papitik-pitik ng tansan..

Batch 83 Raffle Tickets for the benefit of PSHS

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:49:15 GMT

(Repost from Pio :) )

That's right, PSHS Batch 83 is having a fund-raising raffle. Proceeds will go to planned batch activities, one of which is the possible upgrading of the Science & Humanities Building laboratories. The labs sorely need updating. Also, since a fire took out the 2nd floor faculty center at the SHB, part of the money will also be donated for that purposes.

Grand prize is a Chery QQ.

Consolation prices are:
Sony home theatre system
LG 29" flat screen tv
Canon powershot
Nokia Xpress Music Phone
iPod touch
PSP slim with accessories

Ticket price is 100PhP.
Draw date is Dec 18.

>> UPLB peeps, I have tickets. Just message me if you're interested in buying or distributing :)

Thanks!

O'hana means family... Family means...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:40:09 GMT

nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.

~~~

Sorry for moving away. I miss you.

"Ate" Kiel

Study Habits Review for Science High School Entrance Exams

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:57:22 GMT

ENROLL NOW For as low as P5,600 for 58 hours!
Package includes lectures, practice exercises and simulated exam.

REVIEW DATES:

Batch 1
(recommended for students taking entrance exam for Philippine Science High School)

SATURDAYS

July 5 - September 13, 2008

8am - 5pm

Batch 2
(recommended for students taking entrance exam for Quezon City Science High School)

SATURDAYS

September 20 - November 29, 2008

8am - 5pm

For inquiries, you may contact Study Habits at 434-3300.

You may also visit studyhabits2008.multiply.com.

New E-mail and Multiply

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:50:56 GMT

misskielg@rocketmail.com

misskielg.multiply.com
-Eto na iuupdate ko from now on. kahxl stays though, para updated pa rin ako sa inyo.
-Yung rocketmail, wala lang, naengganyo ako sa Ad ng yahoo.

Have a happy Friday!

Da Pisay Code 2008

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:01:45 GMT

Three Students,
One Secret

As the story unravels and clues are revealed, can you be the one to unlock the DaPisay Code 2008?
Prizes and bragging rights await those who dare.

For a full list of instructions, refer to the guidelines.

You can also text PISAY to 2299.

You can also add dapisaycode2008.multiply.com on your multiply account to receive updates.

Cheers!

Da Pisay Code 2008 Team

http://dapisaycode2008.co.nr/

Cross-post: UP closed to the brightest of the poor

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:58:17 GMT

Written by one of my former professors.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:46am (Mla time) 06/20/2008

On the third day of classes in the hundredth year of the University of the Philippines (UP), a freshman from Cotabato province, a Chemistry major at UP in Diliman, Quezon City, had to drop out. Together with his father, the brokenhearted young man went to see each of his instructors to have his subjects invalidated.

While his Math 17 instructor was deleting his name from the class list, I could see the poverty, desperation, anger and sense of resignation in their faces. It was not the disappointment of winning the lottery and being denied the prize later. The young man is a member of a minority group in Mindanao. Without any connections and in the absence of any socialized admission policy, he qualified as a freshman in the College of Science of UP Diliman, a distinction he earned through intelligence, pure hard work and perseverance amid poverty. But in a few days, father and son are going back to Mindanao for good.

The father explained they could not afford the “socialized” tuition at P600 per unit for students in Bracket C, families whose annual incomes range from P135,001 to P500,000 per annum. The father and son expected to be in Bracket D, families with annual incomes ranging from P80,001 to P135,000. Students in bracket D pay P300 per unit.

UP president Emerlinda Roman seems to be disconnected from reality, or she must be fooling herself by insisting that the new Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) is fair and proper for an “iskolar ng bayan” [scholar of the nation]. Her family should try living on P6,666.75 a month (which when multiplied by 12—the number of months in a year—equals P80,001, the lower bound of Bracket D incomes).

UP, no longer conscious of its role in society, chooses to ignore the long-term impact of offering greater genuine educational opportunities to the brightest among the poor, who are getting poorer amid the reported economic gains of the country. Socialized admission and tuition fee schemes do not lower academic standards. I’ve had countless students from public schools and far-flung provinces. They come to UP not as well prepared as their counterparts from the best schools in Metro Manila. But many later outshine the sometimes overconfident Manila-raised kids.

After the new STFAP took effect last year, UP is no longer an option for the brightest among the poor. I agree with the cab driver whose daughter qualified for UP Diliman, as narrated in Youngblood (Inquirer, 3/24/08) by Mariel Kierulf Asiddao, a UP Mass Communication student. The cab driver insisted it was ESTIFAK and not STFAP.

NOLI N. REYES, professor, Institute of Mathematics, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view_article.php?article_id=143711

At naligo na naman ako sa ulan

Tue, 20 May 2008 10:54:36 GMT

Ewan ko ba, sadyang kay lakas lang talaga ng iyong kamandag, hindi na naman ako nakapalag, hindi na naman ako nakatanggi.

Saang impiyerno ka ba nagmula at napakatuso mo? Anong angkan ba ang nagturo sa iyong manukso?

Alam mo minsan, iniisip ko, paano kung bigla akong magkasakit sa hamog? Paano kung bigla akong mapahamak dahil hindi ako nakapagbanlaw man lang agad pagkasilong?

Babantayan mo ba ako hanggang lumipas ang karamdaman? O magpapatuloy ka lang sa pagpatak, dahil marami pa namang nais ding magtampisaw?

Bakit ka ba naman kasi bumisita pa? Alam mo namang kapag napasobra, laking gulo ang dulot mo.

Mabuti sana kung ako lang, kaya kong hindi mabasa basta may payong. Mabuti sana kung ako lang, walang ibang matatamaan kung kumidlat.

