personal AnGoL – Page 105

September 3, 2008

Learned Today 2008 09 02

Relics like lectures have to give way to the advances in cognitive sciences specifically, we must account for the fact that we know a whole lot more on how we learn (ok, not that much but enough). This means that we must have more interactive classes, more lab and less lectures. The sad thing is that I think that only a few people specially from my alma mater try to buck these relics of the past. I long for the day when instead of lectures we have coaches. If the academic programs can learn something from the sports programs its that coaches are also good teachers and its mainly due to how they teach.

from Brad Delong here, do read the whole thing:

Why Are We Here? (In a Big Lecture, That Is)

from Grasping Reality with Both Hands: Brad DeLong’s Semi-Daily Journal by Brad DeLong

Why do we still have big lecture courses in universities? It is somewhat of a mystery…
The Pre-Gutenberg University:

Universities have their origins in the medieval need of the powerful to train theologians (for the church) and to train judges (for the emperor and the kings of France, England, Castile, and other kingdoms.

A manuscript hand-copied book back in 1000 cost roughly the same share of average annual income as $50,000 is today.

Hence if you have a “normal” college–eight semesters, four courses a semester–and demand that people buy and read one book a course, you are talking the equivalent of $1.6M in book outlay. Can’t be done.

Hence you assemble the hundred or so people who want to read Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy in a room, and have the professor read to them–hence lecture, lecturer, from the Latin lector, reader–while they frantically take notes because they are likely to never see a copy of that book again once they are out in the world administering justice in Wuerzburg or wherever…

September 3, 2008

Choosing

On a personal note since graduation I’ve noticed people getting gym memberships and the marked improvement in their self images. I feel that its the fact that when you really start to choose for yourself , choosing becomes easier and its self reinforcing. I read somewhere that we have a limited amount of self control but as we practice more self control this limit expands. I feel that this is the same thing, after finally deciding to improve and bit by bit trying to improve we expand this self control.

from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen

So if we could get people to exercise more, would they become more risk-loving, want less insurance, make more aggressive investments, and induce faster economic growth? Would this be a good thing?

That’s Robin Hanson, the basic empirical result is that physically weaker people are more risk-averse in a wide variety of settings.

from Overcoming Bias blog here.

September 2, 2008

In The Face Of Changes

Just got a raise, Its not big but in the high inflationary environment we are in coupled with the growing pains of adulthood I’ll take what I can.
I’ve been very vocal with my urging of friends to not change lifestyles after a pay raise and the like. I still remember last saturday when Rain and I somewhat ganged up on Jizelle for her “lifestyle changes”.
We were just doing those things for fun. Its nice (and quite entertaining) to make people conscious of the changes they undergo. Oft times when they are not too mindful of a majority of the moments of their lives people change a lot without realizing it. This happens often enough that the change comes too fast and in a relatively short time we sometimes no longer recognize who we already have become. This is somewhat problematic for people who do not take great pains on being true to themselves at almost all times because sometimes we become or have turned into a something who we (or at least our former selves) do not like.
This is one of the challenges of adulthood trying to find your center what some people call “wal” where we retreat to in times of distress, Where although almost everything around and most definitely about us is changing , this is what stays the same.
I’ve always lived mindfully and have suffered a constant battle within because of this. When lying/lies are the one of the most potent of tools to use against a lot of the pain, doubt , questions, and the tragedies that we encounter losing the capability or at least the knee jerk reaction of not facing reality becomes a stake unto itself.When one can only see too well into ones own lies, One becomes naked to self-examination, and when one sees who we really are we may or may not understand what has become of us.
But the Sorrow of Truth is the Happiness of Reality, For one can only love something when you know that thing, If not know at least have an Idea what the essence of that thing is, and in this place of Sorrow and Happiness one can truly love ones self.
I’ve made my choice and its A choice I’ve long made and have never regretted. I try to live as someone who knows who I am warts and all and have suffered through it. I look at myself in the mirror and do not regret the image that I see. I am who I am by the force of my environment but also by the force of my will.
In The Face Of Changes the one that can change and not change at all is the same person.

