WuzzU.P.

Time to re-evaluate

2007-05-30T16:17:00.000+08:00

I do not know if it is unique to UP Diliman because we have been blessed with being on the top 5 most in-demand degree programs from UPCAT applicants, whilst other universities are experiencing a decline in Computer Science enrollment.

That being said, however, I think that we need to research as to where our graduates are going after completing the degree -- how many go into further studies and how many work as software engineers? If there are more software engineers, are they properly equipped when they leave the academe? If not, why? Is there something wrong with the programme?

Just some questions that I think should be answered... really soon.

(image by Mike Burns)

What have I done?!

2007-05-29T18:29:00.000+08:00

Well, with the exception of Prof. Rebecca Ong, these faculty members are Mac users. From far left, JP Petines (Macbook), Joyce Avestro (Powerbook) and Florence Balagtas (Powerbook). As of today, we also have Mario Carreon (Macbook), Rowena Solamo (Macbook), Riza Batista (Powerbook) and the latest of the lot, Pros Naval (Macbook). I think the Computer Science department has the best Mac:faculty ratio compared to the other departments in UP. Cool, huh?

Unfortunately, students are limited to clones that are only capable of running Windows and Linux (or Solaris - I wish!) and not Mac OS X. Would have been great if Macs are in the labs, right? Imagine the possibilites... :)

How about you? When are you switching?

New Alumni Board Members

2007-02-26T19:15:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to the newly elected board members of the UP Diliman Computer Science Alumni Association!

(in alphabetical order)

Carreon, Mario T.
Macatulad, Maria Lourdes G.
Mijares, Christia Enriquez
Olpoc, Ma. Christina C.
Ortega, Maria Louwela C.
Putong, Arnold M.
Rosales, Criselda Angelina S.
Sarmiento, Linda II M.
Sepulveda, Michael James O.
Vergel de Dios, Jose Timoteo S.

JavaOne 2007 Update

2007-02-23T10:06:00.000+08:00

Check out - Advocrazy and JEDI Project blog for details.

Alumni Homecoming: Ticket

2007-01-16T16:44:00.000+08:00

For bulk ticket orders, please contact rebecca dot ong at gmail.

Alumni Homecoming: Call for Presentations (Edited)

2007-01-12T11:12:00.000+08:00

As part of the homecoming, we are calling for alumni groups (batch, company, barkada) to prepare a short presentation for the tribute. It could be a five-minute video presentation or a live performance. If interested, please contact the head of the program committee, Ms. Florence Balagtas, at ftbalagt at gmail on or before the 10th of February 2007.

Alumni Homecoming: Tickets

2007-01-12T00:09:00.000+08:00

If tickets are purchased within the month, you just have to pay 500 pesos (discount of 100PhP). Come February, it will be sold at its regular price of 600PhP. A CS shirt is included in the homecoming fee. The figures below illustrate how the shirts will look like. However, alumni will have either white or blue ones.

Purchase of tickets can be via:

(1) Direct payment to Mila Ramos at the CS Department, or
(2) Bank deposit to Philippine National Bank (Please email homecoming dot register at updcsaa dot com for bank account details)

Upon availability, tickets may be claimed from Mila Ramos during office hours at the CS Department. Alternatively, you can get it on the homecoming itself. In any case, you need to show the receipt for option (1) and deposit slip containing the transaction number
for option (2).

CS Royale: UP DCS Grand Alumni Homecoming

2007-01-12T00:04:00.000+08:00

The Department of Computer Science in UP Diliman is celebrating its 26th Anniversary and as part of the celebration, the first-ever grand alumni homecoming entitled "CS Royale" will be held on February 24, 2007, at 2:30 pm in its new home, the College of Engineering Library and Computer Science building. It is the highlight of this year's Computer Science Week celebration on February 19-24.

Through the years, the department has made several BPI Science and P&G Excellence awardees, a few Outstanding Engineering Faculty Members, a number of Undergraduate Research Competition winners, and a curriculum that is always adjusted to adapt to the dynamic field it is in and to contribute to the university’s principle of honoring excellence.

With annual freshmen orientation, a number of department-sponsored events and competitions, Mentoring Program for Freshmen, GeeCS for academic-related events, and 22 CS Weeks so far, it surely has activities for the well-roundedness of the students.

Also, being in a dynamic field, the department has gone through vast changes: from ES to ECS to CS, from a few lecture rooms to a new building, from "the youngest department" to "one of the best departments" and from paper submission of academic requirements to online, instantaneous submission. This shows that it has gone through transformations, and in every step of the way, a CS student has contributed to its advancement.

If you were a part of the CS Department, no matter what period or contribution you have made, your Department is inviting you to be home once again. Witness how it has grown, better yet, be a part of it.

