Bagyong Ondoy Aftermath

We just went to De Castro, Pasig a while ago to visit a friend. The place is obviously devastated by the tropical storm (Yes, Ondoy is only a tropical storm, not a typhoon).

Muds are everywhere. Some furnitures are also outside and trying to be dry. Residents are cleaning there house. There are no water, there are no electricity.

Also, they said, the relief goods are given only in the evacuation centers. So how the residents that do not want to abandon there houses get some relief goods? The answer is no way. Until the relief goods are given house to house. Which is not so possible.

I noted some effects of Bagyong Ondoy / Typhoon Ketsana and here are those:

• No electricity (But I think, my friend said that they now have electricity).
• No drinking water (No water is coming out of their faucet).
• Populated evacuation centers.
• Health problems. Especially those that are in the evacuation centers.
  
• School related problems (One week of vacation is too much).
• Communicating problems (Signals in flooded areas is near to impossible).
• Recovery (Money is involved in this problem).
• Basic necessities problems.

I think, there are other effects. But above are the ones that I really noted.

Kenneth's Blog with Webisodes

Just posting to endorse my friend's blog. I do not know what is the main theme of his blog but he is posting something he called as "Webisodes". I think he will post some kind of novel he created in his mind parts by parts.

To see the homepage of his blog, click here.

To see his some kind of introduction in his Webisodes, click here.

To see the episode one of his Webisodes, click here.

Enjoy!

Ms. Anita Ong shirts.

Pins are small, shirts are not.

"Be proud, wear your pride. Wear Ong Baby shirts now!"

Sorry Ms. Ong. :D

Ms. Anita Ong pins for everyone.

"Are you an Anita Ong survivor? Be proud, wear your pride! Wear Ong Baby pins now."

Surviving Ms. Ong in any math subjects is not a joke. So, I created a pin for everyone (based on the idea of Ali).

I wish, in the future, Ms. Ong will give a pin like this for the survivors of her subject.

By the way, I survived CCSCAL1 (Calculus 1 for CCS students) with her as my teacher.

Infinite loop blog.

Check out the infinite loop in this blog.

Don't worry, this will not harm you computer.

Infinite loop here.

DLSU Entrance Exam Moved

The DLSU Entrance Exam for October 4, 2009 has been moved to October 25, 2009 to give way to the conduct of the bar exams.

More info here.
DLSU website here.

Donate to Red Cross (Bagyong Ondoy)

Want to donate without such a burden?
You can donate through SMS to Red Cross.

Just text: RED /*space*/ (AMOUNT)
and send it to 2899 for Globe and 4483 for Smart

Possible amount I think is, 5, 25, 50 and 100 pesos.

Example:
RED 50
to 2899.

I just donated 25 pesos. :D

No classes for tomorrow.

No classes for tomorrow in Metro Manila area, September 28, 2009. And it is according to CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles.

Let us wish goodluck to all the people affected by "Bagyong Ondoy".
And let us pray for everyone's safety.

IUPC cancelled!

We are almost complete in DLSU prepared and ready to go to Ateneo. But after a time waiting for our ride, XT and Sir Rigan texted us. The IUPC sponsored by CompSAt is cancelled.

With that text, we become confused. Our first competition is cancelled and moved.

Maybe, it is not the right time for us to compete.

Wrong Google spelling.

Just searching something using Google Philippines when I found a misspelled Filipino word.

Google just misspelled the word "larawan" which means "picture" into "larawanng". Just a slight misspelled word.

Even Google is not perfect!

Even Google is having a hard time spelling.

CompSAt on Saturday.

We, XL, Kenneth and me, and two other teams were chosen to represent DLSU in the upcoming competition in Ateneo. And I think, an organization in ADMU called CompSAt will host the competition. We do not have the idea of what we will do at CompSAt, the only sure thing is we will program.

Program like there is no tomorrow.

Program until we can.

Program with our best.

This competition can be the break of Emespee Coders.

"Emespee Coders" is the team name we use for the Imagine Cup 2010 and we decided to use that name for CompSAt.

Goodluck to us!

