Village Idiot Savant

Para sa aking mga kababayang Kapampangan

2009-11-30T21:39:00.003+08:00

Mga kababayang Kapampangan:

Parang awa niyo na po, huwag niyo nang ihalal si GMA bilang inyong kongresista. Malaki man ang utang na loob ninyo sa kanya dahil sa puri at kasaganahang naidulot sa inyo, isipin niyo rin sana ang kapakanan ng buong bansa. Hindi ko na po siguro kailangang ipahiwatig kung bakit.

Kung talaga pong mahal na mahal niyo si GMA, isipin niyo rin na lang po na pagkatapos ng halos sampung taong nakaupo bilang pangulo ay kailangan na niyang magpahinga, kahit na lang para sa kalusugan niya.

Konting unawa lang po. Salamat po.

Shame, mourning, and anger

2009-11-26T14:34:00.002+08:00

Handpainted banners up at our street corner. Ordinarily these signs decry the military or the government; today, in the wake of the Ampatuan Massacre, they're aimed at private armies.

I also received a message from the Makati Business Club. Ordinarily I ignore unsolicited mail, but this one echoes my sentiments, and therefore I am reproducting it below:

The Makati Business Club expresses its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of the November 23 Maguindanao massacre.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutal slaying of women, journalists, and other innocent and defenseless civilians. The perpetrators of this heinous crime have no place in society and no effort must be spared to consign them under the swift and full measure of the law.

In this regard, we hold the government fully accountable for seeing to it that justice is served. Preliminary reports from the ground, including those relayed by the Armed Forces’ spokesman, point to the direct involvement of a member of the Ampatuan clan, staunch political allies of the Arroyo administration, and members of the local Philippine National Police. The government must now prove to the Filipino people and the international community that its utterances of condemnation and avowals that “nobody should be untouchable” will translate to decisive action against those behind this mass murder. Secretary Jesus Dureza’s fawning “courtesy call” on the Ampatuan clan does not inspire much confidence in the government’s determination to pursue the case to a complete and just resolution.

The brutality, brazenness, and impunity with which the perpetrators executed their horrific crime are difficult to fathom, but become conceivable in the context of the warlord politics the current administration allowed to flourish in Maguindanao and exploited for its political ends. Now, like an overindulgent parent, the government has to rein in the monsters it created. Private armies in Maguindanao, or for that matter throughout the country, must not only be disarmed but also dismantled, for a long-lasting solution to political violence can only be achieved if the political culture is no longer held captive by warlords and their hired guns.

Our country has paid dearly for having ignored the final recommendation of the Davide Commission which so prophetically stated: “The irreducible minimum to peaceful and orderly change, both societal and political, is for all contenders in the political arena to agree to use the ballot and forego the bullet.”

57 candles

2009-11-26T14:31:00.001+08:00

Lighting candles for the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre. Held outside the Atenews office.

Indignation rally

2009-11-26T14:28:00.002+08:00

Indignation rally led by Gabriela yesterday, decrying the Ampatuan Massacre.

Silence

2009-11-25T10:53:00.005+08:00

I haven't the same drive to blog as I used to, hence the less frequent updates on this space. I like to think that it's because I'm busy with other things now. That's true, up to a point. But there are other things as well:

Microblogging, or specifically for me, Plurk. I find the small updates easier; at the same time, they're also less substantial.
Polarization of the blogging community. I find the blogging community nowhere near as vibrant as it used to be. Maybe it's because of Facebook and Twitter, but I also think that bloggers have already clustered around their own groups and activities and -- good Lord, even blogging platforms. That doesn't leave much room for unaffiliated bloggers like me. Welcome to the age of groupthink, boys and girls; no more discourse, just "I agree."
Probloggers. Nothing's more discouraging than measuring up your tiddly readership against kids who boast of daily page counts in the thousands and hundreds of thousands-- and earning megabucks from it.

Maybe this blog just isn't interesting enough. Maybe I should write about this or that. Maybe I should link to this guy and that guy. Maybe I should write like this. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But that wouldn't be me.

