Inside the Brain of Engr. Alex A. Valdez [www.alexvaldez.com]

Name Game?

2008-08-23T19:29:00.010+08:00

coincidence? or destiny?

Obama - Bedin versus Osama Bin Laden

coincidence? or destiny?

During the Marcos time, Blas Ople was named the Minister of Labor.
We wrote it Minister OPLEbor instead of Minister of Labor.

Wrong Use of Words

2008-05-07T06:30:00.004+08:00

Some member of the Philippine Media are not thinking well. For example, in reporting a car accident involving the entire family they will interview a lone survivor and start with the greetings - "Magandang Gabi". And while the lone survivor narrates his story, the interviewer listens and say OKEY in every end of the sentence. Thus adding insult to the injury.

Philippine Inflation 8.3%

2008-05-06T19:17:00.001+08:00

Today, May 6, 2008, inflation rate in the Philippines is 8.3%. If you deposited your money in any bank in the Philippines last year then obviously you lost.

Baguio City High School Class 1975 Reunion

2008-05-05T06:22:00.001+08:00

see the Website of the
Baguio City High School
Class 1975 Reunion,
May 2-3, 2008.

Click HERE to go to the
BCHS 1975 Alumni website.

Ako (Alex) ito.
Nakatingin sila sa nakasulat sa likod ko.

Click HERE to go to the
BCHS 1975 Alumni website.

Baguio Market Fire Video

2008-04-11T08:12:00.002+08:00

Nasusunog ang Palengke ng Baguio [5:00 AM, 2008 April 11]

2008-04-11T05:54:00.012+08:00

Breaking News. 5:00 AM, 2008 April 11.

Noise broke my sleep. I thought it was a typical "frat-war", which is common at Kayang St., Baguio. I looked at the window and saw market vendors looking towards one direction. Fire hits the old PX Market, in front of the old Tiongsan Bazaar.

I immediately took my cellphone with camera and these are my shots :

Nasusunog ang Tiongsan - Harrison [2008 Apr 2]

2008-04-07T01:46:00.000+08:00

Notice Those Dama & Chess Players. They Don't Care About the Fire.

Supreme Court of the Philippines Made a Mistake

2008-04-07T01:41:00.004+08:00

After postponing the result of the bar exams for additional day, something went wrong with the rankings. Can you see it?
Below is a screen shot photo taken from the official website of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

"Bad Taste" Rockers

2008-02-23T20:42:00.008+08:00

8:30 PM. Saturday, Panagbenga Festival, Abanao Square, Abanao St. Baguio City.

There was a concert in the middle of Abanao Street. (the road was closed). The vocalist of the band said, "Our next piece is - Para Sa Mga Taong Walang Kwenta." Upon hearing this, people started leaving the place. Nobody clap.

The English translation for Para Sa Mga Taong Walang Kwenta is For Useless People.

I teach Art Appreciation at Agoo Computer College. For any Work is be classified as an Art, beauty and goodness must be present. An insult does not pass these criteria to be called an Art.

God Loves Me

2008-02-23T17:40:00.008+08:00

I have my fasting in preparation for my blood chemistry. This is my FIRST VOLUNTARY FASTING because my previous fasting was NOT voluntary - Galing ako sa hirap.

As I do my fasting, something happen. In a vision, I saw an instant replay of my life. Now I recall many miracles that occured. These miracles just happened. No logic can explain how and why these happened.

Only one reason is clear - GOD LOVES ME.

Why Are Celebrities Getting Richer and Their Fans Are Getting Poorer.

2008-02-04T00:30:00.000+08:00

If a celebrity endorsed multivitamins, will the price of these products become cheaper or more expensive? Next question – Are celebrities more qualified to endorse than medical practitioners? Read the packaging. It was boldly printed - NO PHARMACEUTICAL CLAIM. Now, you should understand why they are called actors and actresses. Do you know that FAN is short for FANATIC?

Native Chicken is Beaten to Death

2008-01-29T07:48:00.000+08:00

A famous delicacy in the Cordilleras is known as Pinikpikan. What makes the food preparation bizarre is that the native chicken is being beaten to death. To remove its feathers, the whole Beaten to Death Chicken was burned instead of dipping it into boiling water. It was then cooked in the traditional method known as “tinola” or "adobo".

Did Robert James Fischer a.k.a. Bobby Fischer Killed Himself?

