Category: personal AnGoL

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Feeling Weird About Cable

Last week I signed up as a monthly donor to WWF-Philippines. I’m giving 500php per month debited on my credit card every 15th.
The gist of the post is really about not being able to convince myself to subscribe to the skycable select plan that is only 280 php per month + 20php for Turner Classic Movies.
I feel very wierd about this, or I suspect that I am weird.
Disclaimer, when the nba begins I’m definitely subscribing BTV! yipee! just not now!
PS: My parents gave me a 32 inch series 3 (not full hd) lcd tv ! Thanks Ma and Pa, this is such a nice gift! Woot!

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What You Do When You Are Seven::Education and Equal Opportunity

Wow, this really hit home,  part of me at least accepts that a big part of who I am now is till because of things that happened as far back as 7 years old.  Hope the society I grew up in is much worse than the society that people growing up now is going to be exposed to.

Second, it is very difficult to have a great deal of power in this society if you are not exquisitely well-prepared to compete when you are 25–which requires that you have or be able to rapidly acquire patrons and that you went to and took advantage of a good college or did something else functionally equivalent, which requires that you applied yourself in high school, which is very hard to do unless you got a solid foundation in terms of basic skills and study habits in elementary school. This means that i people who are scared off from going to college because of the debt it incurs have a very small shot at large amounts of upward mobility, and ii the decisions people make when they are seven about how to spend their time shape their lives for the next seventy years. In even a half-good society, one should not be able–it should not be the rule–that one can greatly narrow the possibilities for one’s life by what one does or fails to do at seven.
via Education and Equal Opportunity.

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Iglesia ni Cristo to hold huge assemblies – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Iglesia ni Cristo to hold huge assemblies
By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:48:00 07/23/2009
Filed Under: Churches (organisations), Religions, Anniversaries
MANILA, Philippines—The Iglesia ni Cristo, which is celebrating its 95th anniversary on Monday, announced Thursday it will hold huge religious assemblies in 14 venues around the country and in five sites in four other countries.
Tens of thousands of delegates are expected to congregate at designated venues in each of the regions in the country to celebrate “Iglesia ni Cristo Day,” read a statement issued by the Iglesia ni Cristo.
In Metro Manila, the gatherings will be held at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, and at the Rizal Memorial Complex in Manila.
The five-hour special gatherings would begin at 4:30 pm.
Malacañang last month announced July 27 of every year as a special day to commemorate the founding of the Iglesia ni Cristo.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo‘s last State of the Nation Address to Congress, which is expected to draw large mass actions, falls on July 27.
The Iglesia ni Cristo said local authorities have issued traffic advisories to avoid congestion on major roads leading to its venues.
In the provinces, delegates will assemble at the following venues: Butuan City Sports Complex in Agusan del Norte; Bicol University Sports Complex and Commencement grounds in Legazpi City, Albay; Cebu Sports Center in Cebu City;
General Santos City Oval Plaza, South Cotabato; Davao Agro-Industrial Institute Football Field in Davao City; Quirino Stadium in Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Central Integrated Terminal in Santiago City, Isabela; Ashton Field Subdivision grounds in Calamba City, Laguna;
Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Villa del Sol Subdivision-Olongapo-Gapan Road in San Fernando City, Pampanga; Narciso Ramos Sports Center in Lingayen, Pangasinan; and Ipil Sports Complex in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga-Sibugay.
Gatherings will also be held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. and HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, USA; Central Hall Westminster in London, UK; Parco Esposizioni Novegro in Milan, Italy; and Hills Center in Sydney, Australia.
The rest of the local congregations in the Philippines which are too far from the announced venues, as well as congregations in countries outside of the US, UK, Italy and Australia will also hold celebratory gatherings in their respective houses of worship simultaneously with the big assemblies.
The Iglesia ni Cristo is an independent Christian religious organization registered with the Philippine government on July 27, 1914.
It was first preached by the late Brother Felix Y. Manalo, its first executive minister, who hailed from Tipas, Taguig City.
Under the present executive minister, Brother Eraño G. Manalo, who assumed overall leadership of the Church during its 49th year of establishment, the Iglesia ni Cristo became global.
Its first local congregation outside the Philippines was organized in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA on July 27, 1968.
At 95, the Iglesia ni Cristo has over 5,400 local congregations (roughly equivalent to parishes) in 90 countries and territories, with a membership composed of 102 nationalities
This weekend, July 25 and 26, Iglesia ni Cristo thanksgiving worship services would be simultaneously conducted by all local congregations
A TV anniversary special will also be aired on Sunday at 8 p.m. over GEMTV-49 and Net-25.
Last Saturday, July 18, the INC through its “Lingap sa Mamamayan” socio-civic program, conducted a health service mission in the village of Maharlika in Taguig City as part of its anniversary celebration.
Around 20,000 residents benefited from the free medical and dental services, vitamins and medicines, and a package of rice and canned goods.
via Iglesia ni Cristo to hold huge assemblies – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

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Finding Meaning In Your Work::For Best Results, Forget the Bonus

