Ask The Jester-in-Exile

A List of Concrete, Effective, Efficient, and Repeatable Actions by UP's University Student Councils and Political Parties on Fraternity Violence

2009-02-16T09:28:00.003+08:00

My response to Manolo's implied question on what UP's student councils and political parties have done to fight fraternity violence.

Here's a list of the concrete, effective, efficient, and repeatable actions they've taken thus far:

***
With apologies to the emperor's tailor.

Email the jester-in-exile via jester_in_exile@yahoo.com or betajester@mysandbox.com.ph

2008.09.21.17.00.00 -- I have a date then. So should you.

2008-07-31T13:30:00.001+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

The floppy hat will be looking at this one night in September.

(*clears throat)

Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!

Lords and ladies of the Philippine blogosphere, the Crystal Crescent is come!

On the evening of September 21, 2008 at One Esplanade, the events venue at SM Central Business Park, Seaside corner Bay Boulevard, Pasay City, the best and the brightest of the Filipino bloggers will be recognized in the most prestigious and long-awaited event of the year -- the Tony of techies, the Golden Globe of console jockeys, the Oscars of the Philippine niche of the blogosphere...

The 2008 Philippine Blog Awards!

Yes, my lords and ladies, the convenors of the Philippine Blog Awards have announced that they, with the kind contributions of the SM Group, have finally come to an agreement in booking the Coral B room of One Esplanade for the event that aims to give recognition to Filipino blogs and bloggers who have contributed to the vibrant and growing phenomenon that is the Philippine online community.

That said, my lords and ladies, there's lots to do still. The convenors will be happy to accept corporate sponsorships -- if you want to be known as part of the Philippine Blog Awards' efforts to recognize Filipino blogs and bloggers, contact the convenors via this form. PBA2008 convenor Gail Villanueva will be accepting volunteers -- she can by reached at kutitots@gmail.com. If you want to be of service in other ways, the convenors will be happy with your efforts to spread the word about the event -- as the jester-in-exile is doing with this post.

Of course, my lords and ladies, if you know of a blogger whom you deem worthy of praise and acclaim, do take the time and nominate; the convenors have announced that the end of the nomination period will be on August 10, 2008.

The Crystal Crescent is come, my lords and ladies. It shall be an unforgettable event!

***
Hmmm. I do wonder if Ask The Jester-in-Exile has been nominated? Or has his other blog been?

Hmmm. No indications of that. Pity.

Ah, well.

***
Here's a sneak preview of the place via YouTube.

This is going to be fun.

Later, all. Don't forget to block off your calendars.

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Abandon All Hope, All Ye to Enter Malcolm Hall hahaha: The Jester-in-Exile Answers FC, UP Law Freshman-to-Be

2008-05-14T23:39:00.002+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

The thing with law school, especially in the evening class, is that the days are long but the semesters are short. Really, that's how I felt.

Now, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in surviving the boot camp that is the evening program of the University of the Philippines College of Law (heck, I'm not going to even say that I've survived freshman year, not until the second semester's grades are out), but let's see how much information we can give FC, who wrote the email we're featuring in this post. The bloke FC writes:

I'm FC, an incoming freshman UP law student... I am employed on a full time basis and thus will enroll in the evening classes. I'll be supporting myself. I'd like to ask how much money will I prepare for the enrollment and for the books, photocopies, notes, etc? For the first year evening class, how many units will I take? I asked for a course syllabus from the secretary but they've ran out of copies. If you don't mind, which will be a great help, may I ask what the subjects that I will take for the first year are?

And I'd like to ask, if you're a full time working student, what did you do to prepare yourself for the ordeal?

I love reading your blogs, by the way! They're honest, brutal and crispy. It still amazes me how you can blog, work, and study LAW! hehe.

Thanks!

FC

See, FC, flattery with a blogger will get you a looong way haha. All right, let's answer your email as if we were having a conversation.

I work in a full time basis and thus will enroll in the evening classes. I'll be supporting myself.

Are you really sure? Like, REAALLY SURE about this? It's no picnic, let me tell you, being a member of the evening class. It is an apparent open secret (as I learned from Professor JJ Disini, head of the UP Internet and Society Program of the College of Law) that there are among the members of the evening class who claim to be employed on a full-time or part-time basis but upon closer scrutiny are supported by their folks or working for their families companies.

In other words, in the professor's terms, they are not quite "legitimate" evening students.

My personal experience, however, is that to the best of my knowledge none of my classmates are "parental scholars"; all of us are employed full-time and are pulling our own weight both at work and at school. I'm fairly certain that most, if not all, of the members of the class I belong to are pretty much paying their way through school.

And oh yes, it can get really tough.

I'd like to ask how much money will I prepare for the enrollment and for the books, photocopies, notes, etc?

First, let's talk about tuition and fees. Bottomline, get PhP16k ready for tuition, fees, and travel expenses, not to mention the income loss if you have to be absent without pay. Of course, if you have friends among the UP faculty, apparently you can go to the Student Loan Board and apply for a student loan, which takes care of apparently 80% of your fees (I'm not sure if this is tuition AND fees or just tuition). However, if you've been employed for quite a while, I'd suggest taking a salary loan out from the Pag-IBIG Fund instead, and then save something around PhP2K every payday starting June. This will ensure that you have tuition and fees for the succeeding semesters.

Second, regular costs. You will spend some amount on notebooks, highlighters, pens, staples, and suchlike... call it an even thousand for the year. However, this is just a floor figure; you see, even if you have the latest CD of Lex Libris (and if you do, get me a copy, won't you?), you cannot get around having to photocopy readings and cases, and that costs a pretty penny. Consider putting aside two hundred bucks each week, just to have a safe margin.

Third, non-regular costs. Being part of the student body, you are somehow expected to support student activities; there will be quite a number as the semesters will pass on. As we know, whether it be a party, a dinner for the profs, some event or other, one is expected to shell out something. This is where your personal pocket money preference comes in.

(Aside to my other readers -- see why I don't go out on dates? I'm dirt-poor. Haha.)

For the first year evening class, how many units will I take? My I ask what are the subjects that I will take for the first year?

Easy enough.

First semester:

Class Code Subject Units

Law 99 Legal Bibliography 1

Law 100 Persons and Family Relations 4

Law 109 Criminal Law 1 3

Law 115 Legal History 2

Law 121 Constitutional Law 1 4

Total 14

Second semester:

Class Code Subject Units

Law 101 Obligations and Contracts 5

Law 110 Criminal Law 2 4

Law 116 Legal Method 2

Law 120 Legal Profession 2

Total 13

One of the things that people comment on being a part of the evening class is that we often "get lucky" because we get assigned brilliant professors, even former deans of the college. That said, having brilliant professors adds a bit more pressure; nobody -- and I mean NOBODY -- wants to be a deer in headlights in front of the profs.

If you're a full time working student, what did you do to prepare yourself for the ordeal?

I didn't, and I paid the price for it. Heh heh.

Looking back to June last year, this is what I should've done:

Set an inflexible schedule, which cannot be compromised; otherwise, look for alternative, lighter-load employment, preferably close to campus;

Set an inflexible budget; otherwise, look for alternative and passive income to supplement your cashflow

Look for housing and transportation that will enable you to be close to both campus and work

Learn how to study effectively on the commute

There are no small advantages when entering law school as a full time student. Trust me on this.

I love reading your blogs, by the way! They're honest, brutal and crispy. It still amazes me how you can blog, work, and study LAW! hehe.

Naks. 'Nuff said haha. Just for that, feel free to send a couple more questions.

(Well, see, this wasn't so bad, was it?)

***

So there we go. Best of luck on entering UP Law, FC. Maybe we'll see each other on campus.

(Probably not... I doubt if anyone has seen a floppy hat prowling around Malcolm Hall. Haha.)

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And the Crystal Crescent Goes To...

2008-04-16T15:44:00.002+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Cross-posted on The Journal of the Jester-in-Exile.)

Progress.

When heard, the word gives the listener the feeling of things getting better than before, even if its intellectual interpretations is a matter of subjective taste.

That said, I am impressed by the convenors of the Philippine Blog Awards. Although it is barely in its second year of existence, the Crystal Crescent is defining itself to be THE awards for the Philippine niche of cyberspace.

(I called it the Oscars of the Philippine blogosphere last year. What I've read of it today strengthens that impression.)

For starters, let's take a look at the categories, of which there are thirty-six. Divided into three divisions (Best Blog Division, Best Single Post Division, and Special Awards Division), the Crystal Crescent will be given to recognize the best Filipino blogs of as well as the most engaging individual blog posts of 2008. As with last year, special awards will likewise be given to recognize efforts unique to the Filipino blogosphere.

The eligibility requirements and the nomination process has changed quite a bit, and it seems to me that it has, quite pleasingly, been jazzed up and makes the nominations even more relevant to the bloggers. To say that I'm excited to see how this works out is, well, an understatement.

Nominations forms here: Best Blog Division, Best Single Post Division, and Special Awards Division.

Go. Nominate your favorite blogs, blog posts, and bloggers now. Awards night will be sometime in July this year.

Stay tuned. (Oh, and convenors, I hope you don't mind my usage of your nomination gif.)

***
Oh, and if anyone intends to nominate this blog (heh heh), here are its details:

Blog Name: Ask The Jester-in-Exile
Blog URL: http://askthejester.blogspot.com
Blogger's full name: the jester-in-exile
Blogger's email address: jester_in_exile@yahoo.com
Date Blog Was Established: December 29, 2007

Of course, if you don't intend to nominate this blog, I don't mind.

(Actually, I will, but I'm going to shut up about it and just bawl in a corner. Heh. Not. I'd rather be celebrating with the nominees.)

***
Now who should I be nominating?

Hmm.

Let me think about that for a bit, and I'll post about it in a while.

Off the top of my head, though, I think Nick of Tingog.com, Selvo of Nomadic Thoughts, The Professional Heckler -- see, I don't recall if they were nominated last year, but these bloggers (among many others I should take the time to nominate as well) deserve kudos.

***
Later all. Gotta start bloghopping now and copy-pasting URLs to Notepad.

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The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse (The Index)

2008-03-13T15:52:00.000+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Here is the index to the answers to RMBG's questions.

Part 1: Background information.)

Part 2: Answering "What are the benefits, as well as disadvantages, of the blogosphere as a new medium for conveying the diverse political thoughts in Philippine politics?"

Part 3: Answering "How diversified are the political thoughts which are highlighted and conveyed through the words of different Filipino political bloggers?"

Part 4: Answering "Why are blogs so influential and how effective it is as a tool for reaching people and for altering awareness on critical public issues?"

Part 5: Answering "How can the Philippine political blogosphere improve as a tool for political socialization and communication to the Filipino public, considering the limited reach of the internet at the present?"

That's that. Best of luck with your schoolwork, RMBG.

Now to tend to mine.

The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse, Part 5

2008-03-13T15:36:00.001+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Part 1 here.)
(Part 2 here.)
(Part 3 here.)
(Part 4 here.)
(Part 5 here.)

Continuing on answering RMBG's questionnaire, we go now to his final question:

How can the Philippine political blogosphere improve as a tool for political socialization and communication to the Filipino public, considering the limited reach of the internet at the present?

I think that any other measure short of expanding local internet accessibility and the narrowing of the digital divide would not be able to sufficiently make the blogosphere a political force relevant to the public at large. Thus, given that widespread connectivity will be quite likely a concept that the Philippines will not learn of -- at least in the near future -- I think that the sole means of the online politically-inclined Filipino to become more relevant to the general public is by going offline.

To phrase this differently: at the end of the day, for the Filipino political blogger to be relevant, he must suit actions to words, and move from online advocacy to real-life activity. Doing so, the Filipino political blogger will then be credible in his articulation of his political beliefs; the resulting online/ offline dynamic will redound to the increase in his visibility in cyberspace, and thus the blogger's message will turn increasingly viral and result in the persuasion of more readers.

