Marvin Trilles

Image from www.october212015.com October 21, 2015, Major League Baseball, Hollywood. What is the connection? If you have a great childhood and grew up in the 80's when new wave and disco music was the thing, you must have watch a bunch of futuristic movies from Hollywood. I remember a bunch of them and Star Wars and Back To The Future made the top of my list. Before I'll skip Star Wars for now, have you seen the trailer for the new movie due by December? If not, check it out on this link after reading this post.

Image courtesy of http://www.digitalesq.com/ Cyber-bullying is defined as  the willful and repeated use of cell phones, computers, and other electronic communication devices to harass and threaten others. With the advent of social media, the incidents has increased in numbers and the victims does not even know what is hitting them. For the past years, we have heard of  depressions and deaths because of this. Yet, there has never been a strong drive to increase public awareness and promote support groups to help victims outside of the schools.  Campaigns and programs has never gained mainstream presence enough to make an impact.

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day. It is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated every 17th of March. The celebration was named after Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Having said that, it is therefore a tradition associated with everything Irish : green and  shamrock.  Why on March 17th ? Most of the reading would point us into one logical reason, it is the day that St. Patrick died.  Why  Irish ? The tradition started in Ireland. The Irish people credit him to bringing Christianity in the country. What about the shamrock ? Shamrock is the national flower of Ireland. The story states that St. Patrick used the flower to explain the concept of Holy Trinity to the pagans. Why green and gold? History says that in Ireland the Catholics are represented by green and Protestants are of orange, being a Catholic Saint green was used. The day is celebrated with a lot of green - green hats, green beers and green leprechauns.

Image Source; www.techcrunch.com Should software developers or anyone working on similar fields pay for the "Apps" they use? Legally speaking, if the software is for a price, anyone who intends to use it must buy the software. Of course we all know this is never a common reality. I will not go into discussing  corporate  non sense and go into details of complicated licensing schemes being offered by , often times, greedy software companies. Let's focus into what they call,  the "Apps". These  simple yet entertaining and(sometimes)  useful software has kicked off to become a worldwide commodity, thanks to the ever expanding smart phone industry. Unlike big productivity suites offered by large money-sucking companies, most of these "apps" are startups trying to make a name in the industry. Of course we know some who went on and hit big time with a highly addictive app. Others were eventually bought by bigger companies. That's the idea of...

A few years ago , I wrote about the concept of singleton and eventually mentioned the term "Resign Patterns" in the process.  In the realm of software engineering, design pattern is a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem within a given context in  software design. Similarly, resignation has been a general solution to a commonly occurring problem within a workplace.  Having only passed two resignation letters since I started working, clearly shows that I was never a fan of this solution. However, it does not mean that I am not fascinated by it and that my mind is not cheerfully entertaining and  playing with the idea of bidding goodbye to my bosses at some point.

The advent of the MP3 format made music more portable. Add the technology to support it, you have a legion of earphone/headphone addicts roaming everywhere. Back to the days of cassette tapes, Sonys' Walkman seems to be the in-thing. Then came the mini-CD players then Steve Jobs. Everybody else knows what MP3 is. Everywhere you see people sporting their own portable MP3/music players.

.. i will learn new things, perhaps play a new instrument or go back to school. .. i will find beauty on the open source community. .. i will read more books and listen to more music. .. i will pen more poems and possibly write more songs. .. i will go for new distances and discover new terrains. .. i will continue to pile running miles to stay fit and healthy. .. i will strive to be free and make myself available to unknown future. .. i will go out of my shell more often and be socially more open. .. i will continue to grow and go with the changes of time. .. i will be more patient and hopeful to things that may not even be possible. .. i will be a better son, brother and more importantly a better father. .. i will be closer with the great beyond. .. i will continue to repair , refactor and upgrade myself to become a better version of me.

As I write this blog,  millions of Filipino rock fanatics may have already known what happens after 12:00 midnight tonight. The only surviving station that caters to the rock genre will, sadly, be closing down and permanently signing off tonight. The news came to late to enjoy every second of what is left.  The sad news came to me the last week of October.  Being a follower of the station, I never believed it at first. But online resources would say the station really is nearing its demise.  With several minutes to go, it will be dead air.

Francis "Kiko" Magalona October 4, 1964 - March 6, 2009 salamat sa impluwensya salamat sa ala ala salamat sa musika paalam Francis Magalona isa kang malaking kawalan sa musikang pilipino

Im starting 2009 with a blog on foods. Since my 4 months voluntary exile in the US (hahaha), I started cooking ( full time! ) so Google is my cookbook and I am the chef ( sort of ). Yesterday , I was looking forward for another experiment on the kitchen lab (it gets messy sometimes) . What I have ? Pork belly , Chinese Okra , Squash . I was having doubts on whether the Chinese Okra is the same thing as the vegetable I know from the province , "kabatiti" . So after searching for "kabatiti" on the net , Google returned some informative links on some Ilocano Foods which made my day . Listed below are some Ilocano food worth mentioning . Abrao or Inabrao - assorted seasonal vegetables, typically malunggay, and that quintessentially Ilocano vegetable, saluyot, boiled in a bagoong and fish broth Ipon—tiny fish in season during the cold months Poki-Poki (also poqui-poqui), an innocent omelet made of eggplant sautéed with garlic, onions, tomatoes, and eggs Kabat...

Here is a funny picture I got from a website (I don't remember the name , mr. image owner thank you ) , showing us where geeks came from . Enjoy and have a Happy New Year .