Excited for Saturday!

My Problem Theory

All problems have numerous solutions. Not all solutions are the same, there are good solutions, bad solution, best solution, and worst solution. But we have those instinct to solve the problem as soon as possible, and sometimes, by doing it, we will find the worst solution.

Then if we encounter that problem again, too lazy to find another solution, and because we think, that the previous solution is good, we will use it to solve the same problem. And we will do it again and again.

Therefore, that worst solution will be stuck in history books and future will think that it is the best solution for that problem. Thus making the real best solution undiscovered forever.

Immortal text, Sulitxt, Unlitxt. Compared!

I saw a billboard in EDSA this morning when I was going to school. It is about the Immortal Text feature of Globe, with the tagline of "The first with no expiry."

I tried it, and it is also send to 8888 with the message of IMMORTAL10. It also reply with a familiar message, saying that your request is now processing. Then after a few moments, I received a message like this:

"You can now use IMMORTALTXT! Enjoy 50 texts to Globe/TM plus 10 texts to other networks, NO EXPIRY! Must maintain P1 to use the service. To check the status of ur IMMORTALTXT, txt IMMORTALBAL to 8888, P1/inquiry. DTI#4462s09, promo til Oct. 30, 2009."

I was shocked when I read the last sentence, it is only till Oct. 30, Sayang! May end yung promo.

So now, let us compare it with the other two most popular feature of Globe.

*Texts to other networks

You can see that Immortal text is unlimited in duration, it just fulfill there tagline, "The first with no expiry." Your 10 pesos will be times five and plus ten texts to other networks. Fifty texts are few for some addict texters but the no expiry is good for those who rarely use there cellphones.

For those addict texters that can text more than 100 a day, I recommend to use UNLITXT20. For those texters that can not exceed 100 texts in a day, Sulitxt15 is right for you. But if you rarely text and only using it for important events, use IMMORTAL10 to increase the text capability of your load.

Three features, three different uses.

Presenting XNA!

This past few days, I've been busy for something new. For something that is really important to me, because this is something that we will use for IC 2010. I am busy learning XNA.

XNA is a set of tools with a managed runtime environment provided by Microsoft that facilitates computer game development and management, as defined by Wikipedia.

XNA allows me to learn more in the field of programming. Because it can only be used by coding through C# which is something new for me. So, learning the basics of C#, I started coding in XNA.

XNA is used to create games and can be played through Windows OS, Zune or XBOX 360. Yes, you read it right, if you have an XBOX 360, you create your own game for it.

If you want to try, just go to this site, register (optional), download XNA and Visual C#, and start to create your own game. And it is just as easy as counting 1 - 2 - 3.

Maybe, in the near future, you will have your own game studio and thanking me for introducing XNA to you!

Goodluck creating you own game!

About me.

Last updated March 9, 2011.

Hi! I'm Juan Paolo S. Balbin, but just call me Jolo.

Right now, I'm still studying at De La Salle University. I'm taking up Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with specialization in Software Technology and also Master of Science in Computer Science. Yes, I'm taking it simultaneously because I managed to be part of the ladderized MS program of our college.

I am a developer, a programmer, and a computer scientist.

Read more below (outdated)...

This blog is up for almost three months now, and I still do not have a proper introduction of myself. I only have a brief introduction in the profile page of my blogger account, which is not good enough. So now, let me introduce myself.

"I am a somebody in the midst of everbody."

I am Juan Paolo S. Balbin, but only few knows my real name, because my friends always call me Jolo and that nickname will be stuck to my acquaintances. They even do not bother to know the real reason behind my nickname. I grew up in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. I studied there from pre-school to high school. And now, I am a Computer Science student with a specialization in Software Technology in De La Salle University.

I started doing weird stuffs in computers when I was second year high school, but I now how to use it since I think two years old. First, it was HTML. Then CSS. After those, my computer teacher discovered me and let me to compete in a competition. I was able to join the CAL Battle of ICT Wizards, reached till the National level and be a sixth placer in the Web Designing Category. That competition is like a breakthrough for me that attracted me to learn more things about computers. I graduated high school with some basic knowledge in HTML, CSS, Java Script, Flash and Visual Basic.

