Cloudy

Posted on June 7, 2013 by

It’s been quite cloudy lately, and I don’t mean the weather. Rather, I’m pointing at that giant virtual cloud that is slowly engulfing all of us. Has anyone imagined things to be the way they are lately, in terms of online sharing, storage, and information processing?

Have you ever read the short story of Isaac Asimov entitled “The Last Question”? It was written in 1956, and I was first able to read it when I was still in high school, in the late 90′s. Interesting enough, Asimov in the 50′s seemed to have a foreshadowing of the future, part of which we are in right now. The “computer” that Asimov repeatedly described in his short story across time seem to describe the actual development of our computing and intelligence systems, from the initial massive independent computer comprised of vacuum tubes, to what has become the Internet right now – a massive, interconnected cloud of data and information gathered from the different parts of the world. Try reading through the story and you can see the parallelisms with the development of technology.

I am of the generation that has experienced the beginning of personal computing – big personal computers that featured black screens with green characters. The operating system was MSDOS that ran from a 5 1/4″ floppy disk. You needed two floppy disk drives so that the second one can run your software. Files were saved and shared via diskettes. Eventually, storage improved, and things such as hard drives, compact disks, external hard drives, USB thumb drives, and compact memory cards emerged. Parallel with these was the emergence of the Internet. I can still remember how I used it then, connecting via dial-up, going online to use my email, instant messenger (ICQ), and chat rooms (MIRC). There weren’t too much information online yet, no blogs or social networks. As Internet connection started improving and the access became easier, a wealth of information started collecting online almost at lightning speed. Now, almost everything can be found and done online – music, movies, booking of airline and hotels, shopping, and even online courses. It really changed the way we live our lives. Then, there was the advent of mobile computing, and now almost anyone can access the Internet wherever they are.

I have realized how much of my daily life now involves cloud computing and cloud storage:

  • I am writing the draft of this blog on my Evernote. It’s a virtual notebook, with everything stored in the cloud. Of course, it’s secure and private, and only I can access what I write. My Evernote notebook is also accessible across my different devices (iPad, iPhone, laptop, desktop), and can be accessed using a browser on any computer (as long as I login with my username and password). I use it for almost anything – notes, blog drafts, shopping lists, task lists, etc.
  • There are four online storages that my laptop and mobile devices are all connected to – Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, and SkyDrive. Almost all of my files are safely stored online. The reason why I did this is because I have already encountered several occurrences when my external hard drive or laptop or desktop crashed, and there was no way to recover the data anymore. At least in the cloud, I am sure that my data is safe from instant unintended annihilation.
  • I am pretty happy with Google’s online services – Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, among others. They are so amazingly efficient in the things that need getting done every day. Google Drive even allows you to create, edit, and upload documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, albeit still with limited features. Nonetheless, it’s a perfect way to collaboratively work on documents with other people, online, and in real time.
  • There are still a number of other cloud-based applications I periodically use, most of which I can’t remember or enumerate at the moment.

Interesting to note how cloudy my life has been, in terms of my activities connected to the cloud. I am somehow an advocate to exploring the possible uses for it for our personal and professional lives, to be able to seize the opportunities that they present to us.

We could only imagine how much more our technologies will change our lives in the near and far future in terms of the way we do things, we access and share information, we store and transcribe history.

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More Poetry

Posted on May 31, 2013 by

I did not plan or intend to have one after the other… it just happened. Seems like my poetry muses came home with me and stayed a bit longer. I also encountered an inspiration that gave that motivation to write. There are words we wish we could say directly, thoughts we wish we could convey, but sometimes we can only muster to do so through songs or poetry…

Could it be,
that you and I are one and the same
before the beginning of time?
Or are you just a shooting star passing by my system,
a beautiful tangent of our lives meeting at least once,
but perhaps never to meet again?

Should it matter now?
All I know is that you’ve made my heart smile
and skip a bit even for just a short while.

And though I can wish so hard that our universe unite,
my wish will only dissolve
as a soft whisper into the vastness of space…

Yet forever frozen in memory,
that shared time and being,
you and I.