Two events

2009-11-19T13:24:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow night, Nov. 20, I'll be part of Davao Writers Night of the National Book Development Board publishing conference at Ateneo de Davao University. I'll be reading an excerpt from my short story "Matrice" (and yes, I am dying of embarrassment already). Event starts at 6PM.

On Saturday, Nov. 21, Don Pagusara's "Madonna Brava ng Mindanao" will play at Gaisano Mall theater. Show times are 2:00PM and 7:30PM. They play is expected to run for two hours.

Where's Dom?

2009-11-19T12:20:00.000+08:00

Asia Source 3 group pic: can you guess where I am?

Asia Source 3

2009-11-19T12:12:00.001+08:00

Press release I (re)wrote for Asia Source 3.

While most technology conferences happen as swanky, slick, and well-rehearsed events, the recently concluded Asia Source 3 took the opposite track and ran a camp that was spartan yet spontaneous. From November 7 to 12, 2009, Asia Source 3 gathered 150 representatives in the Yen Center to discuss developments in open source. For those six days, the campers lived in a communal environment that married fun and relaxation with exchange of ideas.

Asia Source 3 campers represented a large cross section of non-governmental organizations, small businesses, youth networks, and technology entrepreneurs from 15 countries (see full list below). While technology issues permeated the discussions, it took place with an emphasis on the economic and social context of cooperation among developing countries.

This is the third such event in the region, organized by the International Open Source Network (IOSN) and InWEnt - Capacity Building International of Germany ; earlier camps took place in Bangalore, India in 2005 and Sukabumi, Indonesia in 2007. It is based on the source camp template of the Tactical Technology Collective, an NGO that consults for other NGOs on technology. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the ASEAN Foundation and the Open Society Institute funded Asia Source 3, with the aim to increasing awareness and adoption of free and open source software.

"We believe that the continuous strengthening of the Free Software community through source camps like this contribute to a more open collaborative environment," said Dr. Alvin Marcelo, Director of IOSN for ASEAN+3. "While the rising popularity and relevance of open source software is now unstoppable, the challenge is to harness the many activities into a coherent whole. And we are able to achieve this through community building."

Asia Source 3 also marked the official highlight of five years of regional FOSS support by InWEnt in Southeast Asia. "We are honored to be part of this movement through our training and network program it@foss" said Balthas Seibold, Senior Project Manager of InWEnt. InWEnt has trained and connected more than 1000 experts from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines in more than 30 training courses under its it@foss program.

In the tradition of previous camps, Asia Source 3 emphasized spontaneity over rigid planning. “We try to create an environment of collaboration and community," said Allen Gunn, the event's head facilitator. "No keynote speakers, no panels, no powerpoint slides. Instead, we set-up mini-discussions."

This approach makes the exchange of knowledge and development of relationships more organic and natural. It creates opportunities to broaden expertise, and forge new ideas and connections. Asia Source 3’s theme dwelt on building capacity among technical experts and organizational practitioners. It dealt with the topics of managing and broadcasting information through free and open source software and migration from proprietary alternatives.

Asia Source 3 was jointly organized by UNDP-International Open Source Network (UNDP-IOSN) through its ASEAN+3 Centre of Excellence (based at the University of the Philippines Manila) and InWEnt - Capacity Building International Germany, together with the Tactical Technology Collective, Aspiration (USA) and the Centre for Internet and Society (India). Funders include the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the ASEAN Foundation and the Open Society Institute.

Asian countries represented in Asia Source III include Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam.

In case you were wondering...

2009-11-18T22:36:00.003+08:00

Last entry: November 5. Eeep.

In case you were wondering, I'm still around; it's just that after an extended period with choppy Internet access in Silang, Cavite from November 3 to November 12, I've been stricken with inertia blog-wise. Though I've had a decent connection in Manila since November 13, I've opted to spend more time out with friends than writing blog posts.

And since November 15, when I returned to Davao? Busy with classes, among other things.