Short version: if a blogger practices what he preaches, he will certainly be more persuasive; with the persuasion of others for or against a stand being the goal of any advocate, for one blogger to be more convincing in comparison to others is certainly in this blogger's best interests.

***
Without going into the details of online/ offline dynamics, I think it will be sufficient to speak of the the approaches by which the political niche of the Philippine blogosphere can increase its influence, from the most superficial escalating to the more involved methods.

Increasing visibility is quite obviously the minimum activity. The goal of an online advocate is not merely to increase one's visibility in cyberspace (which will merely entail activities related to search engine optimization), but to increase to generate visibility in mainstream media; after all, mainstream media is still the primary source of the general public's information (said information the basis for opinions to be formed). To do this, there seems to me two paths to choose from: one, to establish one's blog as a source of information presented in a balanced and fair manner analoguous to reportage in the mainstream media, and; two, to establish one's blog as a source of incisive and thought-provoking analysis and commentary analoguous to punditry and commentary in mainstream media's news magazines and opinion talk shows.

The second approach is far more common than the first, given that few ordinary bloggers have the time and resources to spare to check out leads, attempt to get the "other side" of the story, and to perform the legwork necessary to research a story in the manner of professional journalists; as such, it is far easier (or at least, it is in general) for a blogger to depend on mainstream media's output for news and information, which then the blogger will attempt to analyze, the analysis being presented in a manner designed to sway the blogger's readership to his persuasion. Unfortunately for the those subscribing to the second approach, it is the approach that is the most common, and therefore the approach where it is harder for a blog to stand out due to the sheer volume of bloggers doing it. For either activity the key is, therefore, hard work and persistence, working to grow the base of one's readership and establishing oneself as either an alternative reporter or a subject-matter expert (SME) on key issues; blogs with large readerships will very likely be reported on by mainstream media.

Despite a high level of visibility in mainstream media, it is still likely that the blogger's reach and influence may not be sufficient to persuade readers and viewers of mainstream media who do not have access to the internet. One can be fairly certain that the reportage concerning the blog will contain less of the content of the blog posts and the quality of its ideas than the description of the blogger, his blog, the circumstances surrounding the blog, and other information pertinent to reportage to the public but not to the persuasion of the public. The next higher step, therefore, is to write posts of quality of enough level to interest mainstrean media into sharing these posts with mainstream media's audience -- the general public.

With the increasing popularity of such a blogger, he will soon receive commentary saying "put up or shut up", meaning to prove that he has the conviction to act as he claims to advocate. The more controversial (or unpopular) the blogger's stance, the greater is the need for the blogger to demonstrate that his advocacy for or against an issue is not limited to cyberspace; otherwise, the blogger will find himself a pariah at best and a laughingstock at worst. To be placed in such a situation is to result in the loss of credibility, which is the death knell for any advocate.

As was mentioned earlier on in this post, for an online advocate to be relevant in a society such as ours where internet access is not as widespread, the online advocate must act beyond cyberspace and demonstrate his activity in real life.

For the political niche of the Filipino blogosphere to improve as a tool for political socialization and communication of ideas and issues to the Filipino public, despite the limited reach of the internet, is for those engagements in the blogosphere to take these engagements to where the general public can access them. In the end, the use of the blogosphere should be merely one of the arrows in an advocates's quiver, and not viewed as the magic bullet that it is not.
***
Whew. Done.

In all honesty, this is how I had originally begun this post:

You have got to be kidding me, RMBG. What would I know about how to improve the blogosphere as a tool for engagement and discourse, WITHOUT improving the limited reach of the internet? I'm an Occam's Razor sort of fellow -- the simplest solution is probably the most effective.

(All right, all right, enough histrionics. Let's doff the coxcomb and put on the mortarboard. I should be in a better mood, given that I've had lunch.)

(Or maybe not -- but let's not take it out on the boy.)

Heh heh. Now to provide RMBG an index.

Later, all.

The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse, Part 4

2008-03-13T12:23:00.001+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Part 1 here.)
(Part 2 here.)
(Part 3 here.)
(Part 4 here.)
(Part 5 here.)

Continuing on answering RMBG's questionnaire, we go now to his third question:

Why are blogs so influential and how effective it is as a tool for reaching people and for altering awareness on critical public issues?

RMBG's third question is actually two questions in one. First, why are blogs influential? Second, how effective it is as a tool for reaching people and for altering awareness on critical public issues?

To be able to answer his first question, we must first answer this one: are blogs truly influential? The answer to this might be trickier than we realize.

Likewise, the effectiveness of blogs for reaching people and altering awareness on critical public issues is a matter of some debate.

Perhaps we can agree that being quite a recent development, the influence and reach of blogs is not very strong nor widespread... yet. Or at least among the grassroots; we can be certain that those moving in circles of power and influence just might use the blogosphere as a means of keeping their fingers on the pulse of the nation.

***
Let's first dispose of the first part of RMBG's question. Are blogs in general and political blogs in particular influential in the Philippines?

These days, many "old media" journalists -- that is, journalists of print and broadcast media -- have decided to blog as a means of expressing opinions, providing details to stories already covered, or as an alternative means of coverage (given the limited amount of column inches and minutes of airtime available to these journalists). Some of examples of such blogs are those of Ricky Carandang, Ellen Tordesillas, Manuel Quezon III, Jove Francisco, among others. The content of their blogs probably spurs their peers to continue digging into more angles of the stories of the day, as well as provide additional background for pundits to unravel and analyze.

Corollary to this, more and more journalistic outfits, especially those involved in investigative journalism and advocacy, are increasing their presence in cyberspace, given the difference in the amount of cost of publishing on paper or of production of a television mini-series against that of maintaining a blog or website; groups such as the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and Center for Media Freedom and Responsiblity come to mind. Such blogs, serving as online analogs to news magazines, have often been used as sources of information even by traditional media outfits, such as newspapers and TV.

Similarly, advocacy groups are cashing in on the blogosphere's increasing influence and reach. For instance, reproductive health advocacy (among other advocacies) group Philippine Media Advocates for Development & Empowerment has been using a cyberspace presence in its drive to promote its various causes.

However, it must be made clear (as we spoke of in our previous discussion) that because of the generally limited internet penetration in the Philippines, the influence of blogs may not be as influential among the grassroots. The flip side is this: because blogs are generally posted by those close to the seat of power, or at least read by those in the rarefied corridors of influence, it is possible that blogs may have much more influence than we believe.

How, then, can we believe Filipino blogs in general and Filipino political blogs to be influential?

Insofar as shaping political thought is concerned, the Filipino blogosphere will very likely not be as influential locally as AM radio and newspaper columns are. Quite likely, political blogs will not exert much direct influence except to the digital Filipino, who is at the very least is one who belongs to the upper C to the A classes. Political commentary in the blogosphere, quite likely, will be of of greater interest in the expatriate Filipino context than locally, especially since the internet is becoming the medium expat Filipinos are becoming more and more dependent on. Given that, blogs can generally be influential, not each blog on its own, but quite likely due to a large number of blog posts expressing agreement or disagreement with a position or sentiment on an issue.

Note, however, that a blogswarm (as such a consensus can be called) may not cause action to be taken, as shown by the lack of action on the Malu Fernandez issue or the GMA resign blogswarm.

***
To continue on and proceed to attempt to answer the second part of RMBG's question, which is the effectiveness of blogs to reach people and shape public opinion, we must answer the question from the perspective of the Philippines having a digital divide that is very wide. With such a digital divide, blogs per se may not be as influential to the general public.

However, with the influence of blogs on mainstream media, blogs may exert a fair amount of influence on the general public, at least on an indirect basis. Given that blogs are increasingly becoming sources of information for mainstream media, we can perhaps hold such a belief with a fair amount of validity.

Not that someone such as I would be privy to any means to prove or disprove this assumption, but given that those moving in the circles of power and influence will very likely have internet access (or have underlings who do and report to them the results of their surfing), we can perhaps assume that these people will be watching the trends of the conversations in the blogosphere, perhaps even attempting to influence these trends to their benefit (which would perhaps give credence to the rumored existence of the Luli Arroyo Internet Brigade).

Finally, given that direct access to the blogosphere is greater to those either to those in metropolitan areas and expatriates, I will further posit that a blog's effectiveness will be greater if it deals with issues that will be of direct impact or at least interest to such people.

***
The bottomline to RMBG's question in this stage of growth of the Philippine blogosphere would then be these points:

Blogs are not very influential insofar as the general Filipino public is concerned, but can be very influential to sectors who have direct access to the internet.

It may be safe to assume that the blogosphere will be influential if bloggers begin to reach a consensus; however, such a consensus will not guarantee the object of the consensus to be spurred into action.

The Philippine blogosphere cannot yet exert enough influence to shape public opinion directly, but may be able to do so by being of interest to the media, those who have power and influence, and those who have internet access and an interest in issues affecting the nation, and causing such people to act on these opinions.

Therefore, the Philippine blogosphere is not yet an effective means to shape public opinion, and will continue to remain so unless the digital divide is narrowed, or at least bridged.

I think that we can stop here, at least for now.

***
The answer to RGMB's final question in the next post. For now, lunch.

(And while eating, reading AJ's posts on the recent Binibining Pilipinas pageant, Janina San Miguel, and the rest of the Taf Teyn -- I mean Top Ten. Hilarious; pity they don't make Miss Universe candidates of the same caliber as eight or so years ago. Oh, well.)

Later, all.

The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse, Part 3

2008-03-13T06:31:00.002+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Part 1 here.)
(Part 2 here.)
(Part 3 here.)
(Part 4 here.)
(Part 5 here.)

Continuing on answering RMBG's questionnaire, we go now to his second question:

How diversified are the political thoughts which are highlighted and conveyed through the words of different Filipino political bloggers?

Short answer? Very diversified.

However, the devil is in the details.

Given, as mentioned in the previous post, that anyone can start a blog and express one's views on current events and issues if one so chooses, it will be fair for anyone to believe that the blogosphere is a marketplace of ideas and opinions so diverse that Divisoria's fame for its variety of goods will suffer in comparison.

However, there is reason to believe that the Philippine niche of the blogosphere may not have a political spectrum as wide as one may believe.

Fairly recently, blogger CVJ made a survey that was designed to determine the political leanings of some of the Filipino bloggers whose posts are generally of a political bent. Here are the results thus far (image grabbed from CVJ's post, click to enlarge):

(FAQ to the Political Compass survey here.)

Some additional mathematical analysis of the scores may be appropriate (data as of February 4, 2008):

Economic Left/Right (X-axis):
Mean: -3.56
Median: -3.62
Mode: -3.25

Political Authoritarian/ Social Libertarian (Y-axis):
Mean: -2.81
Median: -2.72
Mode: -2.72

Quoting CVJ (additional punctuation mine) on the test:

The quiz plots a person's ideology across two dimensions. The vertical axis represents the (top-to-bottom) authoritarian vs. anarchist scale while the horizontal axis represents the (left-to-right) state intervention vs. "let the market decide" scale.

Although this survey (I hope that CVJ will bear this out) is only a cursory glance at the political leanings of a fairly small number of bloggers (39 bloggers as of February 4, 2008) and will very likely not reflect the overall political landscape of the Philippine blogosphere (given the small sample size vis-a-vis the large number of Filipinos in the blogosphere, not to mention Filipions who maintain an online presence via Friendster, Facebook, and other social networks and may be expressing their opinions via these online services).

However, if we can agree that the results are an accurate reflection of the politics of the Philippine blogosphere, we can derive a few conclusions, which may or may not be accurate.

CVJ says:

My take on the quadrants is on how one feels about how effective the market or the people is as mechanisms for organizing and coordinating the activities of society.

My understanding is that those in the right side (whether top or bottom quadrant) believe in the market (i.e. price mechanisms) as an effective way of signalling and coordinating activities to a greater degree than those on the left. Although I'm on the left, I'm a believer in the market but I also believe in the possibility of market failure.