August 28, 2008

rePost: Filipino teachers continue to fly to US for higher pay

A recession bound USA offers probably more opportunities for enrichment than our small country the Philippines. Sad but there are tens of thousands of teachers from the Philippines without work. I remember a conversation I had with the Filipino Couple we had met on the hotel in Thailand a couple of years back. They had two house helps who graduated as Education Majors , or even the feature in a GMA documentary of a Domestic Helper working in Hong Kong who also graduated with a degree in education, or I could go on and on. The problem is not how many teachers our country has but that the best are leaving to educate the young ones of another country. A country that could at least pay them a higher percentage of what they really are worth. That’s modernday international trade for you. Welcome to the Philippines the No Exporter of Human Resources.

Filipino teachers continue to fly to US for higher pay
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:51:00 08/28/2008
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MANILA, Philippines—More and more competent Filipino teachers are flocking to the United States where they are paid more, according to the Philippine Embassy in Washington.
The embassy, in a statement, said that only last week, 93 Filipino teachers arrived in the US and were welcomed by Philippine Ambassador to Washington Willy Gaa.
The new arrivals attended orientation seminars organized by the embassy where they were also given “practical advice” to ease their transition into a new teaching environment.
The 93 teachers will be teaching special education classes, focusing on Mathematics, Science and English subjects in public schools in Prince George’s County in Maryland.
Gaa said the new recruits followed a group of 115 teachers who were also welcomed by the embassy last July.
The first batch of Filipino teachers moved to Maryland in 2005. As of the fall of 2006, 400 Filipino teachers were already in Baltimore City alone.

August 28, 2008

Just Start Just Right Just Write

I have been on a self imposed blog diet. I am supposed to not post in anything for a few days and reasses. That’s why I had a somewhat longish post for my last post. And I think I finally got it.
I’ve been telling friends to start, start anything and the fact is that advice lacks its other half.
It’s not simply “Start, just start anything” , the advise should read “Start and continue for at least two weeks”.
The thing is, at least for me Two Weeks is enough to form a habit. Two Weeks daily is enough to destroy good habits or create new ones. And of course I am referring to blogging but not only to blogging or writing. In most any thing I do If I do something obsessively for one week and enjoy it enough to continue doing it unobsessively for another week its already a habit for me.
How do I know that its a habit for me? Short answer is that when eats at you inside when you are not doing it.
The long answer is that it when doing something obsessively for a even a few days its starts to change you. You if what you do produces at least within hour after effects, you begin to yearn for those stimulants or at least actions/reactions. Then if the action is within power to be done these stimuli results in sating this need. What happens next depends on two things the feedback effect and the longterm effects.
How the Feedback affects habit formation is determined by two things; how strong the sensation/stimuli is , how much of this strength is back propagated soon and how tiresome is it to do the habit. If something is so enjoyable yet is extremely hard to do or is enjoyable yet only after a long period of time , or if something is easy to do and provides feedback instantaneously but is just not that enjoyable; The habit will just not be formed.
The secret is finding the perfect mix of these things and you would would probably be able to form the habit.
Even if an habit is formed early on if it is just not sustainable through a multitude of means or reasons primarily due to scarcity or even worse adverse effects. Actions produce unintended consequences and ones actions now may prevent us from continuing a habit like lack of money , or time or for some activities maybe have helped end what you use to enjoy. Like maybe over fishing a small pond till you eventually leave a population of fish non-existent.
Well the personal part of this post is that I’ve been having this feeling that I am irritating a few people whenever I go about telling them or more accurately urging them to start blogging or writing or do something as a hobby, or do something to enrich their lives , their view or whatever. I get that “just agree” look that people give to those people trying to get them dupe in the lates pyramid/ponzi scheme
(Aside: In a poor country like the Philippines these schemes are a dime a dozen; and I’d bet you would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know within about two to three degrees of separation someone who has been duped by a ponzi scheme)
(Follow up Aside: In poor countries ponzi schemes or any get rich quick scheme is bound to be effective. Just look at some countries in africa where albinos are being killed because some body parts are said to bring someone great luck. I pray we do not reach that point. )
Continuing… I have all but learned to ignore that look ang continue trying to get them to do something just through a different way because I assume my present stance is just not convincing them. Its what friends do. I I may not be able to help everyone but hell I’m going to try to at least help someone. I may not be very effective in my advocacy but damn it I will try. I grab what I can get, even if its just convincing someone to start updating their resumes, or getting someone to smile more often, I don’t care or more accurately my mind,psyche, heart can take the extra stress so why not.
Just start. Just Right Just Write or Just Do Something Anything.Please. For You. For Me, but Especially For You!