For registration inquiries and ticket reservation, email homecoming.register@updcsaa.com. For direct ticket purchases, visit the CS Department at Rm 219 Melchor Hall, College of Engineering and look for Ms. Mila Ramos.

The First CS CWTS Community Work

2006-12-06T12:31:00.000+08:00

Last November 25, the TPACK (Team for Proficient Allies in Computer Knowledge) group had their first computer literacy training class at Parang High School in Marikina. The laboratory was equipped with 15 computers. The first year high school students have to share computers in order for us to accommodate them in the class.

These are some of the things our CWTS student teachers have to say:

"At first I was a bit anxious and nervous on what kind of students are we going to deal with. But after meeting the kids, I felt relieved. All those warm greetings and friendly faces made it possible for us to feel lax dealing with them. It was hard to impose control over the class. Whenever they’re in a hands-on activity, the noise starts to aggravate."

"As a teacher, I learned the value of good communication for better knowledge absorption of the students. Questioning these students from time to time were
necessary in order for me to evaluate if they were really paying attention or not. I also learned the value of patience and understanding, proper control of my temper and the true value of our group."

"As a teacher, I learned that the cooperation and interaction among the students and I is a very important factor for the said training to be successful. And this is what I think : although I find them cooperative, I think that there is a factor that needs to be further developed for the improvement of the training .With regards to me, as the facilitator of the learning process in that particular group of students, I know that my preparedness for every meeting is very necessary. I know that I should have more strategies to serve my students the knowledge they need to know."

Last December 2, the FASTFOOD (The group members names all had something to do with fastfood - Wendy (s), Carl(s Jr), (Jolli)Bee, Alan(?), Edison(?)) group also had their first day of teaching at Concepcion Integrated High School in Marikina. There were only 4 computers at that school, that's why we only had 10 participants who were all first year high school students.

Here are the things that some members of the FASTFOOD group have to say:

"It was tiring but really fulfilling. It was also a bit alarming that most of them haven't seen computers before."

"...I still had a great time because I was able to grasp their eagerness to learn. They were ready to learn and maybe they were just not given the chance. I was
able to realize how gifted we are. I guess, one of the weaknesses we had was expecting so much from them and I think we could improve our teaching strategy if we will not be overtly technical in defining concepts since they new little about computers."

Congratulations, JP & Iris!

2006-10-19T07:53:00.000+08:00

JP holding back his tears. From BlogShots

Bride and her parents walk down the aisle. From BlogShots

UP Java Research & Development Center Faculty-in-Charge, Mr. John Paul Petines, graduated from the eligible bachelors' pool. :)

Congratulations, JP & Iris! May you have many, many babies to come...

For our compute-intensive applications

2006-03-23T06:34:00.000+08:00

Today, Sun launches Internet-based access to a public compute utility called Sun Grid. Now, anyone in the U.S. can get flexible, metered access to enormous computing power over the network for the affordable price of $1/CPU-hr.

With our relationship with Sun Microsystems, I am sure that we can manage to get some 'load time' for our research. The thing is, do we really need such power? Can our research initiatives justify the cost and effort of negotiating with Sun for access?

Imagine the possibilities if we can get a discount for access. No added electricity cost (to power the grid and provide airconditioning), no added system management cost, access to an all powerful grid running on industry-standard *nix, plus we can get some marketing mileage to be one of the first from the Philippines to access it. What do you guys think?

Technorati Tags: grid computing, Sun

JEDI Contingent to PSITE National Congress 2006

2006-02-24T20:15:00.000+08:00

JEDINight06-05.jpg
Originally uploaded by mctux.

UP CS Alumnus Brian Loya, CS Lecturer and JEDI Master Daniel Villafuerte, Sun Technology Outreach Director Matt Thompson, Java Champion and PSITE National Board Member JP Petines, Sun Philippines JEDI Coordinator Hazel, JEDI Master Janice Aquinde, Sun JEDI Master Naveen Asrani, Sun Philippines Marketing Director Gerilyn Baltan, CS faculty member and JEDI Master Florence Balagtas and UP JRDC JEDI Coordinator Regnard Raquedan in Iloilo.

JEDI Team in Iloilo

2006-02-24T20:05:00.000+08:00

JEDINight06-06.jpg
Originally uploaded by mctux.

Java Champion JP Petines, Sun Technology Outreach Director Matt Thompson, Java Champion and Apple Distinguished Educator Rommel P. Feria, Sun JEDI Master Naveen Asrani at PSITE National Congress 2006 in Iloilo.

Mark and Loraine's wedding video

2006-01-24T07:06:00.000+08:00

well, here's the low quality video of Mark & Loraine's wedding video.