Those on the bottom side (whether left or right), believe in the ability of people to work together for the benefit of society. Those on the top side (whether left or right) see the need for a vanguard (whether individual or group) to direct the activities of society.

With the majority of the data points on the lower left quadrant I would also presume to interpret the graph (in relation to the survey questions) as follows:

Even while the Filipino blogosphere is generally in favor of more state control of the marketplace and less deregulation (perhaps generally in the area of price fixing of basic goods and other such matters), the average Filipino political blogger looks askance at the limiting of civil and political rights.

The average Filipino political blogger may generally be liberal (or at the very least, neutral) with regard to controversial issues such as divorce, gay marriage, reproductive health and population management, abortion and the woman's "right to choose", conscientious objection to military service, affirmative action, women's, children's, and indigenous peoples' rights and others similar, the environment vis-a-vis the exploitation of natural resources, and other such issues being hotly contested by various sectors of society, but will strongly and vociferously oppose any efforts to stifle discussion and debate on such matters.

The average Filipino political blogger may generally support participative governance and progressive politics over the possibility of the "strong leader" vis-a-vis "faithful followers" paradigm, despite the Filipino political blogger generally being an advocate of law and order. There is also a general distrust of traditional politics and politicians, and while there is a presence of those posting apologia the demand for transparency and accountability in government is by far much more strident.

Among other things, of course, but I think we need not belabor the obvious.

***
I think that we can move on to why the Philippine blogosphere has such a landscape. At the risk of sounding simplistic, my take on why the Filipino blogosphere is of such a persuasion is simply this: I believe that the Filipino blogger puts a high premium on the right to free expression, and by extension the gamut of civil and political rights.

Consider: blogging is a form of expression whose limits in terms of loquacity or brevity are set by the individual blogger. Unlike "old media", where a limited amount of column inches or airtime can be allotted for the readers' or listener's reactions, a blog has very few limitations on the volume of expression a blogger (or a commenter, even) can post, and thus a blogger can harp on at length over some issue or other without fear of his post being redacted.

Consider likewise that blogging is a form of expression where the blogger has no editors, and thus any opinion he expresses is completely his and in his language of choice. Such a blogger may have a sense of empowerment with this ability to express his own opinion in his chosen language without his thoughts or language being subject to criticism or even censorship prior to his post being published.

With these said, it will be difficult to picture a Filipino blogger to take a stand supporting the curtailment of individual freedoms, especially the right to free expression, no matter how hardline his political stance is. Corollary to that, the Filipino political blogger will quite likely adopt a live-and-let-live stance in terms of other bloggers, especially other bloggers whose opinions may be diametrically opposite to theirs. At most, the blogger in question will engage the blogger in debate; else, the blogger could simply ignore these others, trusting his readership to determine for themselves which arguments have more weight.

***
RMBG's third question coming up in the next post. Stay tuned... maybe later this evening or afternoon. I have work to do.

(Speaking of work, I'm rather disappointed with one or two outfits who have recently come a-calling... if you've changed your mind about your need for my skills, would it be too much to ask to let me know? Thanks.)

Oh, and Smart is acting up again. Surprising? Naaaaah. Smart is notoriously unreliable -- quote me on that, sure.

Later, all.

The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse, Part 2

2008-03-13T02:42:00.003+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Part 1 here.)
(Part 2 here.)
(Part 3 here.)
(Part 4 here.)
(Part 5 here.)

Continuing on answering RMBG's questionnaire, we go now to his first question:

What are the benefits, as well as disadvantages, of the blogosphere as a new medium for conveying the diverse political thoughts in Philippine politics?

I think that the benefits of the blogosphere as a means to convey political thought can be distilled into three: global reach, real-time feedback, and the equality of opinion, while the disadvantages would be the limited local reach and the deluge of information.

Our going into details will take quite a while.

***
Let's first speak of global reach and real-time feedback vis-a-vis limited local reach.

Quite obviously, given the nature of the internet, one's readership is not limited by geographical space. When one decides to post an opinion on a blog, the viewing of this opinion is not limited by geographical distance, and this opinion is available for viewing as long as a reader has the means to connect to the internet. With the increasing number of means to connect to the internet via computer (dial-up, RF packet switching, satellite radio, cable TV, DSL, Wi/Fi, connection via cellphone, and so on) and especially due to the growing availability of devices designed to connect to the internet as a secondary function (internet via cable TV, video game consoles, and cellphones, RSS readers on handheld gaming consoles, and so on), we can hypothesize with increasing accuracy that an opinion posted in the blogosphere will reach a reader.

Such accessibility also brings about real-time feedback, wherein a reader can express his agreement or disagreement as soon as he has read the posted opinion. Such real-time feedback would be beneficial for proponents of participative governance (the G2C/C2G feedback loop that is slowly gaining adherents even here in the Philippines -- G2C/C2G means "government to citizen/ citizen to government" communication and feedback), discussion and debate on current events and issues, and (perhaps to some degree) a form of the right to peaceably assemble for the redress of grievances, the right to dissent to others' points of view, even the right to protest against injustice.

A concrete example would be that of the overseas Filipino worker. In the nineteen-seventies, or even the eighties, the OFW would not have been able to raise a timely protest against government measures person might view as oppressive (such as, say, the POEA memorandum circular MC 07-04), while in this day and age, despite the geographical distance between the OFW and Manila, the OFW can raise a protest and even gather his peers to join him in protes.

Here, now, comes the disadvantage -- the limited local reach.

The internet penetration in the Philippines is still very low, and the "digital divide" between those with and those without access to the internet is still very wide. That said, the reach of a political expression posted on a blog will have very limited reach within the Philippines, quite possibly limited to major urban and suburban centers while practically nil in the rural areas. Corollary to that, the impact of such a post may hold currency only in the cities and be of completely no consequence to those in the provinces, having not been heard (bar any action on the part of the blogger or other readers to bring across the message offline, of course).

***
Let's now talk about the equality of opinion in the blogosphere vis-a-vis information overload.

My use of the phrase "equality of opinion" means simply this: any Juan, Pedro, or Jun can start a blog and express his opinion on any issue, and the likelihood of his new blog being stumbled upon is the same as that of another Tom, Dick, or Harry who starts a blog at the same time and expresses a contrary opinion. It will matter little if these two bloggers are of different socioeconomic strata; whether Tom goes to Ateneo de Manila while Jun goes to Mataas na Paaralan ng Antamok, or whether Dick and Pedro live in communities as disparate as Ayala Alabang and Alabang Gillage ("gilid ng village"), or whether Harry drives a BMW X5 while Jun gets around by BMX tricycle -- these will matter little in terms of how viral each of their opinions will be in the blogosphere. Generally speaking, a blog posts visibility is dependent on factors that are independent of those mentioned; conversely, the continuing popularity of a blogger is generally dependent on the quality of his online conversation, measurable via links to his posts, Google searches, Technorati references, and so on, and not on his credit rating.

That said, with the relative ease in starting a blog and given the number of new blogs being started each day, it is very easy for an opinion to get lost in the deluge of information available in cyberspace. A post from a new blogger may not be as readily visible as that of a blogger who has had an established online presence and a solid readership.

To illustrate: it will be fairly difficult for a newbie tech blogger to be as searchable as Yuga, and the opinion of the newbie will be given less credence than this established tech blogger, who has already spent several years cultivating his niche. Similarly, it will likewise be fairly difficult for a newbie political blogger to be as popular, notorious, or at least as commonly visited as those of MLQ3, DJB, or Ellen Tordesillas (bar any action that will give the newbie blogger popularity or notoriety, and thus make the blogger the subject of Google searches and backlinks, of course).

***
I'll continue answering RMBG's questions in succeeding posts. I need some food. Heh heh.

The Philippine Blogosphere and Political Thought 101: The Blogosphere as a Medium for Political Discourse, Part 1

2008-03-13T00:59:00.002+08:00

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

(Part 1 here.)
(Part 2 here.)
(Part 3 here.)
(Part 4 here.)
(Part 5 here.)

(I am not going to speak of Malu Fernandez. I won't waste any more cyberspace on her.)

***
Well, whaddya know. Apparently I am considered to be one of the "premier bloggers regarding the issues in the Philippine political arena" who has "expert opinion" to share.

(Considered me tickled pink. Heh heh.)

I received a letter from a student who is requesting answers that might prove useful to some schoolwork he is currently working on. I must say, his questions did lead me to do a bit of reflective thinking on my own take on political blogging.

Here is the young man's letter, quoted in full:

Dear Sir:

Good day! I am RMBG, a senior Political Science student from the University of the Philippines Manila. I am currently doing a case study on the Philippine blogosphere and how effective it is as a new media in conveying political thought and as an avenue for political discourse for an elective class (PS 196 - Philippine Political Thought) due on March 17, 2008. As one of the premier bloggers regarding the issues in the Philippine political arena, your expert opinion regarding my research would be of great help. Attached is the list of the main research questions for my case study.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely Yours,

RMBG

Far be it for me to be uncooperative.

***
Before we get to RMBG's questions, I think I will first profile myself so that the young man will understand the nature and quality of my answers.

This is who the jester-in-exile is:

Personal circumstances: born and raised in Baguio City, in a generally conservative, apolitical (oft-times, anti-political) household; primary and secondary education acquired through the city's public school system; is not nor was ever a figure in campus, local, nor national politics except as a voter and taxpayer; has had minimal travel out of the country

Educational background: an engineering major (acquired via government scholarship); now reading law in a state university

Employment history: nearly a decade of work experience in the corporate world after earning a bachelor's degree; prior to that, some lecturing and tutoring, as well as a few odd jobs here and there (CV by request; please provide at least three days notice)

Political views: political beliefs may not be easily categorized; has generally liberal (possibly left-of-center) views, but has recognized the validity of some conservative opinions; is a strong believer in representative democracy, participatory governance, justice, and law; is generally passionate about civil and political rights but has been known to question issues such as affirmative action; generally agrees in principle with the philosphies of such as Mencius, Cicero, Augustine, Thomas More, Ibn Khaldun, Voltaire, Rosseau, Kant, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Stuart Mill, Paine, and many others; is quite leery of strictly-construed Plato, Machiavelli, Feizi, Marx, Mao, Lenin, Hitler, Giovanni Gentile and similar; if reduced to Dungeons & Dragons terms, generally belongs to the Lawful Good alignment

Blogging history: started The Journal of The Jester-in-Exile as a personal online journal in July 2005; still considers the blog to be a personal blog, the political commentary merely due to his personal interest in issues and events of the day

I hope that will suffice for RMBG. An additional caveat for the young man: I am NOT a political theorist, nor a political science major, let alone a politician. Thus, much of my answers just might be quite simplistic for those who are well versed in such arcana.

***
For starters, let me say that I believe that any medium used to convey political thought, bar violence and terrorism, is in itself beneficial -- I will even go as far as to say that even grafitti containing political messages does have its use -- as the start of political discourse, insofar as the medium and the message provoke thoughts and opinions in the reader, the viewer, and the listener. For a medium to be unable to connect to its target audience and for a message to not elicit a reaction (whether for, against, or "a plague on both your houses") from the listener shows only that the medium and the message are ineffective.

My personal belief is that there are only three ways for political thought to be conveyed. From source to recipient, they are: one-to-one and many-to-one.

One-to-one discourse would be in the nature of an individual attempting to convince another individual. For instance, one person can be talking to someone else, one person can be conducting a teach-in (note that each listener is a "one" listening to the person at the lectern or the higher end of the grassy knoll), one person shouting his lungs out on Hyde Park (again, note that each listener is a "one"), a handbill, a flyer, a pamphlet, a poster, or a graffiti message (each reader or viewer is a "one"), and so on. Many-to-one discourse could be exemplified by rallies and mass actions, wherein a group and its overt, public actions are viewed by each individual resulting in opinions formed about the group and its message.