I don't know if I'll ever catch up on the news from the Lost Two Weeks. Suffice to say they've been very refreshing and reinvigorating for me. I attended Asia Source 3, an open source jamboree of sorts, and facilitated a five-day session for regional participants. I made many friends, too, and probably most important, I found out I wasn't alone in my approach or philosophy.

Back in Davao: ten units of classes in Ateneo (though I protested earlier I would only handle five), but that's all right. I think by now I can already teach Open Source and Operating Systems in my sleep.

A friend from Canada, whom I have not seen in almost ten years, is in town.

And this Friday, I'm reading an excerpt from one of my short stories for a big National Book Development Board (NBDB) bash at Ateneo de Davao, so I'm busy with rehearsals.

Meh. This blog can wait. But you can still follow my adventures over at my Plurk account.

See ya!

Risk the Movie

2009-11-05T19:19:00.002+08:00

Risk -- yes, the board game -- will become a movie, courtesy of Sony Pictures. How they will make this work, without devolving into an outright Napoleonic shootout or a tournament movie is beyond me. But considering that the game is owned by Hasbro, the same toy company behind GI Joe and Transformers, I demand nothing less than Michael Bay or Stephen Sommers as director. And, yes, explosions, lots of explosions.

After that, I also want to see Scrabble: The Movie. Also with lots of explosions.

The High Crusade

2009-11-04T06:12:00.003+08:00

Although I was somewhere in the middle of "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", the book proved too heavy to bring with me on the flight. So I settled on literally lighter fare instead with Poul Anderson's The High Crusade. It turned out to be an extremely good choice: High Crusade was riotously funny yet at the same time thought-provoking.

Intriguing premise from the get-go: aliens land in 12th century England, to be precise, in a small barony preparing for the war in France. Lasers vs. lances, you'd think the outcome foregone. Wrong! The English slaughter the invaders! Then the baron has this brilliant idea of using the spaceship to ferry troops to France, then on to Jerusalem, but ends up conquering outer space instead. Hilarity ensues.

Behind the blustery antics and space opera lie two serious topics, and it's quite a wonder how Anderson handles them. First is Anderson's commentary on social structures; understandably, the feudalism of the English knight gets a leg up over the supposedly-egalitarian society of the Wersgorix. Wersgor society sounds a lot like the society we idealize:

But no one was born to his place in life. Under the law, all were equal, all free to strive as best they might for money or position. Indeed, they had even abandoned the idea of families... Male and female seldome lived together more than a few years. Children were sent at an early age to schools, where they dwelt until mature, for their parents thought them an encumbrance than a blessing.

However,

The Wersgorix had no special affection for their birthplace; they acknowledged no immediate ties of kinship or duty. As a result, each individual had no one to stand between him and the all-powerful central government.... The Wersgor were a lickspittle race, unable to protest any arbitrary decree of a superior. "Promotion according to merit" meant only "promotion according to one's usefulness to the imperial ministers."

Second is how Anderson handles religion. Though at first it appears that he makes fun of faith and prayers, in the end, he portrays it with deep sensitivity that's rare in scifi novels. But you'll have to read it to understand.

I picked this title up some weeks back in the Book Sale bargain bin; pretty good quality still, and at P45, a steal. And hey, it's Poul Anderson. He always delivers a good yarn, "Three Hearts and Three Lions" being at the top of my list. It will probably have to make way for High Crusade.

Nanowrimo 2009

2009-11-03T16:49:00.003+08:00

I don't quite think I have it in me to complete another Nanowrimo event anymore: 2006 was so far the only one that I actually completed. Still, I can't help but dip my fingers into the pot, so to speak; if all I can get out of this is a short story (as was the case way back when), then it would have been worth it. Going will be slow, considering my schedule over the next few weeks. In case you're interested in following my progress, or lack thereof, you can check out Mad Mechanical Monster.

At AsiaSource3

2009-11-03T16:42:00.002+08:00

Through the 13th of November, I will be attending AsiaSource3 in Silang, Cavite. AsiaSource is an event for capacity-building in open source aimed at NGOs and other community organizations. There'll be 135 participants from all over Asia; I'm in the event as a facilitator. More reports to come in the following days.

