On the 8 Spot

From Chris Blattman’s blog post on Penelope Trunks post on avoiding grad school here.

These arguments seem to better reflect people who get a PhD when they have little chance of getting a faculty position (sorry, humanities) and professional school for the sake of professional school. But sometimes professional school gives you technical skills needed for a job (accounting, tropical medicine, law…) and PhDs are a must for professional researchers. Without those caveats, the advice reads more like a rant.

Besides, who says delaying adulthood is pointless?

Chris Blattman’s Blog: Beware graduate school?.

Both post have their points but I’d like to focus on Chris’s last point( The one I emphasized) which is incidentally Penelope’s first point. The thing is that most people I meet outside of hobby groups/programming user groups/clubs tend to have less time (if at all) to study and learn new stuff. Its like you have to ram something through their throats before they learn it. I think this stems from the fact that studying for a lot of people becomes chore like, not a lot of people study for fun (I remember a friend who actually reads TC7[The Calculus 7th Edition by Leithold] while he eats and he looks like he is having fun), Or another friend who seems to have so much time to create creative stuff that really amaze me both for how time consuming they are and for how much he seems to get done, Or another friend who seems to write academic paper with ease in between teaching full loads and managing an indie rock band. Suffice to say they aren’t the norm.

The norm is half baked blog post(ehem ehem). Dozens of friendster/facebook/multiply comments. Probably 2-4 non-fiction book a year if at all.

If I had to pick one attribute to take out of school with me it is the capability to learn stuff, but the capability is simply potential if not applied. A lot of people who go to school do not go to school to learn or at least to learn how to learn (loved writing this sentence).

That’s why I think getting an MS and delaying adulthood is good for a lot of people.  I remember the remake of Born Yesterday starring Melanie Griffith and her character is a small town gal that is being tutored by a professor so she would no longer embarass her husband. Don Johnson say: Howd you know a mink fur is good? Melani Griffith says because I used to wear rabbit fur. (I watch this film more than 10 years ago forgive me if I’ve forgotten the words , the gist is that the professor was asking how did she know what was good  and she in essence said because I had worse.)

If you watched that scene (personally I found the remake more of a gimmick when compared to the original film, I love old films and used to watch fox classic movies more than hbo) it showed two things. It is a triumph to surpass ourselves (that was the dignity of Melanie’s reply) while we know how well we have done only if we know it in relation to the whole or at least to a bigger sample (what don jonson was doing was somewhat trying to shame melanie into submission whilst her reaction showed she got what he was saying but also declaring that “you may look down on me but What I did was no easy matter”).

That being said 25 is the new 18 (Probably saying this because I’m 25) and if we try to stay healthy we could live as long as our parents and probably be more productive (if we try to stay fit, the world is beginning to be more accommodating to old people). When do we take charge of our lives? it easy to make mistakes early on, but whose mistake do we want to commit our own mistakes or the misconceptions our elders have of this world. Call me naive but my actions prove my resolve. I’d rather make my own mistakes than walk the same old tired paths.  I don’t know , but doing this is hard but this is something I’d probably not change my mind about. Just as Chris Blattman said “who says delaying adulthood is pointless?”

John Mayer’s Stop This Train from here

no i’m not color blind
i know the world is black and white
i try to keep an open mind
but i just can’t sleep on this tonight

stop this train i want to get off and go home again
i can’t take the speed it’s moving in
i know i can’t
but honestly, won’t someone stop this train

don’t know how else to say it,
i don’t want to see my parents go
one generation’s length away
from fighting life out on my own

stop this train
i want to get off and go home again
i can’t take the speed it’s moving in
i know i can’t
but honestly won’t someone stop this train

so scared of getting older
i’m only good at being young
so i play the numbers game
to find away to say that life has just begun

had a talk with my old man
said “help me understand”
he said “turn sixty-eight”
“you’ll renegotiate”

“don’t stop this train
don’t for a minute change the place you’re in
and don’t think i couldn’t ever understand
i tried my hand
john, honestly we’ll never stop this train”

once in a while, when it’s good
it’ll feel like it should
when you’re all still around
and you’re still safe and sound
and you don’t miss a thing
till you cry when you’re driving away in the dark.

singing stop this train i want to get out and go home again
i can’t take this speed it’s moving in
i know i can’t
cause now i see i’ll never stop this train

Federalization in N Marianas shatters Filipino families’ dreams

HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV

03/10/2009 | 10:40 AM

SUSUPE, Saipan – All that Jenica G. Atalig, 13, and Beda G. Mundo, 12, want is for their Filipina mother, Camila, to be granted US citizenship when the federal government takes over the immigration system of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) by June 1.

Their mother’s immigration status is that of an immediate relative (IR) of a US citizen under CNMI law.