I think that the blogosphere is of the one-to-one means of political discourse, with each individual blog conveying its message. Personally, I am more inclined to look at the blogosphere as the digital form of Hyde Park (as opposed to Manolo Quezon, who posits that the blogosphere is more of pamphleteering; note that this is still -- in my view -- one-to-one discourse). To my way of thinking, each blog is, in a sense, a speaker on a soapbox; the reason why I consider the blogosphere to be analoguous to Hyde Park. A blog's readership is akin to the crowd that forms (or is conspicuously absent) around the speaker; any person surfing the internet will have the choice to stay reading a blog stumbled upon or exit to another website the reader finds more interesting; this is analoguous to any passerby deciding to stay and listen to the Hyde Park speaker or continue walking on. Each blog also has a share of its commenters, which I believe to be analoguous to hecklers, cheerers, and jeerers that will be among the crowd around the speaker.

That said, we're ready to answer RMBG's questions.

***
Back in a flash -- my answers to RMBG will need coffee.

Course Outline -- the jester-in-exile's reply to Sitang

2008-01-10T16:56:00.000+08:00

Today's answer will be a medium-sized quickie.

***
We're answering an email from a soon-to-graduate high school student, whom we will call Sitang (yes, folks, it's short for "balasitang", which is Ilocoslovakian for "hottie-to-be"), who wants advice on what course she should take in college.

Here's what she had to say (by the way, in case you folks want to know why I paraphrase emails, it's because we want to preserve the anonymity of our letter writers, and so that the text won't take up too much space):

I'm a student in an private non-coed school in chaos central (JEM: Ew.), who is graduating with honors this year. Do you have any advice as to how to choose my course in college?

p.s. I won't ask you for advice in choosing schools as it's obvious you're pro-UP (JEM: Huh? Where did THAT come from?), and my parents won't let me study there.

Hokay. Everyone, stop snickering now.

***
Most guidance counselors I know or have had usually said something along the lines of "play to your strengths". I think it's good advice, basically; however, I don't think the decision can be made with only that in mind.

Before we go into our answer, let's make two assumptions:

- Sitang is fairly mature for her age, and is capable of forward-thinking (for lack of a better term)

- Sitang is one of those kids who excel (or at least don't have too much trouble) with anything they do (but is not necessarily a Mikaela Fudolig-clone)

With that in mind, let's answer her question. I can think of a pair of mental exercises that may help if done together.

Reverse engineering

Remember, Sitang, that it is in your best interest to get into a college course that will be useful to you after graduation and longer than that; thus, you must look a wee bit farther into the future than the day you get the parchment.

Try this (although I admit it's not easy for anyone, really):
1. Picture yourself when you are of retirement age (now, whether you want to retire at 30 or 60 or somewhere in between is something you must choose).

2. Picture from what sort of career you've retired from. For instance, picture yourself to be the next CEO of Google.

3. Figure out what you need to have on your future resume so that you'd become that position.

4. Picture yourself on the next rung below on your career ladder.

5. Repeat step 3, then step 4, then step 3, and so on, until you find your mental image where you are now. (It sometimes helps if you write it down.)

You'll notice that in this exercise you'll be able to get an idea of the college course you might consider taking.

Skills and weaknesses inventory

Unfortunately, even the preceding exercise could very well be misleading, if one does not take an honest inventory of one's strengths and weaknesses, so as to find out what courses one could excel in.

There are some courses that one should not consider taking, if such courses do not take advantage of one's strengths, and especially if such a course will lead to a career where one cannot perform too well due to one's weaknesses.

For instance, one probably should not consider taking medicine if one passes out at the sight of blood. One probably should also not consider engineering if one's mathematical ability is such that one answers "Three!" to the statement "If you can guess how many chocolates I have in my bag, I'll give you both of them."

(Wait a minute -- wasn't that an old joke involving two students from La Salle, where the other one says "Daya mo! You peeked"? Heh. Never mind.)

(Oh, and before I forget, Sitang -- if it's what you really want, don't let an absolute lack of talent stop you from trying to be an artista. After all, far too many successful local actresses have killer looks, but little else.)

Aaaanyway... One should definitely consider taking courses -- leading to one's long-term goals, of course, figured out from the previous exercise -- that maximize one's strengths. If one is a people person, perhaps a business course would be a good choice; if one is good with drawing, one should maybe consider fine arts or architecture.

(And, if one is pretty enough, one just might qualify to be an Uste Arki student -- thinking back to the last time I visited the place, I can't recall a female architecture student of the University of Santo Tomas who wasn't at least pretty; heck, a lot of them were drop-dead gorgeous. Of course, that last visit was nearly a decade ago; admission standards may have changed. Pity if they had, of course.)

Simply put: don't make the mistake of getting into anything you'll want to quit later, if your reason for quitting is because the course wasn't a good enough fit for the talents and limitations you have.

These two activities aren't too hard to do, are they?

***
There is, however, an easy way out of having to worry about one's course -- and I think the chances are that you won't regret it (too much).

Ask your mom what course to take. Moms are always right.
'Nuff said.

***
I'm wondering which of the emails I have right now will be next on deck -- there's one that's fairly rated-R, there's another that should have been sent to the docs in white coats, there's this one that seems to be from Laarni Enriquez...

Wait, no, that one's just spam.

Later, all.

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

The Philippine Blog Awards 2008: The Countdown Begins

2008-01-09T12:26:00.000+08:00

Recognizing the finest blogs in the Philippines. No, we're not talking about The Journal of The Jester-in-Exile nor of Ask The Jester-in-Exile.
(Cross-post between my two blogs; well, the two public ones anyway.)

Sometime this year, probably in May 2008 (yup, Jayvee let that slip -- more on that later), the stars of the firmament of the Pinoy blogosphere will be recognized in the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. Preparations are ramping up for this event, as is buzz (I love the new logo, don't you?).

Quite obviously, Jayvee, Abe, and Gail will need help to pull off this labor of love, so here's my bit to help them:

Oi! You! Sponsor! CLICK HERE!

(Don't be stingy, folks -- you know how much reach an excellent blog can provide your products and services?)

***
I'm wondering if I can find the time to help out personally (yes, there's a call for volunteers too), but with a lot of things apparently still up in the air, I'm sure that keeping the PBA 2008 trio in mind is enough at this point. When word finally gets out, let's sign up to help out, shall we?

(Let's try that again.)

Oi! You! Volunteer! CLICK HERE!

(Heh heh.)

***
Another thing I've had a brainwave or two about would be about the apparent "flores de Mayo" theme that Jayvee let slip -- the theme is so Pinoy, I love it. Are we going to have the traditional Reyna Elena/ Constantino roles, the parades with the arches and all that? (Heh heh -- I remember seeing an old photo of my mom being a Reyna delas Letras or something like that; the scene was so, well, cute.)

Such being the case, I'm hoping that the PBA 2008 will showcase a bit more of the cyberFilipino... like say, some new categories. Last year, these were the categories:

Best Technology Blog
Best Travel Blog
Best Entertainment Blog
Best Personal Blog
Best Home & Living Blog
Best Socio-Political Blog
Best News & Media Blog
Best Business/Entrepreneur Blog
Best Sports & Recreation Blog
Best Fashion & Lifestyle Blog
Best Photo Blog
Podcast of the Year Award

I'm hoping that this year a couple more categories be added, like say: best OFW blog, best global Filipino blog (blog of an overseas Pinoy not an OFW), and Filipiniana blog (blogs written in the vernacular), best Education blog, stuff like that. Maybe a couple of categories could be merged (say, Fashion & Lifestyle with Entertainment; yeah, I suppose best OFW/ global Filipino blog would make sense too); maybe some subcategories be made (Business/Entrepreneur -- e-Business, and Business/ Entrepreneur -- Offline) -- just so that the jurors will have an easier time of voting on their choices. Maybe Podcast of the Year could be Podcast/Vlog of the Year (kinda exciting when technology improves this quickly, doesn't it?).

***
What else would I like to see in the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards? Hmmm. Media coverage? Quite likely there'll be more of that now than last year, what with the increasing influence and visibility of blogs. Celebrity hosting? Naaaaah -- though a professional host (someone geeky enough, like David Celdran? heh heh) just might add luster to the occasion (I doubt if there are local celebs who understand the blogging community, let alone understand geeks). The food last 2007 was great; I hope that doesn't change.

(I recall The Bachelor Girl having a couple of post-PBA 2007 suggestions -- she did, didn't she? -- and ; I wonder how else we can help?)

Hmm, just so it's an awards night and not a convention, maybe we can change the registration-table type of welcoming to just plain and simple show-an-invite kind of thing, with some maitre 'd of sorts checking off if the person is on the list (and then handing over the schwags haha)?

I think sponsor booths defeat the idea of bloggers mingling; what sponsors can do is to hand over the schwags earlier, but for purposes of exposure (aside from tarps below the stage and all that), the sponsors can ask bloggers to post sponsor-designed posts and pictures (downloadable kits in zip files or something) instead of just links.

Hmmm... a special award that will be awarded a week AFTER the awards night: best PBA 2008 coverage by a photoblogger? By a vlogger? (Forget text, any blogger can do that; in fact, after the awards night there'll be the rush to post first. However, it takes talent, skill, and time to make great photoblog/ vlog coverage.)

***
It's rather cool that Pinoy talent, ingenuity, and expression are shining in the blogosphere. I hope that one day relevance crosses over from online to real-world; while that has yet to become widespread, I'm fairly certain that events like the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards will help to this end.

(And, yes, though it's almost half a year away, I'm already looking forward to the event. It'll be fun.)

(Oh, and because we let it slide last year, if Arbet wins another iPod this year that will be the last time anyone will have ever heard of him. Haha.)

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Prettynometry -- the jester-in-exile's answer to Sillimanette

2008-01-07T02:12:00.000+08:00

One of our regular visitors oberdabakod, who calls herself Sillimanette, sent an email asking a question I would much rather not have answered, but hey, that's why this blog was built in the first place; almost no-holds-barred blah blah blah and all that.

This was her email (okay, parts of it anyway, and paraphrased -- so as to keep the tone, well, a smidgen less confrontational heh heh):

Dear Jester,

(redacted paragraph)

(redacted paragraph)

What are you really looking for in a woman, Jester?

(redacted closing)

(redacted name), a.k.a. Sillimanete

Hoo boy. I hope this is the first and last email of its sort, and that I get better stuff next time.

Now, to the answer.

***
I suppose I could be flippant and say this: the jester-in-exile is into women. Period.

However, I get the feeling that Sillimanette would be miffed with such a brush-off.

***
One of the methods of the jester-in-exile to determine how attractive he finds someone of the opposite sex, whether or not the jester-in-exile has actually met the person, is to run through a checklist developed so long ago but still is extant now. Inspired by Argee Guevarra's "Pogi Points: The Countdown Continues" published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer so many years ago, the jester-in-exile's checklist is a analytic geometry-based method of determining the probability that some young woman or other will he find attractive.

It's a straightforward mathematical analysis of values called "pretty ponts".

Here's how it works.

Step One: determine the limits of one's data set. These limits are the characteristics that one must not find in the young woman in question. For instance:
Limits

Date of birth must not be later than March 19, 1983
Must not be in a relationship
Must not be hung up over a previous relationship

If any of these limits are breached, the young woman in question is automatically classed as unattractive.

(That was the easy part.)

Step Two: go through the checklist of X-axis variables. The X-axis variables are characteristics of the young woman in question that can be immediately seen or found out with due diligence; for ease of identification, the X-axis is labeled Packaging. Packaging checklist here.

The sum of the X-axis pretty points will provide the Packaging coordinate of the young woman in question.

Step Three: go through the checklist of Y-axis variables. The Y-axis variables are characteristics of the young woman in question that can only be determined via personal contact; for ease of identification, the Y-axis is labeled Content (checklist here).

The sum of the Y-axis pretty points will provide the Content coordinate of the young woman in question.

