New (second hand) Toy

Went to Greenhills last week to trade off my old Palm Tungsten 3 unit (along with the keyboard and the leather cover) for a second hand Palm Lifedrive unit.


The Lifedrive is an old (discontinued Palm product). It has a 4GB hard disk drive, which can work as a portable external hard drive. The unit also includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi features. The unit also includes palm eReader program, Documents To Go (to read Word, Power Point and Excel files), and WiFile in its software package.

I grew tired of my old T3 unit because of the weak battery, the lack of Wi-Fi features, and the fact that the unit is not compatible with most SD cards. I had several important files erased accidentally when I transferred them to my SD card. I tried installing the upgrades and patches to fix the glitch in the T3's card reader hardware, but it still keeps erasing the files I put in the card.

At first, I was reluctant to buy a Palm Lifedrive since I had gone through the forums and heard a lot of negative feedbacks about the product. But then there were a couple of posts that assured me that the unit was OK only after (1) installing a couple of patches and updates, and (2) making sure that you don't import data or softwares from old Palm units to the Lifedrive.

Actually, I'm satisfied with the T3/Lifedrive tradeoff. The Lifedrive seller at Greenhills was willing to purchase my Tungsten 3 unit for 2.5k and have me pay an additional 4k to get the Lifedrive.

It took me three days to 'master' the Lifedrive, fixing the bugs and making sure the unit has the proper programs running. So far it is working great and all the features are performing well within the desired parameters.

Notes and References on Techincal Writing

Here are some references and notes to help Technical Writers improve on their work.

(1) An online PDF article that describes the basic principles of good writing. I think writers and researchers would find the tips useful, specially if they are doing business and technical reports. Most of the rules are simple things that writers often forget or ignore.

(2) A website that reveals the truths of technical writing. In order for writers to produce better writing, they must acknowledge three basic facts: (a) Recognize that the customer is king, (b) Good documentation is important and demands a full partnership between writers and programmers, and (c) Recognize that technical writing is a teacher/student relationship.

New Universal (3 out of 5)

I just finished reading Marvel comic's the six-part mini-series written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Salvador Larroca. This series was inspired the 1986 New Universe setting created by Marvel.

The original setting was supposed to be a "world outside your window". It provided a more realistic portrayal of super-powered humans, and how their actions would have grave, realistic consequences to the world around them.

I loved the original premise of the New Universe, it shows what happens when normal people suddenly develop paranormal powers. Unlike traditional comic book stories, characters in the New Universe live in "real time". Roughly a month would pass in every monthly issue. Some of the main characters died and grow old.

Back then, I collected two of the original eight series -- namely Psi-Force and DP7. Psi-Force deals with a group of adolescents gifted with psychic powers, trying to hide from people who are out to capture them. DP7 deals with another group of paranormals based in an institute, trying to accept their gifts and live out their lives the best way they could.

Compared to the New Universe of the 1980s, this current version is a disappointment. I have no problem with the art and the graphics. Salvador Larroca did a fantastic job. Unfortunately the plot development was deliberately slow. And for a six part mini series, New Universal ends with a cliff hanger and a lot of unanswered questions. I think this new series appeals more to the fans of the New Universe series. New readers would probably find the New Universal a dragging bore.

Despite my issues with the plot, I like Warren Ellis's re-interpretation of the world. So far, he has introduced major characters from the Starbrand, Justice, Nightmask, and Codename: Spitfire series. Each of these paranormals play a pivotal role in the next evolution of the world and the collective human consciousness.

Overall, I gave the series a 3 out of 5 rating -- for excellent art work, wonderful characterization and poor story development.

The horror that was Tagaytay

Yesterday was Good Friday. I asked my parents if they wanted to get out of the house and unwind a bit. They told me that most of the malls and establishments were closed. Then I suggested Tagaytay and the two of them agreed immediately.

We went to Tagaytay that afternoon. Left the house around 12:45 pm and zoomed our way pass EDSA, Roxas Blvd, and Coastal Road. The roads were deserted and we were in Cavite in less than thirty minutes.

Arrived at Tagaytay after an hour. And the place was one huge traffic mess. I felt like I was back in Manila, with all the motorcycles, SUVs, and cars inching our way through the main road.

We went strolling at the Picnic Grove, along with a hundred (or maybe a thousand) other people. My dad brought his old Kodak camera and we started posing at the observatory deck, overlooking the tiny islet/volcano.

I suggested going to the other side of the city, but my parents gave up on the traffic. They became impatient and decided to go back home. But before we left, we bought some fruits and veggies from the roadside vendors (while waiting for the traffic to subside).

We left the city after waiting for an hour in the traffic. It was all smooth driving after that.

Working with Exe-Learning

I'm posting this entry to remind myself how to navigate through exe-learning, particularly exporting an e-learning content into an HTML format.

