vaes9

2007: June

Reader’s Tip for Harry Potter Book 7

6:15 pm PHT

If you are a serious Harry Potter reader who will be unable to read the last Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) within the first two days of its release and you don’t want to be spoiled, then don’t meet fellow Harry Potter fanatics, don’t watch TV, don’t listen to the radio, don’t read the newspapers, and don’t surf the web until you get to read the last book.

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Proper Name Etymology Game

1:34 pm PHT

Let’s all have a slightly nerdy game this time. What is the longest chain of proper name etymology that you can think of? Here’s an example: One San Miguel Avenue (the building) is named after San Miguel Avenue in Ortigas, which is then named after San Miguel Corporation (whose headquarters is along the previously mentioned avenue), which is named after Archangel Michael. That makes a chain of four links.

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Globe and Google Earth

10:47 am PHT

Have you seen those recent Globe TV commercials that featured Kim Atienza on location? I noticed that they showed a map of the Philippines and zoomed in on the locations where the “reporter” was. I suspected that Globe used Google Earth to create those zooming scenes and I only became definitely sure when they zoomed into the satellite image of an under-construction Market! Market! in Taguig in one of their commercials.

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The Making of Lakbayan (Part 2)

6:26 pm PHT

Here’s the second part of the story behind Lakbayan. You should also read the first part or the launch blog entry if you haven’t done so.

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The Making of Lakbayan (Part 1)

3:41 pm PHT

As promised, here’s the follow-up post for those interested in the technical and behind the scenes details of Lakbayan. This goes out especially to all those people who have been asking me how I implemented the grading system.

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Swerving?!

1:58 am PHT

So as I was driving home from work along EDSA Extension in Pasay early this night, I switched lanes from the one that goes into a U-turn slot to the straight-ahead route. (See the location in Google Maps.) Immediately after, I was pulled over by one of the Pasay City traffic enforcers that were manning the U-turn slot. He charged me with committing swerving. I protested calmly but vehemently saying that what I did was not swerving. I have read before that there’s really no such violation as swerving (a real related violation is reckless driving, but I wasn’t at all reckless) so I was prepared to fight it.

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Three Years of vaes9

11:31 pm PHT

I expected that my recently launched Lakbayan application would become viral and really popular but I was still overwhelmed by the response. I almost did nothing with my free time except to tweak the application and manage the popularity.

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Lakbayan: How Much of the Philippines Have You Visited?

1:31 am PHT

Today is the 109th anniversary of the Philippine Declaration of Independence and I’m celebrating it by launching the beta version of Lakbayan! See how much of the Philippines you have visited! To whet your appetite and give you a preview of what to expect, my personal result is shown below.

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Feels Great to be Pinoy

11:27 pm PHT

I’ve been tagged by Rico over a week ago with Marc’s meme and I’ve finally decided to write my thoughts about the topic down. Despite many things that are embarrassing about this country, I’m still proud to be a Filipino and I’m still not considering migrating to “greener pastures” despite others saying that my talents and intellect would be wasted here.

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B.S. Engineering!?

9:55 pm PHT

Apparently, Melanie, Claudine Barretto’s character in the ABS-CBN soap opera Walang Kapalit, is taking B.S. Engineering in college. Not B.S. Civil Engineering, not B.S. Chemical Engineering, not B.S. Electrical Engineering, not B.S. Mechanical Engineering, but the plain yet non-existent B.S. Engineering. How can I tell? She’s studying books on structural engineering, electromagnetics, and software engineering. And all these books are thick, meaning they’re not introductory-level material.

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New Google Earth Satellite Imagery for June 2007

2:53 pm PHT

As anticipated by Google Earth enthusiasts, Google has updated its public satellite imagery in Google Earth (see the announcement). I checked in Google Earth and it seems that in the Philippines, only one new Digital Globe image was added: Honda Bay in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Shown below is the world-class Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island Resort in Palawan.

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