~~~

Kauuwi lang halos. Galing Study Habits. Kasama si Saru :)

Kailangan nang bumili ng kapote :P

I missed being busy

Fri, 09 May 2008 14:43:38 GMT

Just got home from Rb (3rd year Highschool) reunion. Nakita ko ulit sina Dennis, Angelle, Orlyn, Adong at Verna. Siyempre kasama rin sina Pio at Lee. Humabol ako sa Redbox ng mga 6:30. Nagsimula sila ng 3pm daw, nag-stay kami hanggang 7. Tapos dinner sa Tokyo tokyo, share kami ni Verna sa sumo meal. Tapos Dairy Queen, enjoy sina Adong sa banana split.

Sobrang dami ng chika, kwento, kamusta. Sobrang dami ng 3rd year hs talks. Revelations. Confessions. Ganun. Ang saya! Kasama pa namin si Jorge!

Pics to follow. Although konti lang. Shy ako ipangkuha si Hanna, si Adong at si Orlyn naka-digi cam.

Bago nito nanggaling ako Study Habits, Ma'am Ingrid was supposed to give us a seminar on making lesson plans. Pero hindi na natuloy. Kasi hindi naman pala talaga kailangang-kailangan. Tinapos na lang namin ang plan for the entire review. Ten regular sessions, one hour each. Tapos may four sessions na supplementary lectures. Ok naman. Productive. Masakit lang sa ulo.

Earlier earlier dumaan ako UP Reg to apply for transcript/clearance. Kamalas-malasan, andaming tao! Enrolment na pala ngayon ng incoming freshies. Buti na lang may separate transcript session at may separate pila rin ang clearance. So saglit lang din.

Bukas ay deadline ng lesson plans/drills/daily handouts/homeworks for the upcoming week. Tapos sa hapon Jubilarian meet.

Sunday is worship, rest at ayos ng kwarto.

Monday start na ng lectures. Tapos meet re pre-reg for this year's Pisay homecoming sa AA office.

Next week ideally nag-shshoot na rin for Da Pisay Code vids.

Grabe, hindi ko akalaing magiging ganito ako kapuno bigla. May 23-24 MSP convention. May 23 song number for the UPOU concert (LB). June 1 moving in to LB. June 2-6 teaching seminar. June 7 TJ's angels outing. June 16 classes start.