I really never had a real hardcore programming experience not until I reached college. During my first year in DLSU, I learned to program in C (two of my projects can be found here) and in Java. Now, a second year student, I can say that I am literate in C++ and C# and also know SQL and networking in Java.

I still have more to learn, but I love programming. Still, I can't get high grades in any of my programming courses. It is because I am not good in written exams and even programming courses have written exams. I would rather have numerous programming projects than numerous written exams.

To set aside my programming cravings, I also like photography. In fact, I wanted to buy a DSLR and looking forward to turn this blog into a little bit of a photoblog.

I also can defend myself if fight arises. I have a high blue belt in Tae Kwon Do, and stops before reaching low red with unnecessary reasons. Too bad, only few months of training and I can be a black belter. I also managed to fight in three different contest and winning a bronze medal in one of those.

I am really not in love to so many things, only computers and photography. But random sampling (only few knows the real meaning behind this) is also a hobby for me. I am also a fan of Taylor Swift (her eyes is so loved), and I think I almost have all songs of her.

I also think that I am good at formulating strategies but having a very hard time applying it. It is like I can be a good coach but not the player.

I also am into blogging, but not into writing especially in grammar. But still, I want to practice with the use of this blog, because I believe that practice makes perfect.

To close this introduction, you will notice that I did not mention stuffs about girls (even I mentioned one, you will probably did not notice it), it is because I am not into girls right now. I am still not ready to enter a serious relationship and I still need to accomplish many things before it, and trust me, you don't want to here that so many things.

Another thing to mention, I love computers, especially programming. But please, don't ask me about circuits. Please, not circuits.

If you want to know me more, you can visit my Multiply and my Plurk. Feel free to add me.

I just can't help but to post this.

Girls are like apples. :D

Got this from Mikko.

And because of this post, I need to add one category in my labels. :|

Girls are like

apples on trees. The best

ones are at the top of the tree.

The boys don't want to reach for

the good ones because they are afraid

of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they

just get the rotten apples from the ground

that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples

at the top think something is wrong with

them, when in reality, they're amazing.

They just have to wait for the right

boy to come along, the one

who's brave enough

to climb

all the way

to the top

of the tree.

really nice, right?

Sometimes, IBM.

I experienced two technology flaw in just a day. First, the server of La Salle is down, then the LTO is offline.

Let's start with my school, DLSU. Their server has crashed because a combination of students that are viewing their grades and teachers that are still uploading the grades are simultaneously accessing it and I think, that they can not serve those huge number of counts.

So, the server has crashed. Is that a major problem? Yes. Why?

They could have avoid it. Last term or since my whole stay in DLSU, we have the so called course card day, where grades are given individually with the use of a card. And later will be uploaded to our My La Salle account.

So, what happended? We do not know the real issue on this, but they removed the course card day and just set a deadline for teachers to upload the grades online. The deadline is September 8, 8:00 pm. The tendency is, the students will try to view their grades in that time. Yes, the students, the whole DLSU students.

The DLSU students are accesing the server that I think can not hold even a year in one college (As far as I know, we also experienced server crashes during enrollment which is scheduled one college per day). Many students plus the DLSU server equals to crash.

Yes, I am also one of the students that wanted to have a course card day.

IBALIK ANG COURSE CARD DAY!

Enough for that first rant. Sorry DLSU, this is just what I think and my conclusions. I do not made any research about this. Correct me if I'm wrong.

For the LTO, I went their to get a non professional driver's license. But, what I do not know is that my student's permit is expired. And I still need to get a new student's permit. What's the use of getting a new student's permit? It is like graduating in high school and you just do not go immediately in college. And if applying the LTO regulations, you have graduated in high school but not applied for college, so you need to go back to high school. To break it down:

student's permit > not applied immediately for higher license > get new student's permit

high school > not applied immediately for college > go back to high school

which is totally not right!

