Piece of Pi

i have a new blog

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:35:00 +0000

Unfortunately, this would be my last post in this blog.

Don't be sad... Just head on over to my new blog:

The Akashic Field Chronicle

yunlang.

changes

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:16:00 +0000

I'm currently updating the look of this blog. Hopefully, once that's done, I'll be able to resurrect it and post on a more regular basis. In the mean time, I'm just gonna tweak the layout some more. Any suggestions would be great.

yunlang.

binibining pilipinas international

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:25:00 +0000

First of all, congratulations to Ms. Patricia "Chot" Fernandez for winning the Bb. Pilipinas - International award yesterday at the "Binibining Pilipinas 2008" beauty pageant. :)

It's my first (and in all likelihood last) time to watch a beauty pageant "live". Watching it at the Araneta Center is definitely a unique experience. Even though we could hardly distinguish faces from our seats at upperbox, there's something quite special about being with a bunch of people and cheering madly for a single person (Chot of course).

I guess it would have been fun either way, but having her actually win makes it so much more satisfying. Especially considering our nerves when she wasn't on stage during the "harana" (serenade) intermission number. I think she fainted or something and even had to be escorted to the stage. Well, she did win eventually. So I guess everything ended up ok. Congratulations again.

Also with me there were my T.A. buddies (Mendz, Tanya, and Dean), Friends (Ron, Jaafgie, Anna, Josiah, Roy and Bananie). Most of the others I think are from UPSCA (UP Student Catholic Action), Chot's org.

Honestly, I'm not really the beauty-pageant-watching type of guy (beauty-watching would be much much better :D). I just basically got invited by Jaafgie (Chot's Special Someone). Congrats to Jaafgie too! I have to give it to my "scholastic soulmate" (i.e. classmate since 1st year highschool). He really worked so hard to support Chot. From gigantic tarps, to inviting his friends, giving advances on tickets, and even down to huge painted #2 signs (Chot's number), which from what I heard, he did himself. You're the man!

I don't think I've ever had such a jam-packed Saturday schedule since the semester started. Earlier that day, I had to endure 3 hours of differential equations for my grad subject. Then I was asked to be one of the judges for Squeeeze 2008, UP Circuit's Intercollegiate EEE quiz show. After that, we ate at Volare in Cubao for my friend Wilson's birthday party. Then, straight off to the pageant. I finally got home (bulacan) at about 2am. Whew!

I'll post some picks once I get my hands on some.

yunlang.

my very first cubing video

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:31:00 +0000

Here's my first ever cubing video (actually my very first youtube video). We're basically trying to find new and more elaborate ways of procrastinating as grad students. What better way to do that than to spend a few minutes filming yourselves while solving a Rubik's Cube.

I know, 38 secs, it's really slow. So what?!

As most of the folks here in the university has probably noticed, there has been a recent resurgence of this 3x3x3 nerdy puzzle. It has gained so much recent popularity in fact, that the "tambays" and beggars at the footbridge in Philcoa can be seen trying to solve the cube. They sell it for something like 20 pesos or so. That price probably gets you one crappy cube which in all likelihood breaks apart once you go faster than 1 turn/sec. :D

I've been trying to speed my solving up a bit since I saw the Diliman Open held at the College of Science last January. I bought a decent cube from Toys-R-Us and after a few weeks, I've brought down my average from about 1 min to about 40 secs now. Unfortunately, I'm probably reaching the limits of the not-so-efficient corners first algorithm I've been using since high school.

Right now I'm trying to learn something new. In particular, the Petrus method, which they say is quite fast once you get used to it. So far, I suck at it. Probably about 2min for one solve.

So I guess I'll just post another video once I speed up a bit.

yunlang.

happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Happy new year to everyone. Have a blessed, fruitful, and surprising 2008!
Hoping to get this blog up and running once again. So stay tuned :D

yunlang.

the 10th wonder podcast

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:09:00 +0000

Heroes, now on its 2nd season, is the best series ever! If you're like me, and you love watching heroes, then I'd definitely recommend you listen to: The 10th Wonder podcast.