I agree with this, rewards based incentives although seems more fair, it undermines the fact that in a lot of things teamwork wins over individual excellence (Just don’t tell Michael Jordan). In relations to the workplace, bosses are severely inept, or if they are very capable they seldom have the whole picture, this deficiency makes most of their decision subjective to a fault, and as a few experiments have shown us people value themselves according to the people around them, in this setting the boss always loses.  The takeaway is simple, why are there academics who could get jobs in industry but still go the academic route? why is there people in NGO‘s who you can envision leading their own companies, simply put , doing these things make them happy and in the end that is what money is for, to facilitate our happiness by helping us acquire the things (skill/tools/stuff) that would help increase our happiness. If you are the boss your job is to find ways to make the job equate to your worker’s happiness. Look at a well trained and bonded military unit and you’d see that people do seemingly crazy stuff for something beyond money, something beyoond themselves. This is much harder and maybe this is the reason this is not done more often. The default action is throw money at the problem, not find the best solution.!
Let’s file this under “What I’d Do When I Have My Own Company”
Read the whole thing it’s very interesting.

A closer look, though explains why incentive plans not only do not succeed, but cannot succeed:

  • Rewards punish.
  • Like punishments, rewards are manipulative.
  • Rewarding people is similar to punishment for another reason. When people do not get the rewards they were hoping for, they feel punished.
  • Rewards rupture relations.
  • Relationships between supervisors and workers, too, can collapse under the weight of incentives.
  • Rewards ignore reasons.
  • Rewards deter risk-taking.
  • Rewards undermine interest. Loving what you do is a more powerful motivator than money or any other goody.

via For Best Results, Forget the Bonus.

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Walkable Cities Meme::Does closing roads cut delays? | csmonitor.com

In the Philippines people practice something called counter flowing, this is the act where a driver moves his car and enters a lane that is going at the opposite direction. You see this behavior whenever only one side of a busy road is experiencing heavy traffic. Well this behavior is dependent on two weaknesses. ONe is that when they are trying to get back at the proper lane drivers are either scared or kond enough to let them back into the proper lane. This creates a feedback loop where you one up other people by not following the rules and it is expected. This is bad because this causes the other lane to be more congested and in turn creates a very bad traffic jam. I suggest that traffic enforcers be made to book these traffic offenders to lessen this driving barbarism and that we do not let these types of drivers dominate the streets. If you read the article it has a nice dissection of the problem. The individuals are optimizing for themselves and thereby decreasing the total societal value. What is needed is for traffic enforcers to be the ones, through doing there jobs, force these players into a nash equilibrium where everyone wins!

But maybe these two traffic models have more in common than it first seems. Both encourage individuals to drive more slowly so that everyone gets to his destinations faster. Both favor a holistic approach to traffic, one that designs from the perspective of the overall flow rather than that of an individual driver. And both open up more space for pedestrians.
It’s not too difficult to imagine a city designed with these principles in mind. Fewer roads with slower but smoother traffic. Spaces that can easily be converted to car-free zones to suit the needs of the network. And fewer opportunities for people to drive like jerks. Sounds like a nice place to take a walk, actually.
via Does closing roads cut delays? | csmonitor.com.

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The Women's Right To Be Unhappy::Stumbling and Mumbling: Real freedom & unhappiness

This is puzzling, because there can be no doubt that since the 70s women’s real freedom has increased hugely. They have more and better educational and job opportunities, better control over their fertility, are more able to flee bad partnerships and – thanks to technical progress – can spend less time on household chores.
Greater freedom, though, has not brought greater happiness.
via Stumbling and Mumbling: Real freedom & unhappiness.

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Best Read:The Joy of Less – Happy Days Blog – NYTimes.com

I’m no Buddhist monk, and I can’t say I’m in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I’ve written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn’t want or need, not all I did. And it seemed quite useful to take a clear, hard look at what really led to peace of mind or absorption (the closest I’ve come to understanding happiness). Not having a car gives me volumes not to think or worry about, and makes walks around the neighborhood a daily adventure. Lacking a cell phone and high-speed Internet, I have time to play ping-pong every evening, to write long letters to old friends and to go shopping for my sweetheart (or to track down old baubles for two kids who are now out in the world).
via The Joy of Less – Happy Days Blog – NYTimes.com.

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Ted Talk: Elizabeth Gilbert On Nurturing Creativity


I liked this alot because I still haven’t developed that discipline in creation where you can force yourself to write/dance/code etc. It has to be from an overwhelming desire to do something. That’s my problem with work oft times, I pass mediocre (at least in my standards) whenever I have to code because of a deadline. I can only write stories when I am inspired, and I can’t sing alot of songs when I am not in love with somebody(like now).

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Good Guys Lose

from this excellent post
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Fortune Favors the Brave by Dr Chris Hart

Chances are your mother always told you to go for a nice guy. Someone who’s dependable, loving, committed and getting on in life. And who likes children.

Good advice, eh? So how come it’s so easy to fall for an out and out rogue? It’s all to do with how bravery’s so seductive. Having a big brave guy at your side – even if only to boost your ego – is pretty irresistible, isn’t it? But what about the sensitive, caring ‘new men’ we’re all supposed to admire? Yes, well maybe. But heroism and risk-taking’s what really gets to us. You prefer a brave man to a wimp, don’t you? Both for a partner or as a friend? Maybe because in the past women needed brave men to protect them and their children. A man who could hunt well and provide food. Even now, in our violent world, having a man around who’s willing to protect you feels like a good idea.