Step Four: plot the Packaging/Content coordinates of the young woman in question. If her coordinates do not fall within a predetermined area, the young woman in question is classed as unattractive.

These four steps constitute basic prettynometric analysis. Further analysis can be performed to get a more precise estimate of attraction probability; analysis tools such as persuasion statistics (used to determine the drift of Packaging and Content variables, these variables not being completely fixed numbers but are slowly varying constants), X-factor calculus (a tool used to determine the crucial X-factor coordinate, which provides the final location in three-dimensional attraction space that can radically change the basic result of prettynometry analysis), and Po equations (a mathematical theory used in the analysis of attraction space based on Edward de Bono's work on lateral thinking; in prettynometric analysis, Po equations are used to determine the probability that the jester-in-exile will be find the young woman in question attractive despite coordinates falling out of the Packaging/ Content/ X-factor boundaries).

The jester-in-exile's the approximate set of solutions (in other words, the answer to Sillimanette's question):

Note that the graph above assumes that there is zero variable drift based on persuasion statistical analysis (meaning, inaction/ indifference to the jester-in-exile on the part of the hypothetical female), X-factor coordinate = 0 (zero chemistry between subject and the jester-in-exile), and null set for Po equation analysis (zero charm exerted on the jester-in-exile).

(In other words, Sillimanette, that's the set of solutions for someone the jester-in-exile has not met yet.)

***
(Prettynometry is so geeky. I. LOVE. IT. Haha.)

Prettynometric analysis is somewhat limited in accuracy, however, as existing X- and/or Y-axis variables become inactive, and/or additional X- and/or Y-axis variables appear, depending on the alignment of the planets with respect to the jester-in-exile’s current location.

A foolproof method of accurately determining this probability without resorting to prettynometric analysis has apparently been discovered, and would need only a single hair from the woman in question. However, the method involves a ceremony where a 24-year old virgin porn star priestess sacrifices a scrupulous Filipino congressman on a rhomboid obsidian altar, using a knife sharpened from the thigh bone of a three-legged African elephant, at high noon under the shadow of a total solar eclipse occurring when Mars is in retrograde and Venus is in Aquarius, to the plainsong accompaniment of Sharon Cuneta’s Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas chanted in fluent Arabic by twenty-four Japanese engineers. No method of a higher degree of accuracy has yet been developed, but experts say that there may be not much difference in the result if Zsa Zsa Padilla’s Hiram is chanted instead.

(Of course, I wouldn't recommend that method -- assuming a scrupulous congressman exists, it would be a shame to sacrifice him.)

Hahaha.

***
Sigh. Thanks be the gods the next emails on deck aren't of this nature. Our next post will be about how to choose a college course (rather appropriate, I think, as graduation will be in a couple of months).

(This post -- okay, post series -- was fun to do, though; I learned how to put tables on my blog. Yay!)

Later, all.

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Being Cool Ain't All That -- the jester-in-exile's rehash for Befuddled

2008-01-04T20:59:00.000+08:00

A bit of additional background for those already familiar with this letter we're making this post about: not a few of my geek friends and girl friends say that this about our this fellow Befuddled:

Effing serves him right.
Awwww. Poor Befuddled. Heh heh.

***
In this post we are doing a rehash of an answer to an email from a call center shift lead in his mid-twenties, whom we have decided to call Befuddled. To paraphrase his email:

I'm not being mayabang by saying that I've always been considered cool and confident by my friends, and I'm not a slouch in the looks department either (which I think comes through especially because I dress pretty smartly).

My problem is this: ever since high school, every single girl that I really liked and had been able to get close to somehow ends up with some geek or other, and not me. I mean, you should understand, you being a geek -- I don't understand how some sloppy, socially-inept guy would end up with the campus crush instead of a decent-looking guy she can be proud to show off?

I'm not disrespecting you or other geeks, you understand -- I just don't understand why it seems to me that these days, girls love geeks.

Befuddled

Yep, my fellow geeks and I are not exactly pleased that who are supposedly socially-inept rejects of society do have on occasion the possibility of dating some really cool girl.

However, we're cutting the fellow some slack and we'll help him the best we can.

(Hey, we may be socially-inept rejects of society, but at least we ain't greedy.)

***

In our previous answer, we had this to say:

First off, let's dispose of the issue of whether or not, generally speaking, "girls love geeks."

Short answer: to the best of the jester-in-exile's knowledge, not on this planet... hell, probably not in this universe. See, Befuddled, few geeks elicit the human female's reaction I've learned to call HASSAG.

HASSAG is shorthand for Half-Second "Shet, Ang Guwapo".

To amplify the HASSAG phenomenon, we must picture a sudden encounter of practically any sort between a human female and and a human male of above average looks and/or sex appeal. The human female in question, when suddenly faced with this good-looking human male, will have this half-second or so in duration deer-in-headlights reaction that consists almost entirely of the thought-bubble containing the words "Shet, ANG GUWAPO," or some variation thereof (everything else, such has her physical -- contained or not -- reaction to this hypothetical good-looking fellow's sudden appearance is just detail).

To repeat: few, if any, geeks elicit the HASSAG reaction, Befuddled, and (as disappointing it may be to my fellow geeks and I) the catchphrase "girls love geeks" is no more than wishful thinking.

This means that the resaon you aren't getting any must be something else entirely.

However, there's something that we must point out to our female friends out there who are interested in one of us geeks: more often than not, a geek who spots a HASSAG reaction from the female companion he's with (quite obviously, the HASSAG reaction is directed to someone else, some passerby or other) will very likely lose interest in this companion of his (assuming, of course, he had some level of interest in the first place). Since most, if not all, women are prone to the HASSAG reaction, this may explain why a lot if geeks lose interest -- few geeks would want to endure the company of some girl or other who puts physical appearance at a premium; after all, geeks generally don't.

***
And so to continue the rehash:

From the tone of your letter, it seems to me that because of the physical attributes and social skills you have been blessed (?) with, Befuddled, you just might be approaching things in a way that may guarantee your failure.

Let me tell you a story, which might illustrate one possible reason why you're failure rate with women is, to put it politely, fairly high:
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, when the jester-in-exile had yet to be exiled, the jester-yet-to-be-exiled had a fairly interesting colleague in this little publication he was working for. This colleage, an smart, witty, talented, erudite, charming, and pretty life sciences student (who eventually ended up in med school) was (putsa, corny na 'to) the dreambabe of a fairly significant number of students in that galaxy far, far away.

No doubt there were attractive young men who liked her; little doubt that there were among those attractive young men who got close to her. None of them ended up becoming her beau, so to speak.

Instead, a slovenly slob of a nerd ended up with this colleague of the jester-yet-to-be-exiled... and when I say "ended up", I'm talking hitched, with kids, and blissfully happy.

How did this happen? Simple -- out of all the young men who found this young woman attractive, it was only this slob who did not allow himself to be intimidated, and found in himself THE BALLS TO TRY.

I know, I know -- I doubt if Befuddled is torpe, but hey, stranger things have happened... after all, Train Man was apparently based on real events.

***
Like I said earlier, I'm not leaning toward that theory; Befuddled did describe himself as a "cool and confident" type of fellow, and that he's perfectly capable of getting close to the girls he likes (as opposed to us geeks, who arguably are mostly oblivious and dense).

Yup, I'm still convinced that it's because the fellow, well, to put it politely, is coming on much too strong for the hypothetical women in his world is the reason why he isn't getting any.

Plus, I've noticed that a lot of pretty damn cool women prefer geeks -- and part of the reason why they're cool is that they are strong, independent women who won't hesitate to go for who they want, even if the fellow such a one likes is an oblivious geek (and especially since it would be rather rare to meet a geek who's so full of himself -- a turn-off for these goddesses we're so into).

So this is our advice to Befuddled, and we're putting it in two-syllable words so that he can understand it completely.

Grow up, dude. Whoever and whatever you are, you're not all that.
'Nuff said.

***
Our next post will deal with an email from our regular visitor Sillimanette -- which will be the first post of Ask The Jester-in-Exile that is NOT a rehash.

(On a personal note, I'm hoping that Sillimanette is indeed from Silliman University... or, to be completely frank about this, I'm hoping that she is nowhere near chaos central.)

(Answering Sillimanette's email... Gulp.)

Later, all. Happy New Year, by the way.

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

In the "Meantime" -- the jester-in-exile's rehash for that Sandman dude (yep, it's Rizal Day, and we're talking about a martyr)

2007-12-30T11:55:00.000+08:00

Let's keep this next rehash from Sandman short and sweet.

Essentially, as I paraphrased his email oberdabakod, he had this to ask:

Hey Jester,

I'm a meantime guy of this girl at school. What should I do?

Sandman

This was my answer:

D-uh, you idiot. Get real, get out, and get away. Believe you me, kiddo, fewer things in life are as stupid as being a doormat, and there are girls who aren't worth your time or effort.

I'm tempted to stop here, but there just might be a few visitors who'd want a bit more amplification.

First of all, what is a meantime guy?

***
Scenario 1: Girl X is the object of affection of geek Y. X knows this; unfortunately X does not reciprocate -- quite likely X goes out on dates with other guys from time to time, and does not discourage these guys from paying court to her. When X does not have any dates, X counts on Y to keep her company in the meantime; hence the term meantime guy.

Scenario 2: Girl X is the object of affection of geek Y. X knows this; unfortunately X does not reciprocate -- in fact, X is currently dating guy A. Despite the fact that she already is committed, X counts on Y for things A is not able to provide (don't limit your imagination to the gutter, people), under the guise of "friendship" or whatever, during the interim that girl X is not dating a guy with all the characteristics she wants. Interim = meantime.

There are various other possible scenarios of what makes a meantime guy, but it all boils down to these synonyms: "martir", spare tire, stupid idiot.

Most meantime guys know that they are meantime guys, but even with the knowledge they don't mind being strung along, and often try to give credence to the terms that girl X would use to describe her meantime guy Y, such as "Oh, we're just really close," "Friends lang kami," "He's just so dependable," et cetera.

***
Again, Sandman, get out of there, man. Just because you like her doesn't mean it you should allow yourself to be a doormat. Let your whazzername keep on dating those Pearl Boys, but do yourself a favor, eh? I'd say that you'd be better off without those coffee and conversation sessions she asks you for; it's simply because your conversation is insightful while whazzername's li'l Pearl Boys can't put two words together, let alone two coherent thoughts, that she keeps you around -- quite obviously she's looking for the best of both worlds, and if she finds that in someone, you're toast.

That's why you're a meantime guy: she's keeping you only for the meantime. Nobody deserves to be strung along like that, you know.

***
On the other hand, one of my blockmates had this advice to give to meantime guys: "Milk it for what it's worth." Rather cynical (but I can see how this might appeal to some) -- and it may apply to you, what with whazzername and you getting it on from time to time.

Or just maybe you're a meantime guy twice over; your li'l whazzername doesn't get good conversation and screaming-hot boinking from them Pearl Boys she's dating? Or maybe the boinking is the hook by which she's stringing you along?

Whatever, man. To whazzername, you're just no more than a good book with great vibes that she can put aside when she finds something better. Live with that, or don't.

Your call.

***
Hoo boy. Talk about answers easy to say but rather hard to do.

Anyway, next on deck will be the rehash of poor li'l Befuddled's email... remember him? The "cool and confident fellow" who's losing in his pursuit of girls against his geeky competition?

Haha. See, what the fellow doesn't get is that the problem lies mostly with him.

(Or maybe, just maybe, there is a significant population of women who make the phrase "girls love geeks" more reality than illusion.)

Stay tuned, folks. I'm leaving in a couple of hours; see you back in chaos central after a few days.

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Girl Loves Geek, Geek is Blind -- the jester-in-exile's rehash for kimi2hotty

2007-12-30T01:57:00.000+08:00

(I must say, while writing this rehash to kimi2hotty's email, I'm squirming on my seat. Not because of the content -- I'm over that haha -- but because of the idea that I just might get a bit more teasing from the likes of Doc Tess and company.)