I've been listening to it since halfway through the first season and it's a really really great podcast. The folks behind it really know what their up to (seeing as they also do a Smallville podcast) and they always deliver a jam packed podcast every week (sometimes even twice).

They start up with some news about the show, then on to a recap of the most recent episode, then go into an in-depth analysis of the juicy parts including a lot of theories about what's really going on. Plus, they reserve any spoilers to the end of the podcast so people who want to be surprised when they watch aren't disappointed. It's really quite long, averaging about 40 mins and sometimes even more. But once you get hooked, you'll just think there isn't enough of the podcast!

The folks that do the podcast aren't in anyway affiliated with NBC and I think they just do it for fun. It's really amazing how much effort they put into it. Considering they don't really make any money (maybe just ads and stuff).

So, If you want to hear the low down on everything Heroes, just listen to some of the episodes and I think you'll really love it.

Which gives me the idea of starting a podcast of my own. Unfortunately, I don't have the talents and the gift of gab for such an undertaking, so I guess that won't happen (soon).

To listen to the podcast, you can either subscribe using Itunes (for folks who have ipods), download an episode, or even stream it off the net (not that much bandwidth involved since it's just audio). Personally I prefer streaming it (using the great VLC player). That way, I can check out any websites or blogs that are recommended as I'm listening to the podcast.

Also, check out:

Heroes Revealed - thanks for the link fed
Greg Beeman blog - producer of heroes with a really great blog about the show
Heroes TV Show on NBC: NBC Official Site - of course the official site
The 10th Wonder - one great podcast (available in mp3 or aac)

Happy listening!

yunlang.

advertising my sister's blog

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:51:00 +0000

It's my first time to plug another blog on Piece of Pi. I reckon it's ok since it's family and everything :)

My sister just started a new blog and since she's a way way (way^inf) better writer than I am (school paper editor and everything), I definitely recommend that you check it out. So head on to:

http://www.rand0msketches.blogspot.com/

yunlang.

ubuntu counter added

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:48:00 +0000

In anticipation of the upcoming release of Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), I've added a countdown timer to my blog. Woohoo!

What's new in Ubuntu 7.10?

yunlang.

the dragon is dead

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:32:00 +0000

One of my most favorite authors has recently passed away. Yes, Robert Jordan is dead. Darn! He didn't even get to finish the Wheel of Time series. Kidding aside, it really is a sad day today. A jewel of literature has left this world. :(

The Wheel of Time turns and ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/

yunlang.

how to take notes

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Seeing as I'm a teacher now (and really enjoying it). I thought I should share this link with everyone. I found it on lifehack.org.

Advice for Students: Taking notes that work

It's worth a read for students who think taking notes is just a waste of time. Or for the folks who don't think their getting enough from their notes.

Hmmm...

I've been so busy that I haven't even touched this blog for so long. Oh well, that's life I guess.

P.S.

I've asked the BPI Foundation to fund my upcoming conference in Malaysia. I do hope they spare some of their finances for what I believe is "a very worthy cause" (read: me)

yunlang.

quite easily done

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:25:00 +0000

Long time no post!

So, I've been [ busy | stressed | sleep deprived ] for the past few weeks. Especially during this past few days, 'coz I was preparing/procastinating for my Math 211 (Abstract Linear Algebra) Midterm. I'm an MS student so I still have to deal with exams and stuff :(.

As expected, the exam was nothing short of suicide due to my very crude understanding of the subject matter. In our defense (this includes Wilson Tan, Lew Tria and me) it's really really difficult. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that we are trained as engineers and not as mathematicians. The approach to teaching and exams is indeed very different from what we've been used to in our undergrad. Very theoretical instead of practical. Theoretical and filled with rigorous (look ma no loopholes) kinds of proofs.

Majority of the questions in the exam were proving problems. They were really tricky ones too. I do hope we manage to scrape a passing grade for this exam so we don't have too much to worry about later.

