Sunday, November 02, 2003
Things are flaky. Have setup this blogger thing to publish to the fateback account (roytang.sinfree.net), seems to be working fine now. Ressurrected one of the older page layouts and added the pandaren brewmaster! Anyway, I'll also probably most of the website stuff from topcities to fateback, seeing as how topcities has gotten crappy lately with the FTP problem. That is all, back to work...
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Whee...holiday. For those not from the Philippines, All Saints Day and All Souls Day are non-working holidays for us, and the roads are generally jammed anywhere near cemeteries as Filipinos flock to the graveyards to remember their deceased loved ones. Sadly, since my folks are out of town, and I have no idea how to get to the resting place of my grandparents without them, all I can do is say a prayer for them right here. *says a silent prayer*
Anyway, I bought Temple of Elemental Evil today. I hear it's quite buggy though -- I'll wait for a patch before actually playing it. But installing the game allowed me to make a discovery...I'm low on hard disk space! I'm not sure how it happened, since I believe that a week ago I still had some 15 or more gigs of space available, but earlier I was down to 2 Gb. A quick scan told me that there was no disk error involved -- so I decided to chuck some stuff from the PC. Out went Baldur's Gate (I like the game, but I really can't seem to get myself to play it very often) and Neverwinter Nights (yes, it's infinitely replayable given the available modules, but why play mods when there are new full-length games like ToEE available?) After uninstalling these games and getting rid of some old Naruto eps, I was back up to a still-tight-but-healthy 6 gigs.
Well, checking out the disk space led to other stuff, so now I'm resigned to spending the rest of the night cleaning up the stuff on the computer, installing new programs, getting rid of old ones, and lots of other general maintenance work.
Chances are I'll be goofing again in a while though. Just like now...
Anyway, I bought Temple of Elemental Evil today. I hear it's quite buggy though -- I'll wait for a patch before actually playing it. But installing the game allowed me to make a discovery...I'm low on hard disk space! I'm not sure how it happened, since I believe that a week ago I still had some 15 or more gigs of space available, but earlier I was down to 2 Gb. A quick scan told me that there was no disk error involved -- so I decided to chuck some stuff from the PC. Out went Baldur's Gate (I like the game, but I really can't seem to get myself to play it very often) and Neverwinter Nights (yes, it's infinitely replayable given the available modules, but why play mods when there are new full-length games like ToEE available?) After uninstalling these games and getting rid of some old Naruto eps, I was back up to a still-tight-but-healthy 6 gigs.
Well, checking out the disk space led to other stuff, so now I'm resigned to spending the rest of the night cleaning up the stuff on the computer, installing new programs, getting rid of old ones, and lots of other general maintenance work.
Chances are I'll be goofing again in a while though. Just like now...
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Yesterday, at around 6 PM, as I was winding up the day's work, we received a request from the user that they wanted some maintenance work done on one of the more obscure programs. And they needed it the next day! And we still had to have a meeting (we had originally scheduled the meeting for 3:00PM but had to keep pushing it due to stuff coming up) I wanted to reach out across the internet and slap whoever made the maintenance request on the head. End result: Most of us went home a bit before 12, the meeting never pushed through, and I called in for half-day sick leave today because of a freakin' headache.
Monday, October 27, 2003
"If history is to change, let it change!
If the world is to be destroyed, so be it!
If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh."
- Magus, Chrono Trigger
For as long as I have known about it, I have always liked this quote. It speaks of a certain ferocity, a certain stubbornness, a firm, unbending belief that whatever life throws at you, you will be able to not only handle it, but laugh in the face of its absurdity. This is how I would want my life to be; to be able to face any kind of adversity and address it without pause.
Enough rambling, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Roy, and this is my blog. Programmer, engineer, scientist, critic, gamer, dreamer, and kid-at-heart. I always thought I would find it preferable to code my own version of a blog, but time constraints have made me look for a simple, easy-to-use alternative. For now, I guess this blog becomes my main outlet to the internet. (Aside from email of course)
Hmmm...maybe I'll have more to say later. Until then, may the fates be kind to you.
If the world is to be destroyed, so be it!
If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh."
- Magus, Chrono Trigger
For as long as I have known about it, I have always liked this quote. It speaks of a certain ferocity, a certain stubbornness, a firm, unbending belief that whatever life throws at you, you will be able to not only handle it, but laugh in the face of its absurdity. This is how I would want my life to be; to be able to face any kind of adversity and address it without pause.
Enough rambling, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Roy, and this is my blog. Programmer, engineer, scientist, critic, gamer, dreamer, and kid-at-heart. I always thought I would find it preferable to code my own version of a blog, but time constraints have made me look for a simple, easy-to-use alternative. For now, I guess this blog becomes my main outlet to the internet. (Aside from email of course)
Hmmm...maybe I'll have more to say later. Until then, may the fates be kind to you.
Saturday, August 10, 2002
10 Aug 2002
I turned 24 yesterday.