This next rehash is a reply to kimi2hotty. This is what she had to say (paraphrased, of course):

Dear Jester,

Let me first describe myself: I'm in my early twenties, working in a call center in Ortigas.

I stumbled on your blogs on the Raptor/Trinity series, the The Ten Women a Geek Should Date post, and the Before Sunrise post , and I think I'm right in hoping that you have the inclination towards romantic notions to help me with my problem.

You see, I'm sort of into this guy in our technical department, and he's a nerd -- I'm talking the sort who can build a computer from scratch, can write computer programs in his sleep, hangdog looks, and little-boy naivete. Don't get me wrong; he's such a sweetie, in a Train Man kind of way, but he doesn't know I exist. I'm sure it's not because I'm not pretty -- I mean, I get a pretty good share of date invitations from other guys, not that I'm bragging or anything.

I'm hoping you can give me advice on how to get his attention, how to get him to like me and all that. I mean, it's not exactly good for a girl's ego that the guy she likes would refuse invitations to lunch and spend his lunch hour with his buddies playing games at the PC rental.

Thanks in advance, kimi2hotty

(I shudder that there are people who think I am a romantic. Cripes.)

But fine, whatever -- let's give the kid a chance.

***
In the initial answer to kimi2hotty's email, we assumed that she had what I referred to "normal schemes of getting a young fellow's attention" (not to mention that I was a bit short with her -- sorry na hehe). I suppose some of my fellow geeks would want to know what these schemes are, given that not too many of us get to many of us experience them.

As one can infer from the email, one of them would involve asking the geek in question (let's call him something: let's call the fellow Procopio) to lunch, or even as innocuous as "uy, samahan mo naman akong bumili ng lunch, o" (batting eyelashes optional - weh). See, such an activity would be viewed by even the most gynophobic geek as nonthreatening; what such a geek would not sense would be that the small talk and conversation on the way to the Ministop or the Jollijeep (assuming that someone like kimi2hotty would deign to get lunch at a place so "yuck, so baduy ha") would be our kimi2hotty's method of intelligence gathering. Typical information that one such as kimi2hotty could be able to find out from Procopion with such an activity would be stuff like where Procopio's from, where he goes to after work, where he hangs out, and other stuff. Such data that would be useful for kimi2hotty to make plans that would likewise seem nonthreatening, thus making Procopio's refusal to be less likely.

One strategy that kimi2hotty in her email implied she already had done was for her to get Procopio to help her with technical stuff. Given that technical support is Procopio's job, it would be one way to make sure that the two would have some form of interface, and yes, some form of visibility to Procopion would be in kimi2hotty's best interest. Now, what kimi2hotty did not understand was that because that was part of Procopio's job, kimi2hotty would be nothing more than furniture to him (even if the task involved getting under her desk, with kimi2hotty in her best and shortest skirt; he'd appreciate her legs, but since he can't exactly stay under her desk forever the most that will happen would be his filing in his head images for future use).

(No, ladies, us geeks don't generally do more than look -- as we don't lose the ability to think despite the sudden loss of blood flow to the brain due to a sudden rapid southward motion, we know that we're better off with zero-risk scan-record-file instead of lawsuit-potential "tsansing". However -- and for the record this is purely imaginative on my part -- if kimi2hotty asks a geek for help during a holiday night shift schedule when there will be few other people in the office, I am fairly certain that kimi2hotty would leave talon scarring on her desk from all the tweaking the geek would be doing on her LAN port; one could even go as far as to say he would be enthusiastically burying his face into the task at hand, geeks being known to be absorbed into their work for hours and hours without coming up for air. That is, of course, if kimi2hotty had successfully got her geek's attention.)

Unfortunately, however, whatever "diskartes" our heroine's tried, she still hasn't been able to get Procopio's attention, and this geek still prefers to play some PC game (I'm guessing DoTA All Stars) with his buddies over lunch than have lunch with kimi2hotty. Awwww, the poor girl. Haha.

***
But let's not pick on the poor kid too much and give her some ideas on how to get her geek's attention.

Previously, we said that kimi2hotty's normal schemes of getting a young fellow's attention don't work with her geek in question would be because either Procopio is oblivious or he's successfully pretending to be oblivious.

(Nope, kimi2hotty, I still will not betray my kind by explaining why this is so. Sorry, kid, ask someone else. Haha.)

Now assuming that Procopio is oblivious -- that short of putting up a billboard on EDSA you've done all you can to make him notice that you're into him -- the first thing you must understand is that YOU. DO. NOT. SPEAK. THE. SAME. LANGUAGE.

Heck, I'm not even sure if Procopio thinks that you and he are from the same planet. Therefore, the easiest methods of making sure that you get his attention (or to put it bluntly, to make him see that you exist on the same mortal plane), would be to enter his world and be comfortable in it.

As we had previously mentioned, one of the easiest ways to get him to notice you is to whup his ass at his favorite computer game -- the idea is to prove that you can hold your own on his turf. As a lot of geeks will attest, holding her own (if not exactly winning) in a game was how Miriya of the Zentraedi got young Max Sterling's attention; you must understand that only by impressing your geek will you grab his attention, and one of the best ways to impress him is to be good at something he's really good at and at the same time doesn't expect you to be good at it too.

There are many other ways, but then one thing is for certain: if it appears that one is trying too hard to impress a geek, it would probably backfire on the girl in question. Case in point: this rather geeky fellow I know has a weekly Counterstrike game with his pals, and some girl or other thought that by learning to play the game, she'd be able to hang out with him. This girl was able to get the fellow's pals to help her learn how to play CS; unfortunately, because of her Baby Spice/ "I'm a li'l princess" cutesy-cutesy attitude and the resulting irritation these geeks have with her, the fellow and her friends have a nickname for her: Target Practice.

(I doubt if that girl will ever get to be in this geek's mind in a positive light.)

***
I know that it does seem a tad harsh, but I'm thinking it will be rather unfair to kimi2hotty if we give her all these ideas, tips and tricks to make sure that she gets her geek if there exists the possibility that the geek Procopio is absolutely uninterested. See, kimi2hotty, if your geek is not oblivious but is only pretending to be, then it's possible that he is uninterested -- or worse, he considers you a waste of carbon.

It's one thing for a geek to be uninterested in some girl; there exists the possibility for the girl to change his mind. It's another thing entirely if the fellow dislikes the girl, and would want nothing to do with her whatsoever.

Here are some possible reasons why Procopio would not like a girl like kimi2hotty: she intimidates the shit out of him, he thinks she's a flirt, she's much too bubbly for his geeky tastes, he thinks that she's just playing with him... blah blah blah.

Before you even ask, kimi2hotty, let me say that I don't have a sure-fire formula for getting a geek interested in some girl he does not like; even if I did, I wouldn't betray my kind, would I?

Heh heh.

***
There exists one final possibility that kimi2hotty must consider: that Procopio is pretending to be oblivious because he is concealing his attraction for her (successfully, it would seem). Yes, friends, us geeks have skills like that too; more to the point, such skills are innate and part of our survival instinct.

This possibility adds a wrinkle to the already convoluted situation -- and from where I'm sitting, there really is no way for kimi2hotty to find out where she stands... unless she forces the issue.

Yep, kimi2hotty, I wasn't being too flippant that last post where I said you should go up to him at the end of the work week, get into his personal space, get in close, and tell the fellow "You. Me. Parking lot. RIGHT NOW." -- that would be the guts-ball way of determining if there's anything going on, and what exactly those goings-on are.

Yep, that's the bottomline, kimi2hotty -- whether your boy Procopio is truly oblivious that you like him or is merely pretending that he doesn't see it, there is no way for you to resolve this issue without direct confrontation. I presume you know that we geeks are quite like computers -- you won't get any answers if you don't ask questions, and the only time you'll get the right answer is if you ask the right question.

(See, that's why I'm wondering if she did go ahead and demanded Procopio to join her in the parking lot.)

(Haha. That leads me to wonder if Procopio went ahead and joined her in the parking lot, if kimi2hotty went ahead and did.)

(Sounds good, tastes even better. Heh heh. )

Good luck, kid. I hope for your sake he thinks you're great and not a waste of carbon.

***

The next rehash will be a more detailed answer, and perhaps a couple of explanations, to an email from Sandman, who's having a bit of trouble with being a meantime guy.

(What. An. Idiot.)

Later, all. (Repeat after me: SMART BRO IS STUPID, SMART BRO IS CRAP, SMART BRO CAN'T MAINTAIN A RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTION TO SAVE ITS LIFE. One day soon I'm going to cancel my subscription; if you aren't using Smart, you're on the right track -- make the smart choice and stay the hell away from this fucking inconsistent service. I mean, would you be an idiot and stay with a wireless service that gets disconnected every two minutes? Let me say that again: SMART BRO IS STUPID, SMART BRO IS CRAP, SMART BRO CAN'T MAINTAIN A RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTION TO SAVE ITS LIFE.)

(Smart Bro is so unreliable, the service might as well have been provided by government. They probably do recruit their customer service people from the LTO office, too, the kind of help they give.)

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Taking the UP Law Aptitude Exam -- a quick revisit by the jester-in-exile, for Brawler159

2007-12-29T18:50:00.000+08:00

A pity it's much much too late, but I suppose the advice I've given out here just might be useful for those who will be taking college entrance examinations or qualifying exams for government scholarships.

(Yes, yes, I know that most of those have been over and done with weeks ago -- but hey, better late than never. Besides, I've already answered this question oberdabakod. It's a rehash -- don't expect too much, hey?)

This one is for Brawler159, who asked stuff about the University of the Philippines Law Aptitude Examination and the UP College of Law.

This is how I paraphrased his email:

Hi Jester,

I'm a graduating student of Philosophy, and I intend to take the UP Law Aptitude Exam. Do you have any tips for that?

Also, can you tell me what organizations and fraternities should I join once I'm in Law?

Thanks, Brawler159

Let's take bit more time to answer this email; again, the information might prove useful for other people, maybe even for other reasons.

***
Assuming the examiners won't be changing the format of the LAE, these are what one should expect to find on exam day (which is usually held in November):

- For the math part, high-school word problems. Fairly easy stuff, but you'll have about sixty seconds per math problem, and that's where the pressure will lie.

- For the critical thinking/ reading comprehension portions, expect standard grammar and vocabulary tests, plus a section on logic (deduction, syllogisms, fallacies and other such stuff). Brawler159 surely had an easier time of it, being a Philo major and therefore someone who's had logic as a subject. (On the other hand, I hope the kid takes no offense, but his written English needs a bit of work.)

- There's an abstract reasoning part that probably everyone who's been in school has had at least once. I'm told that not only does the abstract reasoning part is not only for IQ approximation, but has applications in determining personality, EQ, and all those psych stuff... which begs the question: do the examiners also look at the examinee's temperament and how law school might affect that? I don't know, but that's something I sure would like to find out.

- Finally, the essay. It's an essay. 'Nuff said.

It's not as daunting as it looks, but neither is it something one should elicit a panic attack.

***
So, can, how should one prepare for the LAE?

First, and probably most importantly, don't change your lifestyle and study approach too much. If one survived college playing Ran Online from dusk till dawn every day, then there's really no point in going into cramming mode to prepare for the LAE. Like our favorite Prof M. likes to say, "It's something you already know, the trick is remembering it." Plus, you'll be doing that lifestyle change if you get into Malcolm Hall, so there's really no point in killing yourself before then.

Second, get a copy of any of those nifty UPCAT/ ACET/ DLSEE reviewers. The questions that will be asked during the multiple-choice part of the exam will be no different from those you will find in these reviewers -- which necessarily means that one has to actually at least look through them after the purchase.

Third, read the papers, watch the news, listen to AM radio. At least one of the myriad issues and events of the year before will appear as the theme of the essay.

