Standards of Degrees & Diplomas Hit a Monumental Low: PISAY.

It certainly bugged me to hear, read actually, that there has been a minutely publicized case about a graduate of Pisay (FYI: that's Philippine Science High School) who allegedly was allowed to graduate (i have a self editing comment here, I'd rather keep to myself!) and get his/her diploma/certificate even though he/she had flunked a Math subject. Flunked meaning a 5.0 mark. That's a little unbelievable if you ask me because generally, a Pisay student can only flunk if and when he is really undeniably and unbelievably terrible with the subject and given all the possible opportunities to pull his/her grades up like remedial classes and exams, special assignments, etc., he/she still manages to outdo the dumbest person on earth on the level of stupidity. Or, in the simplest explanations, he/she just didn't do anything - not one assignment, not one project, not one quiz or long exam, not one periodical exam. Not a single requirement accomplished.

Having "slow" people in Pisay is actually not probable because of the tight screening processes that hopeful graduating Grade 6 students hurdle. First and foremost is the {read on} renowned two-layer screening test consisting of both abstract reasoning and non-abstract subjects like, of course, Science and Math. Because you have to pass two tests, more or less the institution already gets a really good sample of filtered brains. Alas, there may have been something wrong with this one case - maybe he/she has short/middle term memory loss, dyslexia or something else? How about that?

This incident has made quite a fuss in the Pisay community because the batch also vouched for the "diligence" of the abovementioned graduate, which was honored because apparently, the person graduated and acquired a diploma. Ironically, the diploma itself states that it certifies that the person, whose name is indicated therein, has COMPLIED WITH ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE/INSTITUTION awarding the certificate. I don't think a 5.0 in Math actually qualifies as compliance to all requirements.

I'd rather not indulge myself in ranting about how unfair it feels or appears to all other alumni of all branches of Pisay, needless to say, I'm quite disappointed that the respected authorities governing the institution just let it pass. I hope there was no money involved because that will, in my opinion, simplify (not complicate) the case since it would only mean the corrupt intentions of our officials has already gone deep into the institutions that educate our youth to be the next generation of leaders.

Shame on the Director of Pisay who let this happen.
Shame on the Teachers because they did not take a strong stand against what was happening.
Shame to the batchmates because they vouched for a person I don't believe they truly know well enough.
Shame to the graduate with a 5.0 mark. Well, it's obvious what you're supposed to be ashamed of. Duh.


for the posts of the teachers concerned with this issue, go to these links:
Ito na ba ang Value ng Pisay Diploma?
ATTENTION: Batch 2008! Ito na ba ang gusto nyong Maging Value ng Pisay Diploma?
The Value of a Pisay Diploma
...

Earth Hour, March 2008

It's all over the news, the world will be in darkness for an hour tonight, March 29, from 8pm to 9pm!

This is to support 7 continents and 6.6 billion people to take one little step towards conserving energy and trying to drive down global warming. 'Coz let's face it, it is quite hot nowadays... and sometimes a bit extremely cold. The earth is turning bipolar, people! {read on...}

The 'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley and its organizers are hoping that this global initiative will "encourage people to be more aware of their energy usage, knowing that producing electricity pollutes the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels which are contributing to global warming. "Switching the lights off for an hour is not going to make a dent in global emissions," organiser Charles Stevens, of the environmental group WWF, told AFP.

Cities officially involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver. - I wonder why Philippines didn't register as "officially involved"... but we're participating, right?

Although this seems a small act with a large heart, if you do analyze it just a bit more, you'd realize that if the whole world turned off their lights just for one hour every day or every week, it will surely make a huge dent on our total emissions. This means, it will most probably slow down the effects of global warming, and we're saving quite a number of bucks on our bills. Candles are cheaper, you know. Hehe...

So for an hour of lights out, what do you think people in their homes are going to do? Hmmm... I hope we have a back-up plan against population growth.





credits for some of the texts:
http://www.earthhour2008.com
http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20080328/wl_asia_afp/climatewarmingaustraliaearthhour.html

Corporate Crap!