2008-01-22T11:14:00.000+08:00

When I heard the news that the former World Chess Champion died at the age of 64, inside my brain I have the speculation that Robert James Fischer a.k.a. Bobby Fischer killed himself.
Maybe he would like to immortalize himself inside the 64-square (8x8) chessboard.
Russian chess players immortalized their chess games through the Russian chess magazine named “64”.

"Eating Dangerously" and “The Test of Loyalty”

2008-01-20T08:45:00.000+08:00

In Japan, you can eat a slice of blowfish and hope that the chef skillfully removed the poison.

But that is nothing compared to the delicacies being served in Baguio City, Philippines.

In Baguio, you can order dog meat in restaurant and then pray that the unfortunate dog does not have any rabies.

Eating dog meat is a culture in Baguio. However, the commercialization of dog meat destroy the old culture because dogs are now illegally coming from Southern Luzon to be butchered in Baguio.

In this bizarre culture, man should eat his own dog with his family members or with his friends. And while eating, they talk about the loyalty of his dog to him. This may sounds like a bizarre funeral service.

To my mind (inside the brain of Engr Alex Valdez), I call this “The Test of Loyalty” between the man and his dog. If the man eat his favorite dog and if the dog has the rabies, then together they will IMMEDIATELY be united in eternal life, forever.

A Typical Filipino Lifestyle

2008-01-11T07:58:00.000+08:00

A typical lifestyle of a Filipino is this - We eat seven (7) times a day.
1. Agahan or Almusal in the morning.
2. Merienda at 9:00 AM. (Ilocanos prefer Kilabban than merienda.)
3. Tanghalian at high noon.
4. Merienda at 3:00 PM. (Ilocanos prefer Kilabban than merienda.)
5. Pulutan and Toma at 7:00 PM (for Men while singing with friends)
Junk Foods (for Women and Kids while watching telenovelas)
6. Hapunan or Panggabi at 8:30 PM
7. Midnight Snack while watching the evening news.
. . . and not yet included in the above lists are those we eat regularly such as green mango, balut, penoy, one day old, adidas (not rubber shoes), IUD (not contraceptive), and other weird sounding and health threatening street foods.
Finally, a typical Filipino will not starve to death, but change in lifestyle can kill.

Our Aggressive Filipino Food Culture

2008-01-06T07:23:00.000+08:00

We, Filipinos, can't wait for a mango to become ripe and sweet. We eat them while they are sour and green.

We, Filipinos, eat duck while still an embryo. We call it balut. We also eat duck before it become embryo. We call it penoy.

Chicks are more luckier than ducks. We wait them to get hatch then after one day, we eat them. We call this food a one day old.

We roast pig while it is a few months old and still drinking milk. We call it lechon de leche.

If you are a foreign missionary staying in the Philippines and you claim that you are already a Filipino by heart, then you must undergo initiation by eating these Filipino foods in front of your congregation.

Is My Credit Card No Longer Safe?

2008-01-05T05:32:00.000+08:00

I received my credit card billings today (Friday, January 4, 2008) and to my surprise, a company in Italy is claiming 130.50 Euros (193.41 US Dollars) from my account. The company's name is "TRENITALIA - VENDITA ON L". They claimed that the transaction was made December 13, 2007 and posted to my account on December 15, 2007.

I immediately reported this to my bank (Friday, January 4, 2008). Signed a dispute form. And my bank sent it to the credit card company.

I search the Internet and discovered that Trenitalia was a railway train service in Italy. I am in the Philippines while my double is in Italy.

Now, We have to test the jurisprudence of the Philippines and Italy regarding e-commerce law.

Whatever is the result, I will post it here in the future.

No Traffic? Are These Pictures Real? Fake? or Taken 30 Years Ago?

2008-01-01T12:03:00.001+08:00

What Do We Celebrate Every December 25?

2007-12-31T20:16:00.000+08:00

This could surprise you. Visit this site and post your opinions.

http://religious-opinion.blogspot.com

What is an Engineer?

2007-12-28T07:58:00.000+08:00

An engineer is a person who can makes the most with of his 1,000 pesos that an ordinary persons in the street with their 2,000 pesos. An engineer is an economist.

If You Want to Save, Don't Go to Bank.

2007-12-28T01:29:00.000+08:00

If you have 1,000 pesos today and you intent to use it for food after one year, then don't deposit it on bank. Your money will decrease its purchasing power and the interest given to you by your bank is not enough to compensate its lost.

