or chat. At least for the Vatican. I have nothing against it. If I am wronged, I may also have preferences as to how a person would best say sorry, like return what he or she does not own. I would prefer too that my loved ones surround me when I depart this beautiful world. Because there are some things that cannot be sent through IP addresses.

By Paulyn Duman
Blog #1


Other blogs:
IMHO: Digitized sins are forgiven
IMHO: UP College of Law should improve its cellphone signal reception
IMHO: Media diet is good for students and teachers