But because US immigration laws do not recognize the CNMI’s IR status, thousands of these individuals will lose their immigration status by June 1 and may be forced to depart the CNMI unless the US government grants them a status that will allow them to continue to work and live in the CNMI.

Their mother, who worked at a hotel for some seven years until she was laid off due to economic hardships, is married to a US citizen. The couple’s children are US citizens for being born in the CNMI, a US territory whose capital Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila on a direct flight.

Jenica and Beda’s mother could apply for a green card or permanent residency, but the fees rack up to thousands of dollars, which the family cannot afford at this time.

“Fees for applying for green card are unaffordable. We strongly favor an enhanced status for aliens living here and have US-born children. Let this concern of ours be heard,” Janice and Beda said in a statement.

GMANews.TV – Federalization in N Marianas shatters Filipino families’ dreams – Pinoy Abroad – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA.

The mortgage of my parents latest vehicle is going to be paid by next year that’s why in total consumer cliche behavior we are beginning to think of our next car. The Prius is probably going to be very expensive hope my parents can afford it. As for me. Public transport is still the best way to bring people with the least amount of carbon emissions and gas usage. I may only be one but I vote with my peso and ride only the best busses to promote investment in this underserved sector of the Philippine services part of the GDP. Hope more people do because as long as we tolerate overburdened, second rate, second hand 20 year old buses from Japan, people who can buy cars would always prefer buying one.

If public transport:

-ran just a little late (10 minute car ride becomes 20, versus the now, 10 car ride is an hour ),

-meant I get to sit down during rush hours(versus the forced to stand up)

-meant standard fares and intelligible fare matrices, so I don’t get irritated by rider and bus conductors fighting over 1-4 peso difference in fare.

-meant exclusive lanes or congestion pricing. Because the volume of traffic in manila is unsustainable and old cars are just too cheap, we must discourage these jalopy or at least level the playing field. I like the way Singapore handles this. You have to have a garage and your car can only be used for a fixed number of years.

-meant less pollution , which means the Department Of Health would no longer warn the public from biking to work because of the health risk associated with lung/repiratory diseases.

I could go on but I detect a mild rantiness in my writing probably due to me being very sick with fever and flu yesterday, and the ton of work I have to Do

Prius to hit Philippine roads by June

By Abigail L. Ho Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 03:41:00 03/11/2009

Filed Under: Automotive Equipment

MANILA, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. plans to bring the Prius hybrid car to the Philippines by June, amid global efforts to come up with ways to limit carbon dioxide emissions, a company official said.

The company “very recently” got the go-ahead from Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan to bring the Prius over, its vice chairman Alfred Ty said.

Business – Prius to hit Philippine roads by June – INQUIRER.net.

I’ve got a beef with this title! World Economy to shrink below zero is obviously eye catching. You have a feeling that it is about growth but you have to read the second paragraph to be sure. This is shoddy writing!

World economy to shrink below zero

Reuters First Posted 15:12:00 03/10/2009

Filed Under: Unemployment, Economy and Business and Finance, World Financial Crisis

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – (UPDATE) The world economy is likely to shrink to “below zero” this year, in what many are now referring to as the “Great Recession,” the head of the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

Business – World economy to shrink below zero – INQUIRER.net.

It’s nice to know that the our leaders are finally thinking of the stuff I’ve been hearing form Indian Business leaders probably 5 years ago. Hope we could catch up.

“Labor arbitrage erodes over time. What we need are people who can contribute to the bottom line. Success comes from a combination of labor arbitrage and cost efficiency. These would make for a successful long-term play,” he added.

He said critical thinking was an important trait for BPO workers to imbibe, as this provided added value to what they could do. Beyond answering calls and doing basic voice functions, critical thinking could be applied to other aspects of the BPO chain.

BPO sector: English skills no longer enough – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

Companies that have manufacturing facilities in the Philippines usually have factory priced sales during December. They sell excess supply. If the recession continues to dampen demand, there would probably be excess supply. I hope I can buy  a few SSD drives!

Toshiba to shift some SSD assembly to RP

Solid-state drive assembly to start in Apr-June Reuters First Posted 10:23:00 03/10/2009

TOKYO, Japan — Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it planned to start production of solid-state drives (SSD) overseas to cut costs and increase output, beginning assembly in the Philippines by the middle of the year.

Toshiba, the world’s number two maker of NAND flash memory after Samsung Electronics Co., is betting on strong growth for NAND-based SSD memory devices, seen as a promising alternative to some hard-disk drives because they are more shock-resistant and consume less energy.

Business – Toshiba to shift some SSD assembly to RP – INQUIRER.net.

In Wade’s case, that means leading his team in scoring, assists, steals and minutes. It means corralling a young nucleus of Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and Daequan Cook (with Joel Anthony and Chris Quinn in smaller roles) that averages 22.8 years old and flounders without him on the floor.

Jackie MacMullan: Dwyane Wade has the look of an MVP – ESPN.