Fourth, consider brushing up on one's writing and thought-organization skills. Maintaining a blog might be one way of making sure one is prepared to write

Fifth, make sure to get The Jester-in-Exile's Secret Super Smartening Formula, at least two doses, at least once a week. For my friends who don't yet know it, it's one part Stolichnaya vodka, one part Jose Cuervo tequila (silver), one part Tanduay 5-years rhum, one part Gilbey's Gin, one part Cointreau triple sec, 1 part Del Monte sweetened pinapple juice, 1/2 part lime cordial, squeeze of lemon, splash of regular Coca-Cola, poured into ice, shaken twice, and poured into a tall glass and served while the drink is still fizzing with a lemon slice garnish. Note, however, that the formula has ill-effects if taken the night before the LAE. Note, too, that the formula should NEVER be taken unless one is at home or has a designated driver.

***
Now, how to take the LAE?

(Sheesh. If one has to ask this, one probably needs a refresher course -- in kindergarten.)

The usual way one would take an entrance exam, I suppose. Bring a set of several Mongol No. 1's (don't sharpen them too much as you'll be using them to shade little ovals anyway; plus, they break easily if they're too sharp), a couple of spare ballpens (just in case), and the little slips of paper that are proof one is allowed to take the LAE. Be early at the testing center. Budget your time (if you can't, maybe you can do guesswork and shade in the boxes of the questions you failed to answer in the preceding exam if you finish up the next exam earlier than anticipated; I know a couple or more who did something like this). Take half a minute or so to collect your thoughts on the essay's theme before starting out to write about it.

Simple enough, I think -- and I think that which messes people up during the LAE is if they fall into the panic attack trap. Without that, it's not so bad.

Or, as I witnessed during my time, a bad case of writer's block -- in that case, you're screwed. Don't worry, one can fail the LAE twice; fail the third, and you won't get a chance to be welcomed to hell -- Malcolm Hall, I mean.

***
Some, if not all, of those who will have passed the written portion of the LAE will be asked to undergo an interview, which will be held sometime during the summer.

Those who've successfully hurdled job interviews will have less to worry about; the interview sessions are no different from those one would expect from an HR manager -- only that for LAE examinees, the panel of interviewers will consist of UP College of Law professors.

Yup, that isn't anything to sneeze at. Remember, these professors are by far more discerning, more intuitive, and far, far smarter than the average HR representative.

That said, one shouldn't worry so much; an interview is an interview is an interview. Be pleasant, polite, calm, clear, and concise; be comfortable, but not cocky -- be confident without being disrespectful. Above all, be honest -- law professors have very very well developed bullshit detectors.

Here are a few commonly-used "killer phrases", speech defects, and "killing attitudes" that some professors frown upon hearing and seeing (avoid at all costs):

"Actually", "honestly", and other such similar -- they beg the questions "so virtually what?" or "so you were previously not being honest?"

Meandering -- I learned somewhere that in general people get bored if despite two minutes of talk one has not yet made one's point.

Stuttering, "ums" and "ahs" -- this would make the professors wonder how one can perform acceptably during a recit if during the interview one cannot string two words together with confidence and poise, let alone appearing before a court.

Slouching on the chair, one leg crossed over the other in the "de cuatro" -- young man, that is a formal interview, not a cocktail party.

Inappropriate attire -- wear something that looks apt for a meeting, not for a cruising. Smart casual is good; business attire may give a better impression.

Well, Brawler159, let's cross our fingers and hope you make it.

***
Now, as to what organizations or fraternities one should join when you enter UP Law, it all boils down to personal choice. Weigh the pros and cons; ask yourself if what they offer you is worth what you're expected to render in return. (On my end, well -- I'm of an age and career level where there's precious little some organizations can tempt me with.)

To be clearer, however, I'd suggest that you survey the field in your freshman year. There are a lot of organizations that I think would probably do you good, if you try out for them and qualify. I can't say I've much authority on this subject, however; I'm a working student -- my time for anything beyond schoolwork and my job is extremely limited.

Nonetheless, I can think of a number of organizations that would do good for those who qualify and join up. For instance, the Philippine Law Journal. This publication would be right up your alley if one has good writing skills -- what's more, working and writing for the PLJ would get one interacting with the brilliant legal minds. Since the PLJ publishes articles by arguably the best legal scholars of the country, one would find opportunities to broaden one's perspective on the law and the practice of it.

For those with good speaking and debating skills, I would suppose that trying out for the moot court team and the Jessup team. Not only will one get to hone one's skills in debate, but the with the requisite research and readings one must do to prepare for these debates one will have the opportunity to learn a lot about, say, international humanitarian law.

(Let me just say at this point that I've a blockmate or several who'd be brilliant in any of those three organizations.)

At any rate, Brawler159, I'd recommend that once you become a part of Malcolm Hall, use your first year to survey the field first (given that freshman year in law school is a killer, I kid you not), and find out where you think you'll fit in best. There just might be a chance that the organization that will be best for you would not be a law school organization or fraternity, but some group or other on campus or even off campus that would best develop your talents and skills.

Plus, you gotta worry about passing the LAE first, before worrying about them orgs, right?

Again, best of luck, kiddo.

***
Next on deck for Ask The Jester-in-Exile will be a rehash and a bit of amplification of our previous answer to our visitor kimi2hotty.

(Let me just say that I've because of Smart Broadband I've been saying "sonovabitch!" every two minutes or so.)

(Everyone, repeat after me: "SMART COMMUNICATIONS IS UNRELIABLE." I am rather tempted to create a blog damning Smart Broadband's unreliability, detailing every time and instance and location where the system suddenly cuts the connection.)

Later, all. Gotta get some food in me first.

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

Welcome to Ask The Jester-in-Exile!

2007-12-29T18:26:00.000+08:00

Hello, friends! Welcome to Ask The Jester-in-Exile!

I'm rather excited about starting this new blog, what with the emails I've been receiving prior to starting this as well as those that have begun to trickle in after my announcement oberdabakod.

Coming up are rehashes of previous answers to emails from visitors; the first one being from Brawler159, who asked stuff about the UP Law Aptitude Examination, and soon after we've wrapped up all those previously posted answers, we'll be posting up answers to emails we've recently received.

Stay tuned, folks, it's going to be a fun ride.

(Of course, that is if Smart Broadband isn't the stupid-ass-sonvabitch-unreliable connection that it is being these days. I wonder what their engineers are smoking when on duty?)

Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!

About Ask The Jester-in-Exile

2007-12-28T07:35:00.000+08:00

Some time after a session of tweaking his main blog, the jester-in-exile began to receive emailed questions, comments, and stuff from visitors more frequently than was usual -- perhaps due to the link inviting visitors to send in their emails. Suprisingly enough, quite a number of these emails were not related to his normal posting topics and commentary, and after a few instances of posting up abbreviated answers to these emails, the jester-in-exile finally decided to put up a blog dedicated to giving pointed answers to these emails: Ask The Jester-in-Exile.

Quite obviously, the answers will still be opinions that the jester-in-exile holds, written as only the jester-in-exile will phrase; however, unlike in his main blog, Ask The Jester-in-Exile will be uncut, uncensored, no-holds-barred ripostes and commentary on any question you guys will send in... well, okay, maybe almost any question, and maybe just a-few-holds-barred; not a lot, but some, but one thing is for certain -- you guys shouldn't expect too much of propriety and decorum. Heh heh.

Join in the fun. Think of things you want the jester-in-exile to post about -- a topic you'd like to see him write about but hasn't yet (or at least not enough to satisfy you) or the answer to some question of yours from his point of view -- send in your emails, and as soon as he can, the jester-in-exile will get right on it and give you his two cents and change.

Let's see where this little blogging adventure will take us. If anything, we might collectively give Douglas Adams' Deep Thought a run for her money.

Or maybe not. Heh heh.

back to main

Content Checklist

2006-12-31T00:01:00.000+08:00

back to Prettynometry

Belief systems

Dungeons and Dragons Alignment
Chaotic Good 5
Neutral Good 20
Lawful Good 50
Lawful Evil -25
Neutral Evil -50
Chaotic Evil -100

Political views
Social democrat/ liberal/ conservative 50
Slightly left of center/ slightly right of center 20
Leftist/ rightist 5
Radical/ reactionary 0
Militant -5
Mussolini fan/ Hitler fan/ Joma Sison-wannabe -50
NPA-sympathizer -100
Practicing terrorist/ NPA cadre -500

Political awareness and social conscience
Unrestrained militancy 0
Aware and participative on personal causes 25
Involvement is OK, but is not a high priority 10
Doesn't bother much, but has some concern 5
Apathetic bitch who doesn't give a shit -10

Attitude to own belief system and to that of others
Spiritual and tolerant 25
Agnostic and tolerant/ atheist and tolerant 23
Affiliated, non-practicing and tolerant 22
Affiliated, practicing and tolerant 20
Affiliated, practicing and not very tolerant 7
Affiliated, non-practicing and not very tolerant 5
Cerrado 0
Non-practicing fundamentalist -25
Practicing fundamentalist -50
Zealot -100

Attitude to boinkfests
Currently and proactively polyamorous -50
Currently but not proactively polyamorous -25
Was polyamorous and would not mind being so again -10
Was polyamorous but is more judicious now 5
Been around the block 10
Has not had any yet but sure would wanna get some 5
Thinks boinking is evil but enjoys it nonetheless 0
Thinks boinking is evil yet has not had any yet -5
Thinks boinking is evil and is indifferent to it -10
Thinks boinking is evil and loathes it -20

**Dungeons and Dragons Alignment**
Chaotic Good	5
Neutral Good	20
Lawful Good	50
Lawful Evil	-25
Neutral Evil	-50
Chaotic Evil	-100

**Political views**
Social democrat/ liberal/ conservative	50
Slightly left of center/ slightly right of center	20
Leftist/ rightist	5
Radical/ reactionary	0
Militant	-5
Mussolini fan/ Hitler fan/ Joma Sison-wannabe	-50
NPA-sympathizer	-100
Practicing terrorist/ NPA cadre	-500

**Political awareness and social conscience**
Unrestrained militancy	0
Aware and participative on personal causes	25
Involvement is OK, but is not a high priority	10
Doesn't bother much, but has some concern	5
Apathetic bitch who doesn't give a shit	-10

**Attitude to own belief system and to that of others**
Spiritual and tolerant	25
Agnostic and tolerant/ atheist and tolerant	23
Affiliated, non-practicing and tolerant	22
Affiliated, practicing and tolerant	20
Affiliated, practicing and not very tolerant	7
Affiliated, non-practicing and not very tolerant	5
Cerrado	0
Non-practicing fundamentalist	-25
Practicing fundamentalist	-50
Zealot	-100

**Attitude to boinkfests**
Currently and proactively polyamorous	-50
Currently but not proactively polyamorous	-25
Was polyamorous and would not mind being so again	-10
Was polyamorous but is more judicious now	5
Been around the block	10
Has not had any yet but sure would wanna get some	5
Thinks boinking is evil but enjoys it nonetheless	0
Thinks boinking is evil yet has not had any yet	-5
Thinks boinking is evil and is indifferent to it	-10
Thinks boinking is evil and loathes it	-20

Content bonuses

Damsel in distress/ "must put me on pedestal" type of girl, (-50)

"I am the center of your universe" type, (-100)

Attitude to reading
Erudite +5
Wide range recreational reading 0
Narrowband recreational reading (i.e., Cosmo only) -5
Prefers MTV over recreational reading -10
Prefers hemlock over books -25

Attitude to riding
Responsible rider +10
Hates bikes, but will not interfere with rides +5
Is indifferent to motorcycles 0
Hates bikes and will interfere with rides -5
Biker groupie/ poser -10
Irresponsible rider -50

Attitude to the outdoors
Mountaineer/ strike-anywhere match +5
Is indifferent to camping out, but does not mind +0
Hates the idea of roughing it -10
Will not live without airconditioning -15
Mountaineer groupie/ poser -25