My first two books...

2009-10-30T17:33:00.002+08:00

...or, to be more precise, the first two books that I edited and produced: "Tradisyon" and "In My Own Little Corner" by Jeanne Lim.

It may anticlimactic now since I posted news of this last month, but -- darn it! -- it feels great to have them rolling out of the press in volume. I sent a hundred copies each to Manila last Saturday, and took out another fifty copies each for Davao yesterday. The bulk of the run will go to NCCA in Manila for distribution to selected schools sometime next week; that leaves us with a hundred for the Davao Writers Guild.

Along this journey, I gained many stories, some of which I'll tell when I have the leisure to compose them at length. I think I'll call it "Adventures in Publishing." Or something like that. But what I'm most thankful for in this project are the opportunities to make new friends and reconnect with old ones.

Among the new: the author, Jeanne Lim (pictured above), a truly funny lady; and Rumana Husain, all the way from Karachi, who graciously provided us with the picture that became the cover for "Tradisyon"; and among the old, family friends: Chin Bon Lu, Jeanne's good friend, who still remembers me as a young boy; and Ben and Ellen Ausin, the printers for this project, brother and sister-in-law of an Hijas de Jesus sister.

My first look at Ubuntu 9.10

2009-10-30T13:53:00.003+08:00

Unlike other folks on the bleeding edge, I waited until Ubuntu 9.10's official release before trying out the software. For some of you, this may already be old news. Regardless, here's my first look at Karmic Koala, running as VirtualBox guest.

Read more »

No money, no honey

2009-10-29T09:28:00.001+08:00

'Nuff said.

Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala

2009-10-29T09:09:00.002+08:00

If the schedule holds, Ubuntu 9.10, the Karmic Koala, comes out in the next few hours. You can be sure my downloads will be running then. I've been using Ubuntu for the past four years, and I really couldn't be happier with an operating system: it's free, it's got loads of software, and it doesn't have any viruses.

With a new release every six months, Ubuntu maintains the momentum and keeps up-to-date with the most recent developments. So while Microsoft may boast that Windows 7 came out three years after Vista, the fastest Windows release ever, all I can say is:

Meh.

Batman's vanishing act

2009-10-29T06:56:00.003+08:00

So early in the day and already I'm crying from laughter. Enjoy!

Oratio Imperata

2009-10-28T22:48:00.000+08:00

Since Lent, Davao churchgoers have been praying, post-Communion, the oratio imperata issued by Archbishop Fernando Capalla. Entitled "Prayer for the Healing of Our Nation," the prayer is to be said on bended knee. This act of supplication and penance will go on until the next Lenten season.

As far as penance goes, the prayer itself serves as mortification enough. At close to 600 words -- longer than this article -- it takes four minutes to recite. It is repetitive, circuitous, evasive, whiny, and cloying.

Compositionally, it is a disaster: barely a noun or a verb escapes without an adjective or adverb, some redundant ("violent killing") and some inappropriate ("lustful greed"). It abounds with cliche ("from womb to tomb", "deaf ears", "bended knees", "hardened hearts", "socio-political system"). One line is particularly painful to the ear: "the crash taking of the law into one's hands."

Biblically, its annotation is dubious: it attributes a line to 1 Peter 2:24 instead of the original Isaiah 53:5.

In form, it sounds less like a prayer than a lurid news report: it mentions "wound" eight times, "crime" five times, "drug" five times, "pusher" and "addict" four times, "eyewitness" three times, and "kill" two times.

For all this, its main fault lies in its inability to pinpoint to the direct cause of the complaint: is the fault that of the drug addicts and the drug pushers? of the killers? of the police? of the witnesses? of the churchgoers themselves? Only the mayor, supposedly at the center of the controversy, escapes mention.

And yet, if the prayer itself sounds confused, it merely reflects our state of mind over these affairs. For instance, calling it "extrajudicial killings" or "vigilantism" merely serves to sanitize the crime of its true content. In the end, it's really murder, bloody murder.