Generally uneventful birthday, as usual. I'm glad I got the whining done in the last post. Spent the night before at David's (whose birthday is a couple of days before mine). Dave, Mon and I played approximately seven hours of CvS2, watched a Jet Li flick then played around eight hours of Warcraft III. WC3 is the bomb! (And it further highlights my craving for a new computer) Anyway, went home the next morning, got some sleep. Then the usual birthday food in the evening, and some new pants.
I had forgotten to go to Church that morning (curse you Warcraft III!!!) so I decided to go to Church this morning. Before going I was stiull a bit down about being a 24-year old bum, but somehow going to Church gave me back a bit of hope. Funny how although I'm not a very good practicing Catholic, a few quiet moments with God are enough to change my perspective on things.
In any case, this is the start of a new year, hopefully one better than the last. I don't know where fate will take me this year, but I will face life with open arms, overcome all challenges and spit in the face of destiny. All things happen for a purpose, hopefully soon i will know mine.
Generally uneventful birthday, as usual. I'm glad I got the whining done in the last post. Spent the night before at David's (whose birthday is a couple of days before mine). Dave, Mon and I played approximately seven hours of CvS2, watched a Jet Li flick then played around eight hours of Warcraft III. WC3 is the bomb! (And it further highlights my craving for a new computer) Anyway, went home the next morning, got some sleep. Then the usual birthday food in the evening, and some new pants.
I had forgotten to go to Church that morning (curse you Warcraft III!!!) so I decided to go to Church this morning. Before going I was stiull a bit down about being a 24-year old bum, but somehow going to Church gave me back a bit of hope. Funny how although I'm not a very good practicing Catholic, a few quiet moments with God are enough to change my perspective on things.
In any case, this is the start of a new year, hopefully one better than the last. I don't know where fate will take me this year, but I will face life with open arms, overcome all challenges and spit in the face of destiny. All things happen for a purpose, hopefully soon i will know mine.
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
07 Aug 2002
I'm pissed off.
Today I went to Ortigas for a job interview with a nameless IT company where my cousin Rachel works. I was quite optimistic too -- the position was for a "Java Trainee." I was more than willing to be trained, and a trainee position meant you didn't have to be proficient in Java right? Turns out I was wrong. =( Apparently
they needed someone with some experience in Java, preferably with a project or two under his belt. I tried to convince the interviewer that I had a lot of raw talent and learn pretty fast anyway, but I haven't got any high hopes. That pissed me off.
Even worse, I had gone to Ortigas with just enough cash to make the trip back and forth. I had left a good two hundred bucks at home 'coz I forgot to pick 'em up and put 'em in my wallet. I was thinking of trying out the arcade version of Capcom vs SNK 2, maybe buying a CD or two. But no! Now I couldn't even grab a bite
on the way home. That pissed me off.
Later that night, my mother was watching "While You Were Sleeping", and I was feeling so depressed I was wondering what would happen if I ended up like Sandra Bullock at the start of the movie -- alone, and working a dead end job as a ticket seller. Sigh
It's not just the fact that I'm still unemployed -- it's been a good nine months now and I've kinda gotten used to that. It's the realization that despite whatever work I've done in school, I can't get a job. It's as if everything I learned in college was useless.
When I was finishing up in UP, everything seemed simple -- I'd graduate and all my troubles would be over. I'd get a job at maybe Canon or Intel, save a bit, buy a new computer and a PS2, et cetera. To tell the truth I was probably spoiled by those
teachers that kept telling us that simply being graduates of the State University was good enough to land a job. I ought to sue those teachers for mental anguish or something. I graduated from one of the hardest course at one of the best universities in the country, and I can't land a job. Gosh darn it all.
After thinking about this, I thought I'd evaluate my own skills to see what could be done. Lemme see, I can do:
Sigh, that's it. Pretty sad, huh? The main problem seems to be most of what I can do is self-taught and relies on my raw talent instead of actual experience. What is it with the world? Why can't they just recognize my genius and overlook my lack of
experience? I learn impossibly fast anyway, anything I don't know I can pick up quickly. Argh.
Oh well, at least now I feel better, having put my thoughts into words. This journal thing is probably really healthy for me. I get to whine without burdening anyone with my problems.
There's still some hope, at least. Sir Louie, the ECE guy Tito Ferry set me up with, said he'd ask around, although he did recommend I learn a few more skills by taking some short courses at APC, an IT school near SM North. I'm a bit hesistant about
that though -- short courses will undoubtedly cost money, and I don't want to bother my parents about cash any more than I have to. It's bad enough I can't help them make ends meet...
Anything else? Lately we've been watching Excel Saga (ridiculosuly funny! Pedro!!!) and Scryed. AXN is showing two new anime series: Ayashi no Ceres and Gensomaden Saiyuki. And they brought back Monday night anime, so more anime all around. Oh
yeah, the A/V cable for our PSX is apparently busted. Which probably explains why I got rather pissed off today. Just when I was gonna get adult Rei back into the party! Without the PSX to distract me, I had no choice but to face my real-world problems
=(
In any case, I guess I have no choice but to keep going and hope for the best. I got a nice quote today from Castaway, from Tom Hanks of all people:
Today I went to Ortigas for a job interview with a nameless IT company where my cousin Rachel works. I was quite optimistic too -- the position was for a "Java Trainee." I was more than willing to be trained, and a trainee position meant you didn't have to be proficient in Java right? Turns out I was wrong. =( Apparently
they needed someone with some experience in Java, preferably with a project or two under his belt. I tried to convince the interviewer that I had a lot of raw talent and learn pretty fast anyway, but I haven't got any high hopes. That pissed me off.