Today, I just purchased a canned sardines and immediately I ate. While eating I asked myself, "What if I had purchase this canned sardines one year earlier then I should have save a lot."

If I have 1,000 pesos today then I am going to buy canned goods in wholesale price. Of course, taking into consideration the storage life span or expiration of canned goods. Canned goods increases in price every time there is a calamity or a disaster. Their prices goes up and never comes down.

Rich Man. Poor Man.

2007-12-24T14:27:00.000+08:00

Why the Rich are Becoming More Richer and the Poor Becoming More Poorer?

A rich man buy in wholesale while the poor buy in retail.

In buying rice, a rich man buy that which is measured in cavan while the poor man buy that which is measured in kilo. Who do you think got the savings in the long term?

Learning by Pattern Recognition

2007-12-19T11:23:00.000+08:00

If you study the following figures,

+ 3 6 [first line]
9 [second line]

and

+ 2 4 [first line]
6 [second line]

and if I show you this figure,

+ 5 3 [first line]
_____ [second line]

what do you think should be written in the second line?

if your answer is 8 then congratulations. You have just learn a little of LISP Programming Language. Your brain discovered the answer though pattern recognition.

Philippine History

2007-12-19T11:10:00.000+08:00

There is a controversy about the real date that Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines. History books claim that is was March 16, 1521. But what if Magellan timepiece was still set to the Madrid Time Zone. If that was the case, then there was a time and date discrepancy especially if they arrived before the sunrise. Manila Time is +8 GMT while Madrid is +1 GMT. What do you think?

Chess : Mates in 4 Moves

2007-11-25T09:26:00.000+08:00

When I was a high school kid at Baguio City High School, a friend show me a chess puzzle. The puzzle it to construct a game that will checkmate Black in 4 moves from the starting position. Black should copy moves made by White. The initial moves in mind was

1. P-K4 P-K4
2. B-B4 B-B4
3. Q-R5 Q-R5
4. QxP check
NOT mate because of 4. . . . K-Q1

After few minutes of taught, I made the following solutions:
1. P-Q4 P-Q4
2. Q-Q3 Q-Q3
3. Q-KR3 Q-KR3
4. QxB checkmate

There are two (2) more solutions.
The idea is to capture the Queen's Bishop on the fourth move.
Can you solve it?

Method of Teaching : Equation

2007-11-23T16:18:00.000+08:00

In teaching Algebra, I allow my students to visualize a see-saw whenever they encounter an equation. The word equation comes from the word equal.

Given an equation, “Y + 3 = 7”, we place the “=” sign at the middle of the see-saw where the fulcrum is located. We place “Y + 3” at the left side of the fulcrum and “7” to the right side.

If the problem requires that only “Y” should remain in the left side, then to remove “ 3 ”, we have to subtract “3”. Since we have to maintain the balance or equality, then we have to do the same to the other side. So we subtract “3” in the left and also “3” in the right.

Y + 3 = 7
Subtract 3 on both sides. See below,

Y + 3    =    7
     - 3   =   -3
=========
Y          =    4

Remember the philosophy “If someone hits you on your left cheek, then let him hit your right cheek, too.” Of course, the hit must be of equal pressure to maintain the balance. He, he, he …

Method of Teaching: Software and Hardware

2007-11-23T08:16:00.000+08:00

Whenever I teach computer or information technology to my students at Agoo Computer College, I want to be sure that they clearly understood the difference between software and hardware including the symbiotic relationship between them.

SOFTWARE is an idea or opinion. It is abstract. It does not have any physical attribute. It cannot be seen. There is no color, no taste, no odor, no texture, and no sound.

In contrast, HARDWARE has physical attributes. You can touch it physically. Some have color, odor, or texture. Others have taste or audible sound.

In order for any SOFTWARE to become useful, you need a medium. This medium is a HARDWARE.

Example 1: An author who has an idea (software) must print it on paper (hardware) to produce a useful product or a book.

Example 2: A musical composition (software) must be perform through an instrument (hardware) to produce music.

Example 3: A programmer who has an idea (software) of doing task must instruct the computer to produce output such as printed materials (hardware) or visual display (hardware). Printed materials have physical attributes. Visual display or computer monitor displays colored text or graphical images.

Finally, the plural form of software is software NOT softwares. The plural for of hardware is hardware NOT hardwares.

The Mad Genius of Computer Science and Everything

2007-11-19T00:19:00.000+08:00