Interesting Observations in Abstract Linear Algebra:

In this subject, you get to prove the most basic things you know in math like:

(-1)*(-1) = 1
(0)*x = 0
f(x) + f(y) = f(x + y)

We're the only non-math majors in that subject so they can all relate to each other and make fun of the stupid engineers.
In this subject you will learn that almost everything in undergraduate math can be explained in a single course (linear algeb)
This subject reeks of rigorous proofs in every corner including defining things that seem obvious already. For example, after defining linearly independent, the teacher then defines linearly dependent as something that isn't linearly independent. :D

All in all, it's a very interesting subject and definitely a learning experience. I just hope it's not one of those things you learn by failing.

For the curious folks, here is the proof of (0)*x = 0:

0*x = (0 + 0)*x -> existence of additive identity
0*x = 0*x + 0*x -> distributivity
0*x + -(0*x)= 0*x + 0*x + -(0*x) -> existence of additive inverse
0 = 0*x -> definition of additive inverse

QED! (Amusingly my highschool teacher made me believe that this actually meant, Quite Easily Done)

QED = Quod Erat Demonstrandum

yunlang.

happy blogsary!

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 11:19:00 +0000

This blog is officially one (1) year old! Cool :)

Here's a link to my first ever post:
http://blog.urriza.net/2006/08/better-late-than-never.html

btw, for all the geeks out there, check this youtube video out (courtesy of Dean Ancajas).

I especially like the following lines:

"I was coding shit in MIPS while you were playing Space Invaders"
"I'll chown your home and take your access away"
"Your outside your scope, son, close them curly brackets"

Sorry for the nerdiness :)

kill-9 song at stanford

Go here for the lyrics and a download link.

yunlang.

kuala lumpur, here I come! (i hope)

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:43:00 +0000

So I was checking my email this morning (I've shifted to the Mozilla Thunderbird mail client btw), and look at what greeted me from my inbox:

Congratulations - your paper #1569056335 ('FPGA Implementation of Space-Time Encoders') has been accepted for oral presentation at ICIAS2007.

Woohoo! Our undergraduate thesis has been accepted for an oral presentation at the International Conference on Intelligent and Advanced Systems or ICIAS 2007, to be held on November 25-28 at the KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Woohoo!!!

Of course there are some revisions from the reviewers, but that's all for the best. I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what other people think of our research.

I hope we can go to KL. My bet is that it won't really be that easy, seeing that I'm not earning big bucks yet. Someone will definitely have to sponsor me [geof! sponsor naman!]. In fact I hope my whole group can go to KL (though that's very unlikely).

So I guess it's just congratulations to us for now.

The authors of this paper are:

Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano - our undergrad adviser
Lyand Richwell Ignacio
Mark Benson Nastor
Geoffrey Nicolas Fadera - currently in the land of the samurai (sponsor!)
Paulo Isagani Urriza - me!

Also, congratulations to a bunch of friends who have also been accepted to other conferences:

Wilson Tan, Dean Ancajas, Rose Reas, and Elma Domingo

TENCON, Taiwan

Tanya Abaya

something in Australia (not sure what the name is)

P.S. Everyone who's anyone should watch "The Bourne Ultimatum". It seriously rocks! I'll post a better review soon. :)

yunlang.

no classes = headache

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:16:00 +0000

It's been no classes for 1.5 days straight and normally I'd be very happy and relaxed right now. But that was before I started to teach. It's really startling how much my view of class suspensions has changed because of my chosen career.

In the past, no classes meant I had a whole day to waste on petty activities and a whole day to escape the school workload. Now, it's a whole day of headaches (figuratively).

It's enlightening to discover what's on the other side of the fence. No classes means ruined class schedules and a lot of effort to either teach faster (not a good choice) or setup a make-up class.

I chose the make-up route and it's a terrible task. I have to find an available room and an available schedule. Plus, the time is really hard to set since students always have conflicts in their schedules. I wish I could just go back to being happy about the rainy days.

P.S. My mom and I will be watching "The Bourne Ultimatum" later. Hope it's as good as I expect it to be.

yunlang.

moving open hardware forward

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:47:00 +0000

This is one of the best examples of open hardware (similar to open source) I was talking about in my previous post. Sun has released their most recent and fastest SPARC core (the UltraSPARC T2) under the GPL (General Public License). That means the core design files and the associated software are all open to the public.