OKAY, but still, I followed their regulations, I applied for a new student's permit. But the moment I passed my papers, they said that they are offline. I do not know what is that offline means, but I think, it means that they have no connection to the central LTO or something like that. Again, another server problem. And that problem is still up even all of the people there including me surrendered waiting. They could have think of a better solution.

Because I am pissed of with there service, I just thought of two solutions.

1. One server per office

2. Manual encoding

Maybe, the first one is not that applicable, it costs too much.

The second one, is like reversing to those times without computers. But they still can use the technology we have today, in a different way. They can manually encode those applicant's information and then send it to the main office after office hours. I think that it is better than let the people wait for NOTHING!

After experiencing those, I just think another IBM that can happen, the computerized voting in the Philippines. I wish I will be wrong, but I have a hunch that it will not be successful.

You know, sometimes, it's better manual.

Spending some time with Ubuntu.

I installed Ubuntu the day after Windows 7 conquer my laptop. I really reserved a partition in my hard disk so I can place Ubuntu.

At first, it was a trial and error, but after some time I managed to be used to it. But I still having a hard time messing up with the terminal (Linux's command prompt), which I don't usually use in a Windows OS (Except in programming).

I'm really in love with the 3d desktop that the Ubuntu has with the use of Compiz. It was so cool.


You will see above the 3d desktop cube. With the music player of Ubuntu and Plurk in two different workspaces. Really COOL, huh!

Also, Ubuntu, or Linux doesn't need the burden of installing anti-virus that is not really anti. :D Linux is not affected by viruses where Windows is very very very vulnerable. And you just save a space for your hard disk for some more important purposes.

The Ubuntu start up sound is not so distrubing, like of Windows XP sound, that when you turn-off your laptop with a max sound and turn it on in a classroom or in a very quiet location, you will caught there attention and people will keep staring at you. :D

Ubuntu is free! It is better to go Ubuntu than download some pirated Windows OS in your friendly neighborhood torrent.

So, spend some time with Ubuntu, and you will know that what I'm saying is true.

Code Snippet and Auto Typing code

I wanted to post code snippets here in blogspot, but this site has no built in feature to do that. So, I downloaded Syntax Highlighter which I found in the internet.

It was good, I managed to work it out and post my code. But, editing it is hard. Also, formatting of my other blog post are affected because of that convert line breaks option that I changed.

So, I decided to just upload my code in the internet and download it there to view it.

I deleted my last post that contains the code snippet that I'm talking about. If you still want it, you can download it here. It is the program code that Auto Types.

Also, if you want to change the string that it types, you can change it in this part,

"char ch[] = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".toCharArray();"

It is in the line 50 of the code.

The java code specified is the one that I use here.

Study the code and experiment, it can offer you a lot of possibilites.

Windows 7.

I finished installing Windows 7 yesterday. It was the first time that I installed a non XP Operating System. And doing it is so different than the Windows XP set up. It has a GUI that you can point and click. Because it is a new experience, I was a bit nervous because I might delete the important files in my back up hard disk.

Luckily, I succesfully installed Windows 7. At first I was amazed because I don't need to install the necessary drivers and only three unknown base devices were not installed. But I think, I do not need those three devices that are still unknown.

Windows 7 looks like Vista but way COOLER! But, the problem, I still not used to Vista because I only use Windows XP. And I shifted straight to Windows 7.

Preview of Windows 7

I also have a pros and cons for this OS.

Pros:

- the Aero is coooool!

- some drivers are installed automatically.

- I think it's fast.

- it has really cool features.

- it is new.

Cons:

- I am still not used to it.

- I don't like the display of all programs in start menu. I still prefer the XP's All Programs view.

- not free. If not because of free Microsoft products from MSDNA, I will not have a chance to obtain a legal copy of Windows.

- there are still some programs that is not compatible to Windows 7.

- as of now, I think that folder options is only available in the Control Panel. And if you want to unhide a folder, you still need to go to Control Panel which can take a little bit of time. UPDATE: I found it. The folder options is in the Organize button. :D

- the close window is too far for me in tha taskbar when you right click a running program.

I still do not have a chance to explore Windows 7 fully. But even if. Windows 7 is one OS worth to get. :D