This is just so full of crap. Remember the office guy who stinks? Well, at least now he stopped using the darn "perfume" and so he doesn't stink anymore.

What currently annoys me is that people from Human Resources (or Peers' Resources, if you allow me...that'll give you the idea of the company I'm talking about) just loves watching over us - the internal auditors. They try to find everything and anything that can possibly go wrong with us like the color of our under/inner shirt/blouse, the type of bottoms we wear - whether they're jeans or slacks, even the kinds of tops we use everyday! Needless to say, they took notice even of the length of my colleague's hair (he's a guy, you know), and so the poor thing went out during his lunch break just to get a freakin' haircut. {read on...}


Like I, for one thing, have multiple piercings on both ears. I know they know about it, they just don't talk about it out loud anymore. Maybe they were just fed up trying to mold me into one of their great puppets. I also sometimes - well, actually most of the times - wear jeans to the office on Saturdays, even ordinary shirts and flipflops, and if anybody just go and try bugging me about it then they should be ready to defend themselves because I'm always ready to bombard them with counter attacks. I've been seeing plenty of our corporate folks not actually adhering to these dress code whatevers, and Peers' services don't even blink at their direction. So you just calm down if you want peace and quite in your offices.

Anyway, my point really is that they have been quite sturdy and vigilant in trying to make us comply with these stupid dress code crap, which, for your knowledge includes the color of your eyeshadow and lipstick (if you're girls), and the color of your hair, if you decide to have your hair colored. {Good thing my hair color's all natural. Hehehe} Even the way you do your hair has it's own code! So why the heck does this guy, the annoying guy who once stunk, have a quite crappy haircut (he's trying to look good you know, and has failed miserably) and BLOND highlights?! Highlights that I think were poorly done that he should have just had his whole head of crappy hair colored blond.

And nobody, I mean nobody, has given a rat's as* about it! Grrrhhh! This is making me so worked up... But... Nevermind... Let's just wait and see. I'm more excited to go home than sulk over fake blond hair.

Hamburgers and French Fries - A Survey

I know most of us love burgers and fries... Some even consider it as comfort food - apart from the most renowned comfort food in the world, chocolate.

It has also been established that having too much of this good thing can cause us health problems in the future... So why do people still love eating and enjoy having burgers and fries? Let's go find out...

Cellphone Virus Hoax - ACE & XALAN

If you're thinking that I'm posting this because I received something that warns me of this thing, well - you're absolutely correct. {thanks nie for the warning...hehe :) }

There have been several versions of this warning regarding a cellphone virus that spreads around by your answering a phone call from an alleged "xalan" or "ace". The warning also says that the said virus deletes valuable information from the phone and the SIM card itself... Hmmmm, sounds fairly creepy if you believe this at face value.

But seriously, here are samples of the warnings that can just fall right into your lap...

If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays(XALAN) on the screen don't answer the call, END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY, if you answer the call,your phone will be infected by a virus.

This virus WILL ERASE all IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connec with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone.

This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia.
There are over 3 Million mobile phones being infected by this virus
in all around the world now. You can also check this news in the CNN web site.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS PIECE OF INFORMATION TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS HAVING A MOBILE PHONE.

And another:

ATTENTION!!!
NOW THERE IS A VIRUS ON MOBILE PHONE SYSTEM.

All mobile phone in DIGITAL system can be infected by this
virus. If you receive a phone call and your phone display
"UNAVAILABLE" on the screen (for most of digital mobile phones
with a function to display in-coming call telephone number),
DON'T ANSWER THE CALL. END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY!!!
BECAUSE IF YOU ANSWER THE CALL, YOUR PHONE WILL BE
INFECTED BY THIS VIRUS.

This virus will erase all IMIE and IMSI information from both
your phone and your SIM card which will make your phone unable
to connect with the telephone network. You will have to buy a
new phone.

This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia.
For more information, please visit Motorola or Nokia web
sites: http://www.mot.com or http://www.nokia.com.