Sige, go lang, para namang hindi ka sanay sa lagarian.

Nakaka-miss palang maraming ginagawa.

From your most stubborn "daughter"

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:41:55 GMT

This is my last drama entry, promise. After this, I have to grow up.

I've written this before but I feel a need to write it down again... Thank you for everything...

I know you won't get to read this though... And actually, I prefer that you won't... ever.

I just can't believe that you care for me enough to suggest what you deemed best for me...
And I can't believe that I'm actually willing to travel forth and back... so I could still grow with you...

No one can ever take your place, you know...

No one will ever take your place...

One of the boys

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:01:25 GMT

Grabbed from Leo Sambayan

Kiel, Cris, Leo, Allan. Ze Math 145 geeks.

Oh I miss those Sir-Julius-immune-to- days.

Repost: Closing Cycles -Paulo Coelho

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:30:47 GMT

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters - whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.

Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.

None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot forever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back. Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.

That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts - and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place. Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.

Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.” Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.

Kiel Granada
B.S. Mathematics
University of the Philippines Diliman
Batch of 2008

99% certain

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:07:33 GMT

I like it here...

...just hope the distance isn't big enough for me to miss a lot.

I'm wearing a paper dress later, haha. Parang gusto ko paper dress na lang din ako sa grad sa Sunday. Hehe.

Hindi raw luluwas si Tita Gilda, so Tatsi at Ate Bheng na sa hapon. Papa, Gat at Luke sa tanghali (thank you Tina sa extra ticket).

Iniisip ko pa kung saan at kailan gaganapin ang grad pakain ko. Pero siguradong mayroon. Kasi nangungulit si Mama. Malamang Conspi. Or Trimona. Or bahay. Bahala na. Bukas ko na aasikasuhin. Pa-standby na lang. Text ko agad na lang kayo. Salamat. Good night!

Aha, this will be interesting...

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:23:50 GMT

One down, two more to go, then I can roll the wheel...

"This part of my life is called... being stupid."
-The Pursuit of Happyness

Sabi ni Tina, "follow your heart"... Hmhmm... We'll see...

Setting-up Life

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:23:40 GMT

Just realized that what I've been doing 'till early AM is not a waste of time.
(Inisip ko, nangangareer lang ako ng wordpress at nagblo-blog lang, etc.)

Third to the last time Papa and I had a heart-to-heart talk, he shared with me something I should keep in mind for the rest of my life:

What can I give back?

(Pero hindi pala... May rason pala kung bakit ako nagpapakabusisi dito... At kung bakit ko ito ginagawa...)

He said that answering this question would give me the direction I wanted to have...

And now that my time to decide is almost up, I see that indeed, knowing the answer to that question answers a lot more...

(Para akong nagse-setup ng mga gagamitin ko balang-araw... At para na rin akong nagpla-plano kung paano ko gustong gawin ang ikabubuhay ko...)

I think I'm more or less ready... to leave and live...

(New project: misskiel.wordpress.com )

Remembering "John Nash"

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:40:08 GMT

For the first time I don't have access to your thoughts... disproving my claim that you are not real...

(Obviously this is still bothering me...)

Anyway, since I now know you exist...

Welcome to this world. And cheers! (Whichever suits you better )

Summer job!

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:00:41 GMT

Iz official. I'm starting work on May 5, Monday, UPCAT Review Math Lecturer for Study Habits, Teacher's Village. Time to get a bike.

~~~

It's still bothering... If something exists, then why didn't I learn about it from you? So this is how it feels... History keeps repeating itself, eh? Except that now, I hope that we're wiser, and more sensible that those kids who argued through complete entries in their LJ blogs.

Reminders for the near future

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:22:02 GMT

Watch carefully whatever that is you are cooking. Even if it means missing your favorite TV show.