This is one of the biggest open designs I've seen released so far. It's somewhere along the lines of the ARM design that's already open. Similarly to ARM, I guess we'll be seeing this core in commercial products in the near future. Care for a PS4 with a SPARC core. :)

opening up

Source: MAKE Magazine

yunlang.

influx - intro to FOSS and Linux (UP Diliman)

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:17:00 +0000

I encourage everyone to attend...

Intro to FOSS and Linux (InFLux) for the DCS and DEEE

Engineering Library and Computer Science Building Lecture Hall

August 1, 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Presented by the University of the Philippines Linux Users Group (UnPLUG) which I personally am not a member of. But, whaddahey, I do support opensource and linux so I think I should share this with everyone.

Topics include:

Computer Science through FOSS
EEE through FOSS
GPLv3 / cakeph
Beryl/Compix/KDE4

click for a better view

See you there!

yunlang.

HP7: beyond the epilogue

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:10:00 +0000

I rarely just copy off stuff from other people's blogs, but I'll make an exception for this one, seeing that it's too big not to be shared. Via The Dead Pepper Chronicles, here's the detailed epilogue of HP7 - Deathly Hollows.

J.K Rowling goes beyond the Epilogue - Beyond Hogwarts
(Spoiler Warning)

yunlang.

my mom saw the golden compass trailer

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:04:00 +0000

As some folks know, I'm a huge fan of the fantasy book trilogy: "His Dark Materials". My sister was actually the one who got me to start reading it (since she bought the books). Right after finding out that there was gonna be a movie ("The Golden Compass") made about it, I immediately made a post to express my excitement.

Imagine my shock when I heard there was already a trailer. Not from my friends, not from my sister, but from my mom. Wow! I didn't even remember her reading that book, but apparently she did. How cool is my mom, reading fantasy novels?! It's just books she finds lying around when she cleans up in our rooms. It amazes me none the less. :)

She referred to it as the "compass" movie. I think she saw it in one of those Video On Board buses which are very common in our area. I actually had trouble figuring out what she meant since I don't recall her reading that book at all. Then it hit me and I immediately googled it and found their website (goldencompassmovie.com). I have to say, it's a really nice flash site.

So here it is, without further ado, The Golden Compass (December 2007)

First the HP 5 Movie, then HP 7 book, now this... :) Fun!

yunlang.

deathly hallows

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:58:00 +0000

NO spoilers WARNING : The purpose of this post is basically to share my experience after having just read the 7th and final installment of HP - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I assure you, I have done my best to avoid any spoilers (after just a day of the release). If however, you are as paranoid as I am, then you may choose not to read this.

Long awaited

a classic in the making

In two words, "incredibly satisfying"! I know I expected something mind-blowing seeing as this is the final book of the series. J.K. Rowling certainly didn't disappoint. It was incredible. Although still a long shot from the LoTR trilogy (best series ever), I can definitely say that she ended the series as well as anyone could have. Even better than what I was expecting.

The book was totally unputdownable (forgive the word). I had to fight the temptation to continue reading without getting any sleep. I also had to go to church in the morning. If I didn't have to go, I'm sure I would have read non-stop 'til the very last chapter. That's how great I thought it was.

I especially like the way everything was made to fall into place before the end. Some of the references go way back to Book 1. Twists and turns at the most unexpected points and a sense of rich history that was definitely not that prominent on the earlier books. The planning that had to go into this series simply astounds me. Kudos to Rowling on her writing prowess. I definitely give this book a 5/5 or even 6/5 (bonus points for not failing to satisfy my high expectations).

As promised, no spoilers here. I guess I'll just post another one with a blow-by-blow review when a lot more people have finished.

Long Live HARRY!

yunlang.

IEEE student membership

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:33:00 +0000

Mr. Dean Ancajas, fellow newbie instructor in UP EEE, convinced Tanya Abaya (another fellow TA) and myself, that we should all apply for an IEEE membership now that we are MS EE students. For those who aren't familiar with IEEE, it's the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Basically it's an international professional organization for EEE.