Attitude to tattoos and piercings
Will share her tattoo artist with me +10
Hates tattoos, but doesn't mind them on me +5
Hates tattoos and will oppose additional tattoos -5
Hates tattoos, and dislikes people who have them -10
Tattoo groupie/ poser -25

Attitude to "me time"
Allows for space and time apart as wanted +10
Has some demands, but are not always unreasonable +5
Has nagged once or twice about time and presence +0
Nags about time and presence all the time -5
Cyberstalker -7
Checks up on you even at one's workplace -10
Would rather you wore a radio collar -25
Bunny boiler -50

**Attitude to reading**
Erudite	+5
Wide range recreational reading	0
Narrowband recreational reading (i.e., Cosmo only)	-5
Prefers MTV over recreational reading	-10
Prefers hemlock over books	-25

**Attitude to riding**
Responsible rider	+10
Hates bikes, but will not interfere with rides	+5
Is indifferent to motorcycles	0
Hates bikes and will interfere with rides	-5
Biker groupie/ poser	-10
Irresponsible rider	-50

**Attitude to the outdoors**
Mountaineer/ strike-anywhere match	+5
Is indifferent to camping out, but does not mind	+0
Hates the idea of roughing it	-10
Will not live without airconditioning	-15
Mountaineer groupie/ poser	-25

**Attitude to tattoos and piercings**
Will share her tattoo artist with me	+10
Hates tattoos, but doesn't mind them on me	+5
Hates tattoos and will oppose additional tattoos	-5
Hates tattoos, and dislikes people who have them	-10
Tattoo groupie/ poser	-25

**Attitude to "me time"**
Allows for space and time apart as wanted	+10
Has some demands, but are not always unreasonable	+5
Has nagged once or twice about time and presence	+0
Nags about time and presence all the time	-5
Cyberstalker	-7
Checks up on you even at one's workplace	-10
Would rather you wore a radio collar	-25
Bunny boiler	-50

back to Prettynometry

Packaging Checklist

2006-12-31T00:00:00.000+08:00

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Visual Inspection

Height
146 cm - 149 cm 5
150 cm - 153 cm 10
154 cm - 157 cm 15
158 cm - 161 cm 20
162 cm - 165 cm 25
166 cm - 169 cm 30
170 cm - 173 cm 25
174 cm - 177 cm 20
178 cm - 181 cm 15
182 cm - 185 cm 10
186 cm - 189 cm 5

Mass/ volume/ curvature in subjective terms
Photon 0
Emaciated 5
Skinny 10
Slender 25
Lithe 20
Average 25
Voluptuous 20
Slight Plus 15
Plus Size 10
Plus Size Plus 5
Gravity Well 0

Hair length
Short 25
Chin length 15
Shoulder length 10
Long 5

Hair type
Natural straight 25
Natural wavy 20
Salon straight 18
Natural curly 15
Salon wavy 13
Salon curly 10
Natural frizzy 5
Salon frizzy 3

Hair color
Black 25
Salt-and-pepper 22
Natural auburn 20
Natural redhead 15
Natural blonde 10
Dyed redhead 5
Dyed blonde 0
Platinum blonde -10

Fashion sense
Slave to Cosmo -10
Forever fashionista 0
No frills[1] 5
GND[2] 10
One-track closet 0
Sackcloth and ashes -5

Note:
[1] No frills but looks put together all the time
[2] Bring home to momma/ girl-next-door kinda vibe

Visual Inspection Bonuses
Chinita, +5

Shaved head that suits her, +5
Shaved head that doesn't suit her, (-10)

Funky hair color (i.e., blue/ pink/ green/ purple, et cetera) that suits her, +5
Funky hair color (i.e., blue/ pink/ green/ purple, et cetera) that doesn't suit her, (-10)

Highlights that suit her, +5
Highlights that don't suit her, (-5)

The "Mommy hairstyle" (the "upturned ends" hairstyle; e.g., Selphie Tilmitt of Final Fantasy VIII), +5

Interesting tattoo, +3
Poser tattoo, -3
Groupie tattoo, -5

Interesting piercing, +1
Poser piercing, -2
Groupie piercing, -3

Enhancement cosmetic surgery, -3

**Height**
146 cm - 149 cm	5
150 cm - 153 cm	10
154 cm - 157 cm	15
158 cm - 161 cm	20
162 cm - 165 cm	25
166 cm - 169 cm	30
170 cm - 173 cm	25
174 cm - 177 cm	20
178 cm - 181 cm	15
182 cm - 185 cm	10
186 cm - 189 cm	5

**Mass/ volume/ curvature in subjective terms**
Photon	0
Emaciated	5
Skinny	10
Slender	25
Lithe	20
Average	25
Voluptuous	20
Slight Plus	15
Plus Size	10
Plus Size Plus	5
Gravity Well	0

**Hair length**
Short	25
Chin length	15
Shoulder length	10
Long	5

**Hair type**
Natural straight	25
Natural wavy	20
Salon straight	18
Natural curly	15
Salon wavy	13
Salon curly	10
Natural frizzy	5
Salon frizzy	3

**Hair color**
Black	25
Salt-and-pepper	22
Natural auburn	20
Natural redhead	15
Natural blonde	10
Dyed redhead	5
Dyed blonde	0
Platinum blonde	-10

**Fashion sense**
Slave to Cosmo	-10
Forever fashionista	0
No frills[1]	5
GND[2]	10
One-track closet	0
Sackcloth and ashes	-5

Education

Highest formal educational attainment
Primary school 5
Some high school 8
High school 10
Some college 13
Voc school grad 15
Bachelor's degree 20
Some grad courses 23
Master's degree 25
Postgrad studies 28
Ph.D. or equivalent 30

Education bonuses
Fritty pace, Shift-F7 speech, grammar or spelling, -3
"Cahl cenner" accent, -3
Professional licensure, +3

High school attended
Kafagway public +3
Kafagway private coed +2
Foreign high school +2
Kafagway non-coed +1
Local public school +1
Local non-coed -2

University attended
Otto Hahn Loo +5
SLU +4
Any Kafagway uni +3
UP Baguio +3
Other UP +2
Other Cordi uni +2
Overseas college/ uni +2
Other local state uni +1
Uste Arki[1] +1
Other Uste 0
Arruhnaean Eagle 0
Private, coed uni 0
Green Archer -1
Benilde -2
Private, non-coed uni -5

Note:
[1] only because I owe UST chapel a favor haha

Affiliations while in school
Silliman Writers +3
Team Philippines +3
Debate varsity +2
University paper +2
Varsity athlete +2
Red Cross +1
Honors society 0
YFC/ chapel choir -1
Pep squad -2
Sorority girl -3
Cheerleader -4
The "in crowd" -5

**Highest formal educational attainment**
Primary school	5
Some high school	8
High school	10
Some college	13
Voc school grad	15
Bachelor's degree	20
Some grad courses	23
Master's degree	25
Postgrad studies	28
Ph.D. or equivalent	30

**High school attended**
Kafagway public	+3
Kafagway private coed	+2
Foreign high school	+2
Kafagway non-coed	+1
Local public school	+1
Local non-coed	-2

**University attended**
Otto Hahn Loo	+5
SLU	+4
Any Kafagway uni	+3
UP Baguio	+3
Other UP	+2
Other Cordi uni	+2
Overseas college/ uni	+2
Other local state uni	+1
Uste Arki[1]	+1
Other Uste	0
Arruhnaean Eagle	0
Private, coed uni	0
Green Archer	-1
Benilde	-2
Private, non-coed uni	-5

**Affiliations while in school**
Silliman Writers	+3
Team Philippines	+3
Debate varsity	+2
University paper	+2
Varsity athlete	+2
Red Cross	+1
Honors society	0
YFC/ chapel choir	-1
Pep squad	-2
Sorority girl	-3
Cheerleader	-4
The "in crowd"	-5

Career

Highest career level[1]
Pol Medina's Bab -10
Research assistant 3
Entry-level job 7
Experienced hire 10
Middle management 13
Unsigned musician 15
Gov't bureau chief 17
Senior management 20
Cabinet secretary 21
High school teacher 22
White-collar OFW 23
University instructor 24
C-level (CEO, etc) 25
Head of state 30
Primary school teacher 33
Blue-collar OFW 35
Supreme Court justice 40
Deity 50

Note:
[1] Bonus: add 5 points if current level

Career bonuses:
Licensed practicing engineer/ architect, +3
Non-licensed practicing engineer/ architect, +2
Engineer/ architect in a "cahl cenner", (-3)

Practicing medical doctor, +3
Medical doctor in a nursing career, +2
Non-practicing medical doctor, +1
Medical doctor in a "cahl cenner", (-5)

Generic "cahl cenner" agent, (-2)

Practicing lawyer, +3
Non-practicing lawyer, +2
Underbar law graduate, +1
Law student, (-3)

Combat military officer, +2
Non-field military officer, +1
Police officer, (-3)

Educational or environmental NGO, +3
Charity or civil-political rights NGO, +2
Generic NGO, +1

International theater/ Repertory Philippines/ PETA actress/ Oscar nominee, +3
Other local theater company actress/ Golden Globe or equivalent nominee, +2
Foreign TV/ movie actress, +1
Local TV/ movie actress, (-3)
Kris Aquino-clone, (-4)
Professional porn star, (-5)
Viva Hot Babe, (-7)
Baywalk Body, (-10)

Rhea Santos-clone, +5
Professional journalist, +3
Newsreader, +2
Malacanang spin doctor, (-1)
Mon Tulfo-clone, (-5)
Showbiz columnist/ entertainment beat reporter/ showbiz talk show host, (-10)

Bolshoi Ballet and analogous, +3
Ballet Philippines and analogous, +2
Las Vegas chorus line and analogous, +1
Sex Bomb Dancer and analogous, (-5)

NU Rock Awards/ Grammys nominee, +3
Published writer/ visual artist who has held exhibits/ recording artist, +2
Unsigned musician, +1
R&B or rap artist, (-1)
Sex Bomb/ similar novelty musician, (-3)

Owns own business, +3
COO (child of the owner), (-2)

Nobel Prize for Peace awardee, +20
Other Nobel Prize, +15
Ramon Magsasay Award and equivalent, +10
Other international awards, +7
Palanca award and equivalent, +5

Miss Universe participant, +5
Miss Philippines participant, +3
Other international beauty pageant participant, +1
Local beauty pageant participant, (-1)
Local "bikini open" participant, (-2)
Ruffa Gutierrez-clone, (-10)

International Webby Awards nominee, +3
Local Webby Awards awardee, +2
Philippine Blog Awards nominee, +1
Known spammer/ cyberstalker, (-10)

Politician's kid, (-10)
Politician, (-50)
Member of political dynasty, (-100)
Marcos crony scion, (-200)
Marcos scion/ Macapagal-Arroyo crony scion, (-500)
Macapagal-Arroyo relative up to the fourth degree of affinity/ consanguinity, (-1000)

**Highest career level[1]**
Pol Medina's Bab	-10
Research assistant	3
Entry-level job	7
Experienced hire	10
Middle management	13
Unsigned musician	15
Gov't bureau chief	17
Senior management	20
Cabinet secretary	21
High school teacher	22
White-collar OFW	23
University instructor	24
C-level (CEO, etc)	25
Head of state	30
Primary school teacher	33
Blue-collar OFW	35
Supreme Court justice	40
Deity	50

Other Packaging bonuses

Speaks fluent Ilocano, +1
Speaks fluent Ilocoslovakian, +2
Plus an additional 1 pretty point for every language she's being able to competently converse in (even if it's just enough to get to the ladies' room and order a drink)

British accent when speaking in English, +2
Affected British accent, (-1)
"Cahl cenner" accent, (-5)

back to Prettynometry

Class Code	Subject	Units
Law 99	Legal Bibliography	1
Law 100	Persons and Family Relations	4
Law 109	Criminal Law 1	3
Law 115	Legal History	2
Law 121	Constitutional Law 1	4
	Total	14