August 25, 2008

Call Center Provincial Expansion and Unintended Consequences!

(March 19, 2008)
I’ve been recently going around call centers recently trying to polish my interview skills.
Because of this I’ve been to a lot of websites, local sites and job fairs where call centers have booths.
A welcome trend is emerging. The trend is the constant trickle of jobs to places outside of the Makati Central Business district, the Ortigas Area, Eastwood Libis Area, Alabang Area that probably comprises the center of the Philippines BPO/IT/Call Center Industry. New sites include (from memory not meant to be comprehensive) Angeles, San Fernando Pampanga, Baguio, Antipolo, Cebu as a region, Subic and Clark.
I can think of reasons that necessitate this (okay I cheated, called some friends who worked in call centers mostly middle managers, not the decision makers but at least in the loop.)
More Permanent Reasons

Lower Cost – Salary
Lower Cost – Rent
Local Government Subsidies

Less Permanent Reasons

Lower Turnover
Smaller Number Of Competitors

In the Philippines the minimum wage is set by the local regional wage boards. The wage boards consist of representative from the government, business and the labor sector. In the Philippines NCR generally has the highest wages followed by neighboring Regions, then followed by Cebu , and Davao. This pattern fluctuates depending on the economic health of a regions, although the NCR has the highest wages by at least 5 percent has been true since I started following the regional wages.
This means that barring tremendous growth in economic activity and productivity the cost advantage of provincial call centers are here to stay. I was actually surprised when I found out that the starting salaries of call centers for the same position had around 40-50% difference. Yes I didn’t mistype, Provincial call centers are paying only half of what they are paying to their NCR agents. Another surprising thing is that even with this difference call center jobs in the province are considered high-paying, because anecdotally only the big companies offer salaries that are equal to the regional minimum wage.
The lower turnover is mainly due to the lack of job mobility, there just isn’t any other to go to. One call center is largely the same as another and with the still small number of call centers outside of NCR and Metro Cebu lower turnover for considerable.
The smaller number of competitors is mainly a function of competition. The best paying, best workplace call centers definitely get the best people to work with, which means that a lot of other call centers have to settle with whats left. Call centers that have provincial sites tend to either pay lower or have less benefits.
The need to reduce cost is mainly due to the overall weakness of the dollar. We must understand that most of these contracts were negotiated during the time when the Peso-Dollar exchange rate was around 55-1 whereas currently (updated as of August 25, 2008) the Peso-Dollar exchange rate is hovering around 45-46 pesos per dollar. For companies that have razor thin margins , the exchange rate is really devastating financially. Moving to places where costs are much lower becomes a necessity especially when it is hard to forecast where the US economy and the Dollar-Peso Exchange rate would be in the near future.
All these factor combine to make provincial expansion a short to long term trend.
Of course if the overall weakness in the US economy continues nobody knows definitively if it would cause a contraction or expansion of Philippine call center industry.
The influx of disposable cash is important because it is transformative in a way, through unintended consequences will be followed up in a different post.
Some Ideas on what local government units or local groups could do to help this process will be followed up in a different post.
Some problems this may possibly cause will be followed up in a different post.