I thought it made a lot of sense to apply since we've chosen to stay in the Electronics Engineering field for now.

It's really very easy to apply (and also very cheap if you're still a student). So I decided to go ahead with the application. I had to borrow my mom's credit card however, since I don't have one. To tell you the truth, this is actually my first ever online transaction :D. Nothing really interesting about it though.

As a student member I get the following perks:

Monthly subscription to IEEE Spectrum magazine - great magazine chuck-full of all the juicy and geeky tech stuff.
A membership card - which according to their email would be arriving by snail mail in 2 weeks
me@ieee.org - an email alias with their domain
IEEE Job Site - sort of global jobstreet for the electronics engineer
Online Resources - from online magazines to online communities
Loads of other stuff that I haven't found the time to discover yet :)

So if you're really into EEE, I definitely recommend that you apply for an IEEE Membership.

yunlang.

blogging in class

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:36:00 +0000

Wow, the wonder that is the 802.11a/b/g standard is allowing me to blog while teaching a class! Ok, maybe you'll accuse me of being a very bad teacher if I'm teaching a class and blogging at the same time. Well, in my defense, it is a lab class (EEE 8 - digital circuits I), and all I'm doing is making sure they follow the instructions in the experiment and don't go blowing up sensitive (translation: very old and very expensive) lab equipment. Besides that, I also make sure they follow lab precautions and safety rules.

Today, I finally receive my official appointment from UP Chancellor Sergio Cao. It's really a very slow and bureaucratic process, seeing as I filed my application on the very first day of class. I guess the system is characteristic of virtually all government facilities, very slow and overly systematic.

Still, I am now officially a Teaching Associate of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of UP Diliman. That means, I'll hopefully be receiving my first ever official salary sometime in the near future (plus book allowance). As a consequence of the slow process though, I had to wait a bit to get my first paycheck. Good thing my part-time tutorials in UpLink review center got me through the first two months. Since the UPCAT will be in August, the review will also be over by then. That means, no more extra-income for me. Well, there's always next year if I still need the money. I guess I'll just have to find something else for the meantime.

Well, the class is almost over so I'll be cutting this post short. I still have tons of stuff to do. Some of which are:

Check approximately 200 exam papers from EEE 21 (Switching Theory) - this is really a big headache, not to mention the fact that I have to bear giving failing grades to some. There just isn't enough to grade in some of the answers (some of them are even blank!). It's really hard to fail people you know.
Research on my probable thesis topic - right now, my adviser is suggesting something concerning RFIDs or Radio Frequency IDs (similar to the G-Pass in the mrt)
Studying for Math 211 (Abstract Linear Algebra) - This is the type of math where you won't see any numbers! Just weird looking symbols and all the letters in the Greek alphabet. Honestly, this is the first math subject I've taken in my entire life in which I don't understand almost anything.
Studying for my other MS Subjects - Probability and Wireless Communications
Side-projects - I've got tons of these, but right now their not really ready for public consumption so I'll just blog about them in the future.

All in all, it's really been hardwork every single day, but the fulfillment I get is definitely worth it. I'm really satisfied over how much control I have over what I do with my time. I can even do side-projects that I really want to do and it doesn't conflict with my regular teaching job. They actually complement it.

Right now, I can definitely say that I won't give this up for any high paying job in a corporate office. Still, things can change drastically in the future. I guess I'll just enjoy the present and take it as it comes.

Ok! Back to class. :)

yunlang.

pisay movie trailer

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:46:00 +0000

Not that I'm terribly thrilled about the prospect of a movie about high school life (and geeky students at that), but I guess I should show a little support for my alma mater. :)

Found this trailer of the PISAY movie on youtube:

It's part of cinemalaya and is about high school life in pisay at the time of the EDSA revolution.