Is murder evil? Of course, it is. But how about the murder of criminals? Is murder in the service of "peace and order" acceptable, desirable even, and worthy of export to other cities breaking down from lawlessness? Because we have to pause to think about the answer, then it's really you and me to whom the prayer is directed.

Once we entertain the thought -- even the glimmer of the thought -- of murder is acceptable, then our moral center teeters on the edge of collapse. Hence comes the need for prayer, to recover that moral center. That is why this prayer is essential at this time.

Now, if only the prayer were better written, or at the very least, shorter and to the point.

Vote Nograles...or else!

2009-10-28T18:49:00.004+08:00

Ah, election time. While you can't quite point to it as the source of all that's twisted and rotten about the country, you can bet it acts as the catalyst and focal point to bring out all the chicanery.

Today the sales assistant of a friend went on leave. She's studying part-time and she said she was going on a seminar. She does this from time to time, so that in itself comes as no surprise. When she came back late this afternoon, I asked her how the activity went:

"Oh, it was a Nograles thing." Like hundreds (or is it thousands?) of others in the city, she's a Nograles scholar.

"I hope they're not asking you to help them cheat," I teased.

"No, but they did tell us we should vote for (Karlo) Nograles."

"Really, now? And if you don't?"

"They said that if he doesn't win, we'd lose our scholarships."

"Is that so?"

"Well, they said there was always the other camp (Duterte), but we're not guaranteed to get a scholarship there."

"I see. And will you vote for Nograles?"

She just smiled.

Ah, Nograles! so loving and kind and giving, whose generosity knows no bounds.

Windows 7

2009-10-28T17:02:00.002+08:00

As it happens, I have access to the Microsoft Solution Developers Network via the Academic Alliance. On a lark, I decided to check if I could get Windows 7 there. And surprise, surprise, I could! I would get it now, except for its 2.2GB download size. Since I won't leave the office PC running through the night, I'll wait till tomorrow.

But wait...isn't tomorrow also the release date for Karmic Koala.

Whatever should I get? Decisions, decisions. ;-)

Fork marks on my forehead

2009-10-28T13:44:00.002+08:00

No, I didn't get into a fight. I stabbed myself. With a fork. In the forehead. How did that happen? I'm too embarrassed to say, so you figure it out.

And yes, it hurt. A lot. Ow.

Moneymaker configuration in PvZ

2009-10-27T15:59:00.004+08:00

Having completed the campaign, I only play Plants vs Zombies intermittently now. However, the completist in me still wants to get the gold trophy and all of Crazy Dave's stuff. To do that, I'll need to earn in-game cash. I've found the Last Stand mini-game to be ideal for this purpose.

In case you haven't reached this level yet, Last Stand starts you off with 5000 sunshine. You can plant as many seeds as you want without waiting during the setup phase. Caveat: sunflowers may not be selected. While 5000 sunshine seems like a lot, it's actually not. The configuration above shows my optimal solution. I can leave the scenario running without having to attend to it as the golden magnet automatically captures coins and diamonds. I add the coin-generating daisies after the first flag.

This configuration generates $3,000 to $4,000 in-game cash for the entire mini-game.

Vote for Best Halloween Flash Fiction

2009-10-26T22:25:00.002+08:00

My friend and editor Kyu is a finalist for Fantasy Magazine's Best 2009 Halloween Flash Fiction story. Since the winner will be decided via reader poll, please take the time to head over to the site and vote. In his words:

But please, vote for "Lost for Words" only if you think it's good enough, otherwise, vote for the better story among the other finalists (I may regret saying that...).

I might add: I did like his story best, so that's why I voted for him. (That, and the other two finalists won't buy me pizza if they win. So there.)

Writing Short Fiction

2009-10-25T11:49:00.001+08:00

Writing Short Fiction

View more documents from Dominique Cimafranca.

Presentation from a short workshop I gave for the College Editors Guild of the Philippines yesterday.