~~~

Kiel, your cut-off is 1am. After that, it's significantly harder not to stay awake.

~~~

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." -Sun-tzu, The Art of War

Sometimes Horoscopes just amuse me

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:50:25 GMT

From Friendster:
Stop reading books to figure out what to do in romance. Your heart already knows.

Hmm... Interesting...

Insomnia to the highest level

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:53:50 GMT

Yes, I'm still awake.

Demit. Something is seriously wrong.

I think I really need to go somewhere far away.

DQ Overload

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:03:41 GMT

Had so far the craziest thought.

What if I fall for you?

A dear friend asked me this question about six years back and Ms. Flirt just had to reply,

I might fall for you too.

It's just weird. When I saw him flat tired and really sleepy lying on that couch, I felt a higher degree of care I never expected to feel.

Proximity probably just gets through me that easily, sometimes I no longer know what is real from what is dreamed anymore.

I should stop saying "I miss him". Or anything like that. My best friend's Psych major ex-girlfriend just proved that repeatedly saying "I love you" works, i.e. the person saying "I love you" to another person will end up believing he/she is indeed in love.

Having said all that, I now see what makes this different from the "perceived stuff"...

There was never a need for that.

I love ice cream.

Yet another one of those rants

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:19:51 GMT

That's why we're rotting.

They let people get away with what's-the-opposite-of-integrity stuff.

It sucks. How more than a hundred times we've been reminded by our blue books of "Honor and Excellence" and yet very few people actually take the honor part seriously.

So what if you excel. Did you really earn it?

~~~

I am thinking twice about presenting in the MSP. I feel like my work isn't good enough. And actually, right now, I'm also keeping the translation to paper form on hold. I don't know. I want to do something else. I want to solve the equation in Q_2 and learn how to lift the solution to Q then from there I can go to Z.

~~~

I've made my choice. If it's a 'yes' then I'll go. Everything else will just have to wait.

Oversleep

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:22:00 GMT

Just when I finally figured it out... I woke up.

I think it's just the way dreams are designed... Or just the way polynomial functions behave... Relative maximums can only be followed by a negative slope...

Sometimes I tell myself that I have to face things no matter now much I am not ready yet...

Life does not wait... But it's okay... because it only gives us challenges which we can take...

~~~

I'm getting bored with surfing the net... It seems like most people are on vacation... Either that or they're just plain busy...

~~~

College and University Grad in two weeks. I already have a white/ecru dress with improvised sleeves paired with pretty pretty glass slippers. Had a great time shopping with Tina yesterday. Mas masaya palang mamili nang may kasama. I'm used to making decisions alone but it does help to have a second opinion. Buti na lang sabay kaming mag-ma-march.

~~~

This week:

1. Interview for Pisay
2. Second session for root canal
3. Grad stuff
4. Sir Julius: Research paper, MSP, Application for the Institute
5. Standby: Team meeting for Study Habits, my summer job
6. Standby: Teaching demo for UPLB
7. Cleaning/packing up
8. Studio hunt
9. Jubilarian meet

Last week:

1. First session for root canal
2. Interview and Teaching demo for UP Math
3. Interview for Study Habits
4. Pio's swimming/ihaw/videoke party
5. Teaching demo for Study Habits
6. Starbucks with Beej
7. Orientation for UPLB c/o Ninang Al
8. "The Other Boleyn Girl" with Pisay Math
9. Shopping for Grad stuff

Tech Things 1.2: Compiling Tex files from the command line(Asus EEE)

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:44:23 GMT

1. Launch Console by Ctrl+Alt+T.

2. Go to the Directory which contains the LaTeX file.

For this, we use the following Console commands:

ls - Displays the current folder's directory/contents. Those followed by '/' are folders.

cd <folder> - Opens a folder. Example: cd "My Documents". The quotes may be removed if the folder name is just one word. Example: cd Desktop.
* Note: Console is case-sensitive.

3. Enter "latex <file>". This compiles the .tex file and creates filename.dvi. Example: latex file1.tex. Dropping the ".tex" and simply typing latex file1 also works.