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Stars

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

I haven’t been with my poetry muses for quite some time, but I did have a visit lately while I was aboard a plane. I just had to write down the words that flowed out…

STARS

Flying in the purgatory of the night sky
There are stars below me, and stars on high
And not quite do I comprehend why
The farther one is from me
The less its significance seem to be
Yet billions of light years away
A thousand times brighter than the sun
Those stars seem to shine through
And no matter how distant I am from earth
Things remain what they are made of

Come to think of it, from stardust we are made
Remnants of those old explosions of long-forgotten stars
Same soup from which the universe is made
So far apart and yet the same
Beauty, magic, and wonder combined

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Digital Security

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

It’s really nice to know and realise that most established digital and online companies and services are seriously considering and putting good security measures in place.

Lately I’ve heard a lot of stories about several separate instances when iPhones or iPads were recovered because of their “Find my iPhone” feature. I have the same installed on my iPhone and iPad, and I’ve explored its capabilities, but luckily I have not personally needed to use it. But stories I’ve heard of stolen iPhones recovered because of this were really great to hear. There was even one story that the gadget was recovered a month after, and it was found with someone who already purchased the stolen phone.

Seeing a lot of online security in place is really great too. I know of a lot of yahoo mail accounts hacked all the time, and I’ve noticed how poorly they have their security and spam filters in place. Several friends and colleagues have had problems with their yahoo accounts, sometimes even to the point of not being able to access their account again.

I am very happy with my gmail, which I’ve been using perhaps for almost a decade. They really have good spam filters and security in place. Just today, it asked me to verify my mobile account, supposedly so that it can prompt me just in case there are suspicious activities on my account. Also, did you know that you can check the details of all your login activity for the account? They are able to track and report which gadgets and browsers you have used, which area (country) the access was done, and when.

Facebook security is good too. They have security measures in place that send alerts to your email when your account is accessed through a new device, or if your password has been entered incorrectly several times. Alerts are a good way of providing security. I’ve seen this on several online services I’ve tried, and it is really useful because you are made aware immediately if there is a possible security breach in your account, and it may be possible to do something about it at once.

Have you noticed that a lot of online services are now requiring stronger passwords with a combination of numbers, and letters in both uppercase and lowercase? This is important because this proposed combination makes it more difficult for (ro)bots to try and decode your passwords, because this increases the number of possible combinations perhaps a hundred thousand times (not sure about the actual number right now, so don’t quote me on this). It’s challenging though to have several different passwords for our so many different accounts online. It’s also a little bit insecure to have a list of these passwords somewhere (because of the risk that someone might find it). My personal solution to this challenge is to have a “family” or “families” of passwords, which are interrelated. They are usually sentences or phrases, sometimes revolving around some themes. This is helpful because even if you forget your actual password, you only have a small personal collection of possible combinations based on these. Don’t make your themes too obvious though for people who know you.

One more thing on passwords. Make sure that your computer password/s are far different from all your other passwords online. This is just my personal take, and the reason behind this is because there may be instances when you will need to have someone else (a friend, family member, or relative) access your device and you have to give the password. At least you will have the confidence to give your password without revealing all other passwords in your digital life. Actually for me, my sister knows my personal laptop and desktop login passwords, I trust her and she can access it anytime. My password for my work laptop is different, and I am ready to share this to colleagues if needed (e.g. if I am on leave and they need to get important files from my device).

It is good to know, be aware of, and be familiar with these different online and digital security measures so that we can protect our valuable accounts, information, and property.

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No regrets

Posted on April 8, 2013 by

I have this one friend who I met as one of our exhibit designers for The Mind Museum. When I met her, she was still a student of UP Fine Arts, or perhaps just recently graduated then. Of course, a lot has happened since then, and she became a friend. She also now works as a professional makeup artist.

There was this one time I was out with her and friends, and I could never forget a thought she told us. She realized while working on designing exhibits that she hated doing technical drawings. She didn’t enjoy doing the CAD and 3D drawings needed in the process. She says she didn’t regret working on those exhibit designs, because it made her realise the things she did not like or enjoy doing. Because of that realization, she was drawn to what she’s doing now – makeup. She didn’t need to do all those orthographic, CAD and 3D drawings to be able to do her craft now, but she’s still creating beautiful masterpieces on her clients’ faces.

Her thoughts stuck with me much more than she may realise. It’s a wonderful way of looking at things, of dealing with mistakes, wrong choices, or undesirable situations in our lives. It’s an ingenious, “no regrets” way of thinking.