Even worse, I had gone to Ortigas with just enough cash to make the trip back and forth. I had left a good two hundred bucks at home 'coz I forgot to pick 'em up and put 'em in my wallet. I was thinking of trying out the arcade version of Capcom vs SNK 2, maybe buying a CD or two. But no! Now I couldn't even grab a bite
on the way home. That pissed me off.
Later that night, my mother was watching "While You Were Sleeping", and I was feeling so depressed I was wondering what would happen if I ended up like Sandra Bullock at the start of the movie -- alone, and working a dead end job as a ticket seller. Sigh
It's not just the fact that I'm still unemployed -- it's been a good nine months now and I've kinda gotten used to that. It's the realization that despite whatever work I've done in school, I can't get a job. It's as if everything I learned in college was useless.
When I was finishing up in UP, everything seemed simple -- I'd graduate and all my troubles would be over. I'd get a job at maybe Canon or Intel, save a bit, buy a new computer and a PS2, et cetera. To tell the truth I was probably spoiled by those
teachers that kept telling us that simply being graduates of the State University was good enough to land a job. I ought to sue those teachers for mental anguish or something. I graduated from one of the hardest course at one of the best universities in the country, and I can't land a job. Gosh darn it all.
After thinking about this, I thought I'd evaluate my own skills to see what could be done. Lemme see, I can do:
- Embedded software. Since I did two thesis-level projects involving embedded software, I reckon I'm fairly good at this. The problem is that I've only come across one job opportunity where this skill would be useful, and I never got a callback (and
I thought it was a pretty good job for me too.) - Programming. This would be great, until I acknowledge that while I'm a programming genius, I don't actually have any application-level programming experience under my belt. I'm good a coding, optimizing programs, finding solutions to tough problems, but I've never been part of a large-scale software project, even though I could probably do it all myself, in theory.
- Web Development. I know HTML and various scripting languages, can use Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash, what can't I do? The problem comes up again: I know it all in theory, but lack the experience. It's not like I'm churning out webpages at a dime a
dozen, and most places looking for web developers ask for some level of experience. Curses. - Write. Or at least I like to think I can. But it doesn't sound very profitable to be writing for a living...
Sigh, that's it. Pretty sad, huh? The main problem seems to be most of what I can do is self-taught and relies on my raw talent instead of actual experience. What is it with the world? Why can't they just recognize my genius and overlook my lack of
experience? I learn impossibly fast anyway, anything I don't know I can pick up quickly. Argh.
Oh well, at least now I feel better, having put my thoughts into words. This journal thing is probably really healthy for me. I get to whine without burdening anyone with my problems.
There's still some hope, at least. Sir Louie, the ECE guy Tito Ferry set me up with, said he'd ask around, although he did recommend I learn a few more skills by taking some short courses at APC, an IT school near SM North. I'm a bit hesistant about
that though -- short courses will undoubtedly cost money, and I don't want to bother my parents about cash any more than I have to. It's bad enough I can't help them make ends meet...
Anything else? Lately we've been watching Excel Saga (ridiculosuly funny! Pedro!!!) and Scryed. AXN is showing two new anime series: Ayashi no Ceres and Gensomaden Saiyuki. And they brought back Monday night anime, so more anime all around. Oh
yeah, the A/V cable for our PSX is apparently busted. Which probably explains why I got rather pissed off today. Just when I was gonna get adult Rei back into the party! Without the PSX to distract me, I had no choice but to face my real-world problems
=(
In any case, I guess I have no choice but to keep going and hope for the best. I got a nice quote today from Castaway, from Tom Hanks of all people:
"I know now I have to keep on breathing. Because the sun will rise tomorrow, and you never know what the tide will bring."
Wednesday, July 03, 2002
03 Jul 2002
Sometimes my still being unemployed depresses me greatly (Although my periods of depression typically last no more than thirty minutes.)
The biggest problem in my job-hunting woes is the fact that the type of job I want varies greatly from what I have training in. I want to be involved in IT or programming, but I don't have a lot of the skills necessary to succeed in those fields. I will probably always regret not shifting to Computer Science or even Computer Engineering early on in college. If I had I would've probably had a much easier time.
In any case, I'm going for an interview with Texas instruments on Friday. The job is not an optimum one for me -- I don't really want to work as a product engineer although I am qualified. (Heck the chances of my being accepted are probably too small for me to even consider -- I have the requirements but I'm sure a lot more qualified people will be applying. I'll have to wow 'em with my incorrigible attitude). But the pay is probably good, it involves overseas training and if I get accepted it'll mean I have something to do in the meantime as I try to earn the skills needed for a job that I _would_ enjoy.
Hopefully the TI guys never read this. O_o
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