Crimson Crux

For a few months after I bought my iPod Nano, I couldn’t find the right skins for it. As late as December 14 of last year, there weren’t skins and cases for the second generation of iPod Nanos, at least in the Philippines. (Because of their slight physical differences with the first generation, the new Nanos don’t fit that well with old cases.)

Chances are I didn’t do enough searching, but I did burn my sneakers’ soles scouring SM North Edsa, SM Megamall (and a tech fair held within), and Powerplant Mall. So I was mightily pleased when I dropped by the Apple Computer Center at SM North Edsa last week and, lo and behold — they finally had iPod Nano 2nd gen silicone skins.

(more…)

No, my feet were firmly planted on Manila for the past days or so. Instead, it was my dad who took the trip for me (as if!); the official reason for his trip was a fact-finding mission for the government.

He just arrived a few hours ago, and I managed to pick up some interesting tidbits of info.

• Do not rely on your credit cards. Make sure you don’t run out of hard cash, preferably in the local currency, with U.S. dollars as back-up. My dad learned this the hard way when a couple of his cards (all of which are internationally accepted, e.g. Diners Club) were inexplicably rejected one after the other in their London hotel. Inexplicably, because these cards had more than ample credit space left (to illustrate, he was able to use them later in the stopover at Kuala Lumpur). It was fortunate that he had spare UK pounds left. I’ve advised him to contact the credit card companies to find out the reason behind the boo-boos.

(more…)

I’m feeling a bit unwell today (which is becoming more and more frequent), but I just snuck in to blog that I’m now writing at Mobile Exchange Philippines. In my first post, I take a look back at the stylish but aging Nokia 7610.

An excerpt:

So, how does the 7610 stand up to other phones after a year? Is it still worth buying today?

The quick answer — probably no, but it also depends on your taste. Capability-wise, it’s still a great phone for its current price, but you might be better off with low-end 3G units that are near the 7610’s price tag.

Head over to Mobile Exchange to read the entire post.

Want to glean the latest views and news from some of the best CS minds in the Philippines? (Or at the very least, peek into what makes the brains of these guys tick?) Then visit the newly launched UP DCS Blog Network, an aggregator for the blog posts of the students, faculty, and alumni of the University of the Philippines Department of Computer Science.

(more…)

I think my year is off to a bad start, with regard to clearing my backlog for everything — books, web projects, lit works, even cleaning the house (the glory of being an only child with no mom). Two salient queues I have right now consist of 1) my blog posts, and 2) my magazines.

First, I have at least 35 outstanding blog drafts, 19 of which are for this blog alone! The stillborn remnants of would-be posts are scattered among my desktop Stickies, text files, cellphone notes, and my “mol-eh-skin-ah“. Oh, and don’t remind me about my 60+ remaining problogging assignments for the month.

Second, I’ve got five magazines left to devour — three Dragon issues, a single Dungeon, and a single Communications of the ACM. These mags are supposed to be a break from all the carpal tunnel syndrome-inducing blogging, but more and more reading them has become a task. (Especially with the ACM mag — computer science stuff!)

(more…)

It’s quite refreshing to see computer science blog posts like this that discuss sorting algorithms. In a time when many blogs churn out rehash after rehash of news items (or worse are simply splogs), an original, lengthy, and “deep and dirty” analysis of the shell sort algorithm is a treat to the mind.

The blog entry, titled Shellsort Optimization Project was written by a good friend of mine and former UP DCS coursemate. (I’m not sure if he wants his name to be divulged, as his own blog is written under his nickname.) He’s an intelligent fellow, and it shows through his post.

(more…)

Calling all UP DCS graduates! The Department of Computer Science of the University of the Philippines Diliman will be holding its first-ever Alumni Homecoming. The event will be held on February 24, 2007 at the College of Engineering Library and Computer Science Building.

Here’s the letter from the Department’s revered figure and current College Secretary, Prof. Evangel Quiwa:

(more…)

First off, let me greet the blogosphere a happy New Year! I hope you and your loved ones will have a prosperous and safe 2007.

Last December 29, I officially became a two-year old blogger (quite young, eh?). Due to a fit of madness, I was able to plough through a slew of blogs (my own, group, and professional) and count my entries since December 29, 2004. I arrived at 1055 blog posts, excluding this one.

Of course, blogging is much more than publishing posts. Blogging is about building friendships, bridging gaps across differing opinions (even if it sounds too idealistic), trying to find your own identity (from writing style to personal discipline and everything in between), and showing the world what you can offer, just to name a few.

(more…)