4. Enter "dvips <file>". This converts the .dvi file to .ps. Similarly, we may also drop the ".dvi".

5. Convert the ps to pdf by "ps2pdf <filename.ps> <filename.pdf>". This creates a .pdf file with the name filename.pdf from file.ps. The name of the .pdf file may be different from the .ps source file. Example: ps2pdf file.ps newfile.pdf.

3-5. There is a shortcut, "pdflatex <file>" which directly compiles a .tex file to .pdf. However, there are cases where this will not work. Some Latex features require passing through .dvi and/or .ps. Similarly, there are also cases where only pdflatex may be used.

0. Tex files can be created from any text editor. In Asus EEE, we have kwrite. This can be launched from Console by entering "kwrite". An easier way to write Latex documents, though, is by using a LaTeX editor. In 1.3, we'll deal with Texmaker. For now, here's an example of a .tex file compiled to .pdf :

sample.tex source:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\title{Sample Tex Doc}
\author{Kiel F. Granada}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
This is an example of a \LaTeX{}-typeset document.
\end{document}

sample.pdf output:

Tech Things 1.1: Setting Up Latex in Linux(Asus EEE)

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:57:30 GMT

'Just thought of starting this new series - Tech Things. Here I'll write the "How to" of some things I needed to do in my cellphone, PC(with OS Windows XP), mini-laptop(the Asus EEE with OS Linux/modified Xandros), or other gadgets, most of which I've had a hard time remembering or took me quite a while to figure out.

1.1 - Setting Up Latex in Linux(Asus EEE)

1. Launch Console by Ctrl+Alt+T.

2. Enter "sudo bash". This gives us Admin privileges.

3. Enter "nano /etc/apt/sources.list" and

4. Type the following after the default two lines of the list of repositories:

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/eeepcrepos p701 main etch
deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2 etch main contrib non-free
deb http://dccamirror.xandros.com/dccri/ dccri-3.0 main
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/ xandros4 main

* Note: The spaces are really included.

5. Save by Ctrl+O. Exit/Return to main command line by Ctrl+X.

6. Enter "apt-get update". This updates the list of packages from the repositories.

* Note: This requires Internet connection. And so will all other apt-get processes.

* Note2: In the event that the update process will not be completed, probably due to poor connection, we may update the repositories one-by-one. We do this by slightly modifying the sources.list file every time, leaving only one line by commenting out the rest with '#', and then applying "apt-get update" for that. An example:

#deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/p701 p701 main
#deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/en p701 main
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/eeepcrepos p701 main etch
#deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2 etch main contrib non-free
#deb http://dccamirror.xandros.com/dccri/ dccri-3.0 main
#deb http://www.geekconnection.org/ xandros4 main

* Note3: We may get the error "NO_PUBKEY". To get the key for download.tuxfamily.org, enter "wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/eeepcrepos/key.asc" then enter "apt-key add key.asc". This is actually optional. Also, for xnv4.xandros.com, this does not work.

7. Enter "apt-get install tetex-base". Key in 'y' when prompted.

8. Enter "apt-get install tetex-bin". Same.

9. If we need to use the beamer package, enter "apt-get install latex-beamer". Otherwise, we're done.

10. Another optional package is Texmaker, a free Latex editor. Similarly, we install this by entering "apt-get install texmaker".

References:
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/addingxandrosrepos
http://packages.debian.org/etch/tetex-base
http://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/

Eleven

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:15:03 GMT

...is one of my favorite numbers.

1. It's a prime.
2. It is the number next to 10.
3. It is the smallest 2-digit palindrome.
4. It has an interesting divisibility rule. (A number is divisible by 11 if the difference between the sums of its alternating digits is divisible by 11.)
5. It is the first 2 digits of our zip code.
6. It is 1011 in Base 2, our zip code in reverse.
7. K is the 11th letter of the alphabet.
8. The number of letters in "eleven" is 6, the first perfect number.
9. The word "eleven" has three e's, which are placed alternately.
10. "Eleven" in German is "elf".