{BL's note: motorola's website is http://www.motorola.com/}


There are over 3 million mobile phone being infected by this
virus in USA now. You can also check this news in CNN web
site: http://www.cnn.com.

Hope new virus won't attack our TV in future.


And yet another:

Attention - Everyone With A Mobile Phone. This is not a joke. This is an early warning...

If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays ACE-? on the screen (for most of digital mobile phones with a function to display in-coming call telephone number).

DO NOT ANSWER THE CALL - END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY.
OTHERWISE YOUR PHONE WILL BE INFECTED BY VIRUS.

This virus will erase all IMIE and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make disable your phone connection with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone.
This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia.
There are over 3 million mobile phones being infected by this virus in USA now.
You can also check this news in the CNN web site.

Please forward this piece of information to all your friends who have digital mobile phones.

And oh my, another one!

If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays CAMANCHO ? on the screen(for most of digital mobile phones with a function to display in-coming call telephone number).

DON'T ANSWER THE CALL - END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU ANSWER THE CALL, YOUR PHONE WILL BE INFECTED BY THIS VIRUS.

This virus will erase all IMIE and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connect with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone.

This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia. There are over 3 million mobile phones being infected by this virus in USA now.

You can also check this news in the CNN web site. Please forward this piece of information to all your friends who have digital mobile phones.

I tried to search CNN for a report regarding cellphone viruses and this is what turned up: (take a look at the picture)

the link for that article is this:
Threat of Mobile Virus Attack Real
but it didn't confirm or negate the warnings above.

Hehehe, being careful about everything and trying to warn our friends and loved ones about possible danger or what-nots is a really very good thing to do, but if possible, let's try to verify our information first: whether it's a fact or a very famous hoax!

Cheers!


BL thanks the following sources:
http://www.f-secure.com/hoaxes/cf_virus.shtml
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/cellvirus.html
http://www.cellular.co.za/virus.htm

So, How's the Weather? - A Survey

Rain or shine...Wind or Breeze... Flood or Sand...

So which is it?

Just Wait and See

That's right. You just well darn wait and see.

Either one or both of those two nitwitts from the other hotel just tried to mess up with me. Well, you picked the wrong girl to play tricks on.

I came down to the office yesterday afternoon (Sunday), to check my mail and download a video of our church services. I left my things in pretty orderly manner later that afternoon because I had that gut feeing that these twerps were touching my stuff. So I remembered how exactly I arranged my things, although I didn't take a picture of it, i Do remember clearly. And to hell with what I saw this morning as I stepped inside. {continue reading below}

These guys are really gonna have a full blast in their faces when they get here later today. I'm already fuming from even thinking that they had the nerve to leave a written message on top of their stuff saying "Don't Touch" when they had in fact messed with my stuff. Ooooohhh, they're really gonna have it today. Just wait and see.

I'm so pis*ed at them right now that if I don't try to calm myself down a bit, I'm really gonna say things that I'm going to regret later on. What the heck, they picked on my things. And they really crossed a vividly drawn line right there. And they're really going to know - and remember - that I'm no airhead. They tried, and they're gonna get it. Really.

Can I Help you With That?

Basically, as usual, I'm bored. Yup, I always manage to get bored at some point during the day - or night. And to amuse myself, I visit other people's blogs, read around, may be leave fascinating comments, or if I get to notice something out of the ordinary, I leave comments that let them know they kinda either ruled or well, sucked.

Recently, I was browsing through multiply.com and decided to just read some blog entries that may have caught my eye at some point, and found this one entry that was not extraordinary, but it just caught my eye - The EYE (haha, this is quite unintentional, you know.). She - yes, she's a she - wrote about some freakish accident-like thing that happened to ...
her eye while hitching a ride with someone. Her LEFT eye got swollen and red. Well, she doesn't really have any idea how it happened. Anyhow, the thing is, as she was blabbering about it, using some writing language we ordinarily use in SMS, she made the mistake of looking at the picture she posted and referred to her left eye as her RIGHT eye - with all confidence. Duh.