We make mistakes, make wrong choices along the way. Sometimes the “right choices” do not work out. But instead of feeling hopeless and negative about it, we can just take them as life lessons. Failed relationships teach us how we are in relationship, and a little bit more on the types of people who match or do not match us. We learn about the things that we’re supposed to do more of and what we should avoid. Wrong career decisions point us back to what we really want to do, and we will hopefully know how to make better choices the next time.

Perhaps the important part of everything is knowing how to recognize the lessons that each “challenging situation” pose, and keeping these lessons to heart. This ensures that we move forwards and onwards, make better choices along the way, and not make the same mistakes again.

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Dear Charity

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

Dear Charity,

Do you remember this? blue day book–>

It’s the blue day book you gave me many years ago. Yes, I still have it, and I found it lately whilst sorting through my stuff. Even many years after, many thanks for it, not just for that tiny booklet, but for the short but sweet message in the end.

Do you still remember that fateful day that we met? It was the first day of our freshman year in college. We were still so young, and so carefree. Don’t you miss being like that, like 17 again, and so enthusiastic and open to the world? I do remember being the first one to approach and talk to you, how lucky was I that we were seatmates during the the first day of freshman orientation. In all honesty, the me you met during that time is the real me, no pretensions.

How I miss being like that, just being very open to everyone around me. So many things have happened since. Many people have judged and treated me wrongly, taken my friendliness out of context. Bit by bit, with every disappointing moment that people have mistaken my friendliness for a desperate call for attention, I withdrew from the world and built my own shell that grew thicker with every passing moment.

Thank you for that little note in that tiny booklet that reminded me of how I used to be. I wish I can become like that again. Perhaps it is possible, since once upon a time I was so happy and enthusiastic about meeting and interacting with new people around me. I wish I can start trusting people again. I wish I can start trusting and entrusting myself to other people again.

I wish you love and happiness always. Know that even though we may have not seen each other a long time, my friendship for you remains in my heart.

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My road to Easter

Posted on March 31, 2013 by

Here is one of those rare times I’m writing about my faith and my beliefs.

Happy Easter to everyone! And indeed, I waited until the Easter Sunday before I send out my joyous greetings. I never quite knew before that in other countries and cultures, Easter is just a celebration on its own. I hear them in other places in the world celebrating Easter quite earlier in the week. However for me, Easter has always been the highest and most wonderful conclusion to the Holy Week, the remembrance of the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Far from the usual Holy Week from my childhood that I always spent away from the city in the quietness of my grandmother’s province, the past few years has been spent just in the city, but just as quietly. After all, maybe almost half of the city population leave for the province or vacations during the long holiday from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday.

This year, I was fortunate to have attended the Holy Week Triduum Retreat at the Loyola Schools (Ateneo De Manila). The retreat was comprised of three half-day sessions, held on the mornings of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday. The retreat directors were Fr. Jose Mari Francisco, S.J., Fr. Manuel Francisco, S.J. (more popularly known as Fr. Manoling), and Rev. Chester A. Yacub, S.J. (yet to be ordained in the coming month).

Three topics on the three different days. The first day was focused on The Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet, directly connected to the liturgy of Maundy Thursday. The second day was focused on the meaning of the Resurrection, more linked to Easter Sunday. The third day was about the Faith Journey of Saint Peter the apostle. I will not expound on each of the three topics, but would rather share with you my overall takeaway from the three-day retreat.

Perhaps my biggest lesson and realization is the truth of my humanity. I am human, I should acknowledge that I am incomplete and imperfect. God does not expect me to be perfect, and that’s why he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to personally experience and truly become part of humanity. In all our pain and suffering, he has already suffered with us, through his death and dying on the cross. It is not only in is resurrection, but all through his incarnation as human, his passion, suffering, and death, that He showed that God’s love for humankind is enduring and victorious.

I have been always been afraid of making mistakes and being wrong. This fear had held me hostage from truly being and becoming. I am reminded that “We are not in control of our lives”. And yet, imperfect as I may be, I am also reminded that “God believes in me”, in all that I am and all that I can be.

And the most powerful thought I took from the entire three days: “If I allow myself to be overcome by fear, shame, loathing, envy, insecurity, or self-love, then I am hindered from truly loving and serving.”

I’m hoping to truly embody this – to open myself beyond fear of my own imperfection, to allow myself to truly love and to truly serve, to be the person that God believes that I am and I can be.

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