Being away from the Philippines for almost a month now somewhat changed the way I go by everyday. Missing those close to you , your family , the lutong ulams , the busy street of the metro, colorum fx , jeepneys, the fort bus , cool and uncool OPM music on every radio, the endless competition of ABS and GMA and unlimited texting will get into your nerves somehow . What you see here are different , no sari sari stores just walmarts and targets, no cdrkings or greenhills or gilmore what you have are circuitcity or tigerdirect or radisoshacks , the closes to filipino foods are the chinese restaurants and where oriental shops the grand asia market is the alternative to american oriented grocery stores. Good thing the internet has not changed a bit , YMs and Chikka are still available , Yahoos and Googles are still your best friend and torrents are still your best resource (hahaha). This is where nosebleeds are a common sight , not because of fist fights but more on communicating with fast...

After months of hype and excitement, the Pacquiao vs Dela Hoya match came to an end with a big bang for Filipinos. The Pacman won , with no question, and once again proved to the world that he is the best pound for pound boxer today. Congratulations Manny Pacquaio . You made us feel that we should be proud being a Filipino.

A US Visa at last, just B1 to be exact but somewhat fulfilling . After several hours of anxiety and waiting for a make or break interview with the consul , I nailed it. It came after several weeks of document preparation of course . So here are some tips that I gained from the experience which may help : 1. Take time to read the instructions that comes with the DS157 form. 2. Fill up carefully the DS156 online and the DS157 manually. 3. Prepare the documents needed . If you have invitation letters , official letters from the company or any important documents that may be connected with your purpose of visiting the US , review them and make sure they are complete and authentic. 4. Prepare documents that may establish "strong ties" with Philippines ( reasons that will make you comeback). These may be in the form of bank statements , land titles , car registrations , existing contracts and others (some even brought photos of their family). I was not asked to show it to the consu...

Just to break the techie stuff , here is a post taken from my friends ' friend blog. At Age 4........... Success is........not peeing in your pants. At Age 6............Success is........finding your way home (from school) At Age 12...........Success is........having friends At Age 16/18........Success is........having a driver's license At Age 20...........Success is........having sex At Age 35...........Success is........having money At Age 45...........Success is........having money At Age 55...........Success is........having money At Age 60...........Success is........having sex At Age 65...........Success is........keeping a driver's license At Age 70...........Success is........having friends At Age 75...........Success is........finding your way home (from anywhere) At Age 80...........Success is.....not peeing your pants

Twenty Nine draws the line between what I have to become and what I was . Its been twenty nine years in production and like any system in the world , it was never a perfect ride . In between near perfect executions , are lines of buggy codes that made it more exciting . From optimization to work arounds , life has been a combinations of hits and misses .The past nine years of the twenty nine that I already have is built around a series of upgrades, downgrades , refactoring and rebuilding to come up with either service packs or hotfixes. But just like any close-to-perfectly-architected software modules , I always seem to pick up from any exceptions . Beyond . The road map seems to be blurry still but the framework is slowly being completed . As I start to code again for a new release , this time it will be more stable .

In line with the July 18 earthquake rumors , here is a forwarded email regarding earthquake safety facts: EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: 'TRIANGLE OF LIFE' My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake. I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters. The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lyin...

I bet this is the hottest topic moving around . Anyone seems so very excited . Even rumors like this can make anyone who grew up in the 90s listening to eraserheads music jump for joy . Definitely it is not a rumor . Several reports from respected news sources have indeed confirmed that this is happening this August as some of the teaser posters and clues are trying to say. As some reports have mentioned , it is scheduled for August 30 , 2008 . The tentative venue is at CCP Open Grounds and the best of it all , it was rumored to be a free concert where 35000 eraserheads fanatics are expected to attend A one night only reunion concert is what we heard of but who knows what might happen next . I dont really know the reason for the reunion . It may be about sponsorship or about the money . The hell with it , I just hope that ultimately it is about good music from one of the greatest pinoy band I ever knew. Heck, Im reserving that day for the concert ( even if it is as short as a 45 mi...

What a great way to start July . At last after a long wait , gone will these teasing cigarette ads on any form ( television, radio and print ) by virtue of Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act No. 9211. Up to now I still wonder why people love to smoke . I have been there actually , smoking at least a dozen of stick just to get through overnight reviews and cramming back in college . Honestly , aside from the joy maybe of puffing these what I some times call as "Cancer Sticks" , they just leave you with stinky breath and smell. Its for this reason that I got turned off to women who dress so smartly (maybe) but holding or puffing cigars like they are even proud of it . The same goes for those careless smokers who smokes on public transports without thinking the danger of second hand smokes. This is definitely a good start to clean the air we breathe . Definitely , these sometimes feel-good commercials lead consumers to think that having , buying and using them ...

Traveling through a car-packed Quirino highway down to the street-busy G.Tuazon can be a boring journey so I started a little chat with the cab driver which I shall call Ka Fredie . Ka Fredie is a typical taxi driver with a touch of a barrio accent coupled with a mix of rebellious thinking . Thus , i coined the name "Ka Fredie". Trash:"Mahirap na ba byahe ngayon?" Ka Fredie: Mahal na gasolina e, umaasa na lang kami sa dagdag ng mga pasahero. Trash:"Gasolina pala itong taxi nyo, di ba mas ok ung LPG?" Ka Fredie: OO, dati kumikita ako ng hanggang 1,500 kaso pinababa ako e. Trash:"Bakit? Ka Fredie: Sabi ng doktor pag di ko raw tinigil baka bibigay katawan ko. Etong gobyerno natin prinopromote ung LPG e masama pla sa kalusugan ng driver pati na rin sa pasahero Mahal talaga kasi gasolina kaya konti na lang kita namin. Trash:"Dagdag mo pa yung kotong" Ka Fredie: Ngayon ginagawa na nilang ordinance , kaya ung huli mo sa Makati iba pa ri...