And so here I come, at my most bored point, reading through it and bam! The first thing I noticed was her mistake. So I try to correct it by leaving a comment. "Right eye? Are you sure?"

I was actually expecting to receive some frantic attempt to redeem herself and mercilessly attack my credibility through verbal assault (better yet, written - the blog way) and yet, I was disappointed. I didn't receive any. And so I revisited her blog this morning.

To my surprise, my comment was deleted, and reading her entry again, she actually corrected herself. Making the right, left. Hehe. Good girl. She knows not to mess around with bored people.

Anyway, I'm not actually blogging to find enemies, it's just that boredom can sometimes bring out the worst in people. Hmmmm. Yeah, right.

Birthdays Away from Home

So what are you gonna do if you're celebrating your birthday away from your family, your lovelife, your mother company and your closest loved ones? Hmmm. Lets see...

Go Ahead and be Depressed.
It's normal. You ARE really gonna be depressed. It's your birthday, so go ahead, you have every right to do whatever you like, even being depressed. Just don't overdo it.

Stay Online for Awhile.
If you're usually online, then maintain that. If not, try...{continue reading below} going online just for the heck of it. Not because you're waiting for people to send you instant messages of greetings, but instead try to see who are the people most likely to remember your birthday. Either with a little help from other sources or not.

Do an Unplanned get Together.
hehehe. This one's nice. Once an unsuspecting friend sends a message to you or calls you all of a sudden to greet, and you haven't seen these people for quite a while AND they're actually just within the area, go ahead and tell them that they should come to your place or to meet up with you somewhere to eat out and hang around for a while after dinner. Then you've managed to strike to birds with one stone - you celebrated your birthday AND caught up with old friends. Now that's a celebration.

The Killer Ad

Found this in My Interesting Files, and I thought this was really interesting...

Has anybody seen this ad actually get aired? Because there have been rumors surrounding this ad that prompted the producers to just pull it out from the market BEFORE actually having it aired. Hmmm... Crazy...

It was rumored that the location where they shot this was famous for a previous accident which took a young woman's life. During the post production, the video editors noticed something weird on the video, a strange white mist was following the car as it turns around the bend. Near the end of the video, as the car passes by some trees, a very soft voice of a male can be heard, the editors think it was the camera man, but we really wouldn't know, would we?

So try to see the video to determine whether the white mist was really a ghostly apparition or just water vapor. And turn up your volume too so you can decipher what the heck the camera man was trying to say.

You Do Understand, Don't You?

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out
of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.


The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Hey, that's my Dad!

Hopefully, you've read my post regarding the Trip na Trip episode featuring Zamboanga Sibugay, and hey, that was my Dad out there! :) Hehehe... read on...

I wasn't really expecting to catch a glimpse of my dad being included in the whole episode. Actually, it was something like the hosts, Uma and Katkat were having a good time singing together with Rihanna's Umbrella, and then there it was! I saw my dad, on the side of the screen, right about by Uma's side, wearing a dark blue shirt. Hehehe. I immediately sent an SMS to Daddy and said, "Wahahaha! Saw u on TV!!!", and he just laughed back and coyly said, "I told you so."

They featured several islands in the province worth taking a look at, and they also featured the Talaba Grill (Oyster Grill), the longest - taking the world record for having the longest Talaba Grill in the world, tossing into the fire just about 10,000 kilograms of fresh oysters! Yep, you read that right, 10,000 kilos. Plenty. Hahaha.

If you want to visit Zamboanga Sibugay, just book a flight to Zamboanga City. And from there, you're going to travel by land for 2 hours to reach the province's capital, Ipil. The flight from Manila to Zamboanga City takes just about 1.5 hours. Quite a trip, but it's sure worth it. Simple, huh?

Anyway, saw my dad on tv, heard Uma and Katkat sing their hearts out, even saw Uma dancing like a call boy, so staying up all night - basically all night because I dozed off right about 3.30 in the morning even though the show finished a long while before that. Just couldn't turn off my brain to sleep. Hohum.

Have a nice day.