Your next computer might be your very own coffeetable.

 

Microsoft unveils Surface, its surface computing technology. Is it cool, or IS IT COOL?

CRS Second Round Results

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
07:00 AM – 08:15 AM	Math 54 MTHFQ3	Math 54 MTHFQ3		Math 54 MTHFQ3	Math 54 MTHFQ3
08:15 AM – 08:30 AM
08:30 AM – 10:00 AM		CS 21 TFRU			CS 21 TFRU
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM	Geog 1 MHU2	CS 21 TFRU		Geog 1 MHU2	CS 21 TFRU
11:30 AM – 01:00 PM		CWTS1 – EnggCS TFV			CWTS1 – EnggCS TFV
01:00 PM – 02:00 PM	Physics 71 MTHFI	Physics 71 MTHFI		Physics 71 MTHFI	Physics 71 MTHFI
02:00 PM – 02:30 PM
02:30 PM – 03:00 PM		FA 30 Z			FA 30 Z
03:00 PM – 04:00 PM		FA 30 Z	PE 2 BW-D WKL		FA 30 Z
04:00 PM – 05:00 PM			PE 2 BW-D WKL

I’m officially done preenlisting/enlisting!

BEWARE: Malware posing as Windows product activation

On an entry posted on the Windows Genuine Advantage blog, the WGA team warned of a trojan posing as a Windows product activation dialog. It targets all flavors of Windows XP.

The trojan is Trojan.Kardphisher [Symantec]. When the dialog is displayed, it asks for your credit card information, which if you do not provide (by pressing Cancel), your computer will be shutdown immediately.

 

While not a technically sophisticated approach, this Trojan relies on a social engineering tactic to trick consumers into providing credit card and other personal data. Because of situations like this Microsoft recommends that people be very cautious about revealing personal and financial information online. When in doubt, customers can learn more about our activation and validation programs at Microsoft.com (www.microsoft.com/genuine or www.microsoft.com/howtotell ) or call Microsoft’s customer service line directly (800) MICROSOFT (642-7676). You can also head over to www.microsoft.com/protect, which includes info on how to protect yourself from this type of online threat.

Coin toss breaks tie in Bontoc town council race

Source: INQUIRER.net

BONTOC, Mountain Province, Philippines – Two candidates for councilor here tied for the eighth and last place and an election officer suggested they flip a coin to determine the winner.

Are you joking? Stunned poll watchers asked Mary Umaming, municipal election supervisor, after she made the proposal.

People at the crowded municipal hall, where the tabulation took place, burst into laughter when Umaming readied the P5 coin for flipping. This eased the tension among the candidates and their supporters.

“The people were not expecting that tossing a coin was an option to break the tie. The people were laughing and asking me, ‘Are you joking?’ Umaming told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Tossing a coin to break a tie might sound odd for voters but Umaming said this method was included in the Commission on Elections’ guidelines.

Aside from flipping a coin, another option was drawing lots to break the tie, she said.

The two candidates who were vying for the last slot were Brian Bellang, chief of the village of Alab here, and Benjamin Ngeteg, an incumbent municipal councilor of Bontoc.

Bellang, 37, a neophyte politician, chose heads and won.

“At first it was hard to explain the feeling when I won (through coin-tossing) but I was happy that I won,” he said.

Bellang said the exercise was fair for him and his contender.

“We talked about it when the coin-flipping was proposed to us. We both agreed to give way to each other. He is a relative after all. It was a gentleman’s agreement,” he said.

But for residents here, election was a time when tossing money for vote-buying was not a laughing matter.

Fr. Marion Buyagawan, chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-National Movement for Free Elections in the Mt. Province, said vote-buying was so rampant, some residents called the May 14 elections the dirtiest in the province’s history.

“We had no culture of vote-buying before. But because of too much poverty, it was done. In the past, we elected our leaders according to their wisdom and integrity … Modern politics has changed some practices,” Buyagawan lamented.

In the village of Maligcong here, a woman cried when she was forced to take money. “Why are you forcing me to take this money? Are you forcing me to sell my vote,” she was overheard saying.

In the village of Balugan in Sagada town, elders on Tuesday night talked about how to eliminate vote-buying after a teacher allegedly distributed money given by a mayoral candidate.

Stickers with the message “We may be poor but we do not sell/buy votes” were posted at the Bontoc town center.

Batangas Election Update

Update 4 (May 22): Added winner for Lipa City Vice-Mayoralty Race. (I still can’t find sources for the Local Council race winners in Lipa).

Update 5 (May 22): Updated Vice-Gubernatorial race tallies to reflect final COMELEC tally. Leviste’s proclamation was suspended by COMELEC, so I wouldn’t say he won the race yet. Source: COMELEC, through Inquirer.net.