Once the content has been uploaded into exe-learning, click File > Export > Website to convert the material into a web page. Select Self-Contained Folder if you want the contents to be located inside a specific directory. Select Zip file if you want the contents to be zipped together.



Next you have to specify where the folder or zip file will be located. Once you specify the location of the generated files, exe-learning will convert your contents into a sample Web Site.



To access the sample Web Site, go to the location of the generated files and click on the Index.html file. You will be able to see the contents of your e-learning course in an HTML format.

Writing an RFP

...apparent miscommunication again between the managers and the higher ups.... I was lucky to spot these mistaken assumptions even before the actual work began... it would be much more difficult when the project has already begun...

What is an RFP (Request for Proposal)?

How do you write it?

When Street children attack...

A few Saturdays ago, Jen and I were traveling around Manila and we had the most unfortunate encounter with a few street children.

Incident #1

We were riding a jeep going to SM Manila. Jen brought some take-out food and we thought of having lunch at the mall. When the jeep arrived at City Hall, this scrawny boy suddenly jumped into the vehicle and started brushing off everyone's shoes and sandals (note: he wasn't polishing or cleaning, merely touching everyone's shoes with a dirty rag pretending to clean them). Then the boy began to beg.

Jen and I got out of the jeep and the boy followed us down. He kept pestering Jen, touching her elbows and looking at the food she was carrying.

"Sa akin na lang yung pagkain" (I can have the food?)

I was about to say something when another boy came out of nowhere shouting at the boy who was pestering us.

"Wag mo bigyan yan ng pagkain, magnanakaw yan!" (Don't give him food! He is a thief!)

The boy #1 continued to pester us (ignoring his companion's accusations) and boy #2 continued accuse his companions of stealing things. They were like two annoying houseflies buzzing around you, shouting and begging.

Jen finally got fed up and yelled at the two boys. I pulled her away and quickly strolled towards the mall. The boys then forgot about us and began to curse each other along the pedestrian lane.

Incident #2

That night we were driving home and we reached an intersection where there were three street children running around.

One of them (a healthy looking 13 or 14 year old boy) began to clean our windshields. Jen and I waved at the kid, telling him not to wipe our car anymore. But the kid didn't take a hint. He continued to wipe the windows with a dirty rag.

We told him that we didn't have any money and he should just wipe the window of the other cars (there were a lot of fancier looking cars at the back). He simply refused to leave and continued to beg, saying that he hasn't eaten anything for the day.

When he finally realized that we were not going to give him anything. He began to curse and loudly tap the car window. I continued to shake my head and said that we are not going to give him anything. The boy then called another one of his companions and told his buddy to beg on the other side of the car.

Good thing the traffic light turned green and we started to roll away. The boy continued cursing and finally slammed the palm of his hand into our window.

--------

It would have been easier if I gave these kids money or spare change. But then again, these kids might just spend the money on drugs or something. I think that giving money to them is not really helping them, it just makes them even more dependent on other people.

I'd rather give money and support to charitable institutions like Caritas or Tzu Chi, where I know the donations I give would really make a difference in the lives of these kids.

My next project...

...sounds interesting. Writing about a business's process and documenting it for administrative and marketing purposes. This would entail a lot of research but I'm up for the challenge...

Process Documentation: What is End to End Anyway?

By Sandra Lusk, Senior Business Process Management Consultant

Documenting business processes has become an important initiative for many Organizations. The advantages of identifying, understanding and evaluating key business processes to determine their effectiveness in meeting business objectives has been recognized for some time. There are many methodologies and tools available today to aid in capturing information about how a business performs its day-to-day activities in order to achieve desired efficiencies and cost reductions. A common approach integral to most methodologies is to develop an end-to-end process flow. An important question to be answered before starting is what does end-to-end really mean? For the head of a Department it may mean viewing a business process from the time it enters the Department’s control until it is either completed or handed off to another Department or external Organization. It may mean only those processes owned and controlled by the Department. For a Division Executive, it may include all the Departments in the Division and be a means to identify gaps and overlaps to determine improvement opportunities. And yet another perspective is that of the CEO who wants to use a process-centric approach to the business rather than the typical functional view and achieve a means to assess the impacts of strategic decisions on the business processes critical to their Organization.

Click here to read the entire article.

Converting to PDF

Testing this new PDF converter... so far it looks okay.

Sneak Peek into Manila's High Society

Got to read this blog thanks to Sunshi and Joelle.

Although I do not know anything about the lives of these socialites, but from the things people say... they must have a real twisted view on the world (and on themselves).

Whether it is true or not, I think these people would make an interesting case study, at least on how they function as an "elite" subculture and how they treat people outside their cliques and less privileged people.