August 24, 2008

Migraines Blogging

Had mild migraines, fever and flu starting friday and til now, but missing the net cause looking at the monitor makes me weezy. Ok hope I get well soon!

August 22, 2008

Ideal To Aspire To

from the new yorker here

Mikhail Gromov, the Russian geometer, said that he understood Perelman’s logic: “To do great work, you have to have a pure mind. You can think only about the mathematics. Everything else is human weakness. Accepting prizes is showing weakness.” Others might view Perelman’s refusal to accept a Fields as arrogant, Gromov said, but his principles are admirable. “The ideal scientist does science and cares about nothing else,” he said. “He wants to live this ideal. Now, I don’t think he really lives on this ideal plane. But he wants to.”

August 20, 2008

rePost: from Paulo Coelho's blog

Reading this I felt I believe the same way the emperor Shih Huang Ti felt in Jet Li’s movie Hero.
from here:

Alone on the path

from Paulo Coelho’s Blog by Paulo Coelho

By Paulo Coelho
Life is like a great bicycle race, whose aim is to fulfill one’s Personal Legend – that which, according to the ancient alchemists, is our true mission on Earth.
At the start of the race, we’re all together – sharing the camaraderie and enthusiasm. But as the race progresses, the initial joy gives way to the real challenges: tiredness, monotony, doubts about one’s own ability. We notice that some friends have already given up, deep down in their hearts – they’re still in the race, but only because they can’t stop in the middle of the road. This group keeps growing in number, all of them pedaling away near the support car – also known as Routine – where they chat among themselves, fulfill their obligations, but forget the beauty and challenges along the road.
We eventually distance ourselves from them; and then we are forced to confront loneliness, the surprises of unknown bends in the road, and problems with the bicycle. After a time, when we have fallen off several times, without anyone nearby to help us, we end up asking ourselves whether such an effort is worthwhile.
Yes, of course it is: one must not give up: Father Alan Jones says that, in order for our soul to be able to overcome these obstacles, we need the Four Invisible Forces: love, death, power and time.
We must love, for we are loved by God.
We must be aware of death, in order to understand life.
We must fight to grow – but not be fooled by the power which comes with growth, for we know it is worthless.
Finally, we must accept that our soul – although it is eternal – is at this moment caught in the web of time, with all its opportunities and limitations; so, on our solitary bike race, we must act as if time existed, doing what we can to value each second, resting when necessary, but always continuing in the direction of the Divine light, without letting ourselves be bothered by the moments of anxiety.
These Four Forces cannot be dealt with as problems to be solved, since they are beyond our control. We must accept them, and let them teach us what it is we must learn.
We live in a Universe which is both vast enough to contain us, and small enough to hold in our hearts. In every man’s soul, dwells the soul of the world, the silence of wisdom. As we pedal on towards our goal, we must ask: “what is lovely about today?” The sun may be shining, but if it is pouring with rain, it is important to remember that this also means that the black clouds will soon disperse. Clouds come and go, but the sun remains the same, and never fails – at times of loneliness, it is important to remember this.
So, when times are tough, we must not forget that the whole world has endured such moments, regardless of race, color, social standing, belief, or culture. A beautiful prayer by the Sufi Dhu ‘l – Nun (Egyptian, died 861 AD) perfectly sums up the positive attitude necessary at such times:
“Oh Lord, when I pay attention to the voices of animals, the sounds of the trees, the bubbling of the waters, the chirping of the birds, the howling wind or the crashing thunder, I perceive in them evidence of Your unity; I sense that You are the supreme power, almighty, the supreme wisdom, supreme justice.
“Oh Lord, I recognize You in the trials I am enduring. Allow, Lord, Your satisfaction to be my satisfaction. May I be Your joy, that joy which a Father sees in his son. And may I recall You with tranquility and determination, even when it is difficult to say that I love You.”