Here's the official description from the creator and director, Mr. Auraeus Solito:

Amidst the chaos of Martial Law in this Third World country in the 1980s, eight teenagers in the top high school for the sciences discover themselves as they go through the joys and pains of adolescence. They were the top two hundred students from all over the Philippines who passed the examination for the Philippine Science High School, which was created for the purpose of giving an education highly enriched in the Sciences to exceptionally gifted Filipino children. Selected from the best and brightest from all over the country, they endure college-level courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics from their sophomore year onwards. Those who can make it are hailed as the future science and technology leaders of the New Republic, those who don't are deemed unfortunate victims of natural selection. They all learn however that they are neither isolated from the real world, nor are they exempted from living real lives. They find the world outside, erupting into the People Power revolution in 1986 against the Marcos dictatorship, being replicated within the school as they struggle to graduate, contend with teachers, classmates, family, school officials, and a new classification to segregate students meeting the high standards of excellence from those who do not.

After seeing the trailer, I was kinda struck by the scene with the words "BAYAN MUNA" in the classroom. I remember how all the classrooms in pisay had these words. How ironic. :(

Screening times are here if you want to watch.

yunlang.

a new home for piece of pi

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:38:00 +0000

From now now on, this blog will have a new home on the web at http://blog.urriza.net.

Yes, I finally managed to purchase a domain name of my own (urriza.net), and at a decent price too. Just go to web.com.ph to get one for yourself right now. I thought it would come in handy sometime in the near future, so I went ahead and got one for myself. As of now, it doesn't really have anything yet. I'll be putting some stuff on it soon though.

So for now, just point your bookmarks to blog.urriza.net, my new home on the web. :)

yunlang.

mr. author

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:03:00 +0000

After being referred to this by a few of my high school batchmates, I finally found this:

DOST Sci-Net Phil

Whohoa! I'm even dubbed as main author. Would you look at that! This is our senior research project in high school entitled "SMS.link: Secure Transmission of Data Through SMS". Apparently, DOST is uploading abstracts of researches done under their affiliate organizations, such as Pisay. So for all the Pisay people, try searching for your surnames in the database. :)

Disclaimer:

I am totally NOT the main author of this thing. Mr. Paulo Aromin did most of the authoring (i.e. paper work) and Mr. Mark Punzalan did most of the programming (i.e. technical stuff). I guess I was just the lucky guy who got teamed up with the smart ones.

yunlang.

at summer's end

noreply@blogger.com (isagani) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:27:00 +0000

This is not another review of "Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End", which by the way, I haven't watched. According to The Ninja though, it's not really worth watching. Just a hodgepodge of unrelated plotlines. Can't verify though since I didn't watch it.

Actually, this post is in celebration of the last few days of a very interesting summer (And my 100th post too). Starting tomorrow I will officially leave behind the summer days and start off on my teaching (preparations) work. It's also the start of registration for gradschool. I'll be embarking on another exciting and hopefully enjoyable chapter in life. Really looking forward to being a professional student. And a teacher too, at the same time.

End of summer job

It's not really over, but it will be weekends only from now on. For those who haven't been reading religiously (nobody does I guess :D), I've been working for Uplink Tutorials in Katipunan Ave. as a Math Lecturer. It's was a great experience. Of course I've got no complaints about earning that much too :D. They're very generous regarding paychecks.

New office

Ok, maybe not an office in the traditional sense (i.e. corporate slaveship sense). But, I do have an office now. They've given me some space in the UP DSP Lab faculty room. I have a decent place there with a good table. No complaints about office space since there's only three of us there right now. There's Sir Franz de Leon, Ma'am Dae Unisa, and me. My friend Tanya, another newly appointed teaching associate is staying just across the hall (IML Faculty room).

Lots to do

I've never considered how much work a teacher does in the course of a day. Be assured though, it's a lot. I've got a lot lined up already. Editing lectures, practicing, studying, and a lot more. I hope I can balance it with my studies. What's worse is, it's unpaid work for about 3 more months. I will be paid of course, there will just be a little waiting time as my appointment is processed. So for now, I'll be depending a lot on what I've saved from my summer work (minus what I've spent on my new laptop). I'd just be on a tighter budget for the first 3 months I guess.

BTW... My thanks go out to Ms. Mona Dalagan for making my 5 years late yearbook writeup! Thanks. I owe you one.

Time heals all wounds.

yunlang.