Gubernatorial Race: Santos-Recto, Rosa Vilma -winner

Vice-Gubernatorial Race (COMELEC, final tally):

1. Leviste Jose Antonio “Mark” II – 334,847 votes
2. Ermita, Edwin – 316,578 votes
3. De Leon, Christopher – 150,817 votes
4. Bustamante, Praxedes – 2,006 votes
5. Magsombol, Fortunata – 665 votes

Congressional Race, 2nd District: Mandanas, Hermilando – winner

Congressional Race, 4th District: Mendoza, Mark Llandro – winner

Mayoralty Race, Batangas City: Dimacuha, Eduardo – winner

Vice-Mayoralty Race, Batangas City: Tolentino, Jose – winner

Local Council Race, Batangas City: in no particular order

• Dimacuha, Nestor – winner
• Aclan, Manuel - winner
• Cruz, Renato – winner
• De Loyola-Portugal, Eloisa – winner
• Atienza, Carmela – winner
• Mariño, Mario Vittorio – winner
• Dela Roca, Gerardo – winner
• Ambida, Ricardo -winner
• Faytaren-Macaraig, Luisa – winner
• Villena, Julian – winner

Mayoralty Race, Lipa City: Gozos, Oscar – winner

Vice-Mayoralty Race, Lipa City: Lopez, Lydio – winner

Local Council Race, Lipa City: coming soon

CRS First Round Results

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
07:00 AM – 08:15 AM	Math 54 MTHFQ3	Math 54 MTHFQ3		Math 54 MTHFQ3	Math 54 MTHFQ3
08:15 AM – 10:00 AM
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM	Geog 1 MHU2			Geog 1 MHU2
11:30 AM – 01:00 PM		CWTS1 – EnggCS TFV			CWTS1 – EnggCS TFV
01:00 PM – 02:00 PM	Physics 71 MTHFI	Physics 71 MTHFI		Physics 71 MTHFI	Physics 71 MTHFI
02:00 PM – 02:30 PM
02:30 PM – 03:00 PM		FA 30 Z			FA 30 Z
03:00 PM – 04:00 PM		FA 30 Z	PE 2 BW-D WKL		FA 30 Z
04:00 PM – 05:00 PM			PE 2 BW-D WKL

I didn’t get CS 21 MHXY. Bummer. I’ve preenlisted on CS 21 TFRU to try my luck there.

Mukhang ako lang ang makakapaglakas-loob na sabihing, “Salamat, CRS!”

If I were a voter…

… I’d vote for:

• Senators:
  • Angara, Edgardo (Ed)
  • Aquino, Benigno Simeon III (Noynoy)
  • Arroyo, Joker (Joker)
  • Coseteng, Anna Dominique (Nikki)
  • Defensor, Michael (Tol)
  • Escudero, Francis Joseph (Chiz)
  • Honasan, Gregorio (Gringo)
  • Lacson, Panfilo (Ping)
  • Legarda, Loren (Loren)
  • Recto, Ralph (Korecto)
  • Roco, Sonia (Inang Guro)
  • Sotto, Vicente III (Tito)
• Congressman/ Representative: Mandanas, Hermilando
• Governor: Santos-Recto, Vilma
• Vice-Governor: Ermita, Edwin
• Mayor: Dimacuha, Eduardo
• Vice-Mayor: Tolentino, Joe

Haha no hi omedetou!

Today is Haha no hi, or Mother’s Day! Don’t forget to greet your okasan!

I am a Concrete Thinker!

Jayjay, your IQ score is 125

Your overall intelligence quotient is the result of a scientifically-tested formula based on how many questions you answered correctly. But it’s only part of what we learned about you from your answers on the test. We also determined the way you process information.

The way you think about things makes you a Concrete Thinker. This means your intelligence is grounded in a clear understanding of what is happening around you. In situations where others are confused, things are crystal clear to you. In addition, you have the unusual combination of strong verbal and numerical skills. You are able to solve equations and then use your verbal skills to explain those solutions to others.

How did we determine that your thinking style is that of a Concrete Thinker? When we examined your test results further, we analyzed how you scored on 8 dimensions of intelligence: spatial, organizational, abstract reasoning, logical, mechanical, verbal, visual and numerical. The 3 dimensions you scored highest on combine to make you a Concrete Thinker. Only 6 out of 1,000 people have this rare combination of abilities.

I want to be a scientist when I grow up?

You’re likely to find fame and fortune in the Scientific World
What’s Your Fame and Fortune?
Brought to you by Tickle

Talk about inventive! You’re one of those people who has a special way of seeing a problem, wrapping your head around it, and squeezing out a solution that’s nothing but pure genius. So what if you never won at the science fair (but congrats if you did). The fact is, you have a mind made for experimenting. You enjoy a mental challenge and like creating — whether it’s a new invention for the sake of invention or something that solves people’s more immediate problems.

Don’t have crazy hair like Einstein? Don’t know a Bunsen burner from a test tube? No sweat. Maybe you’ll discover a cure for cancer. Maybe you’ll be the first human to set foot on Mars. Or maybe you’ll figure out how to safely make landfills evaporate.

Whatever you do, with a brain like yours, you’re bound for scientific greatness. So get going! Fame and fortune await! The world’s still waiting for someone to create that triple-chocolate, fudge, ice cream cake with zero calories! Or shoelaces that don’t fray at the ends, or headphones that automatically adjust for outside noise factors, or rainproof-breathable fleece, or…

Mikaela Fudolig Podcast Online.

You can listen to her speech, and other speeches online at the UP Diliman Podcast Channel’s Pagtatapos ‘07 Coverage Web site.

Trying out Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

I’ve downloaded a copy of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (which is free, by the way) and installed Windows 98 onto a virtual machine. I missed that operating system. I can’t believe how fast it ran on only 40MB of allocated RAM (by comparison, Windows XP demands at least 128MB of RAM to run as smoothly).

Hey, I missed that bluescreen thing too! Oh, yes. It bluescreened. It’s during times like this that you somehow appreciate the stability of the NT kernel, the one used in Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista (tidbit: XP is NT Version 5.1, while Vista is NT Version 6). I’m glad they scrapped that buggy 9x kernel long ago.