One more kiss won't hurt

2006-01-22T08:19:00.000+08:00

Here're the photos that you have been waiting for. :)

Here comes the bride...

2006-01-22T08:07:00.000+08:00

Here's Loraine... waiting for the most important person, the priest. :)

And another one ties the knot...

2006-01-22T08:03:00.000+08:00

Congratulations and best wishes to Mark and Loraine!

Where is Loraine? You guess...

Congratulations!

2005-11-28T08:11:00.000+08:00

Congratulations goes to the UP Diliman "Savers" team for getting a third-place finish in the recently concluded Trend Micro Technology Challenge! Yes, I know that 200,000 pesos is a large sum of money but it would have been 1 million. :)

Anyway, I am glad that we got a place considering that we fielded three teams to the competition. We should have swept the awards and bagging 1.7 million pesos instead. hehe. Well, can't win 'em all, huh?

Again, congratulations and hope to get the top prize next year.

UP TEAM Bags First Place at Clash of the Brains!

2005-11-24T19:45:00.000+08:00

With a total score of 410 points, the UP team brought home the roving cup of the annual Clash of the Brains held at the De La Salle University this afternoon. The second place went to Ateneo de Manila who got 300 points while the third went to UST with 290 points. The team of Ardee Aram (4th year, BSCS), Linda Sarmiento (4th year, BSCS), Michael Chua (3rd year, BSCS) and Prem Rara (4th year, BSEE) grabbed the cup from the defending champion and winner of two consecutive years, the Ateneo de Manila University. A university that wins the contest for three consecutive years gets to keep the cup.

Congratulations Clash team!!!

Why it's nice to work in UP DCS....

2005-10-28T09:02:00.000+08:00

1. One computer for each teacher... minsan more than one pa nga :)
2. You don't have to pay a fine of 50 pesos/day/subject if you weren't able to submit your grades on time
3. Walang nagche-check ng attendance ng teachers
4. Matatalino students natin, madaling turuan ;)
5. We're not required to be in the office from 9 to 5
6. Bawas sa teaching load if we are assigned some administrative work or study load
7. Scholarships and grants
8. Magandang working environment! I love the UP Diliman environment!

These are just some of the things I've discovered from the two weeks of training I did for JEDI...

If you have more to add, dagdagan nyo pa para mas masaya! :)

The search for the new DCS Chair 2009

2005-10-07T16:45:00.000+08:00

Support the Drive!

2005-10-07T02:47:00.000+08:00

DCS Faculty Sem Ender Gimik

2005-09-26T13:11:00.000+08:00

Last September 23, the DCS faculty had their sem-ender “gimik” at Eastwood Libis. This was to celebrate Kenneth’s successful thesis proposal defense and despedida for Maam Susan and Sir Cedric.

Ken treated us to “Something fishy” and after that we went bowling.

Game Report:
Kikoys vs. Geniuses -> Kikoys won
Kulits vs. Shy -> Shy won
A.Kikoys&Kulits vs. B.Shy&Geniuses -> B won

Y4IT 2005

2005-09-16T17:43:00.000+08:00

Kenneth found a new friend, Abigail. Actually, Kenneth was just looking for a spare seat since there were no seats left at the DCS/DCSF booth, right Ken?

Chancellor's Birthday

2005-09-08T17:34:00.000+08:00

Chancellor Cao listening to UP Staff Chorale:

Bibbo Leng =)

Dr. Matias singing "Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin":

Sweet naman....

Sweet din... hehe...

Kenneth in Korea (by Kenneth)

2005-09-08T11:00:00.000+08:00

Excellent Record Awards

Throughout the duration of the course, the class was given lectures and demonstrations regarding different technology trends. This included Korea's IT environment such as the IT839 strategy, mobile internet business, ubiquitous IT industry and policy, mobile business and mobile government. It also included technical topics such as security and certification, mobile communication protocol, mobile networking, mobile terminal, software and hardware architectures, databases, mobile sound and imaging technologies. It also included hands-on lectures such as C, Java, JSP, WAP, J2ME, MIDP, and WIPI. Hands-on and conceptual exams were given each week regarding these topics. Having the highest total mark in exam scores, I was given the excellent records award.

Mobile Project Award

During the last two weeks of the course, the mobile engineering class was divided into four groups. Each group has to create a mobile project. The first two groups created mobile user interface programs using ASP for the Mobile Home Networking System provided by KADO. The third team also created a website using ASP for the Mobile Blog System provided by KADO. The last team, on the other hand, fully designed and developed a mobile game using WIPI 2.0. Being the leader of the team and being in charge of the design and coding of the mobile game, I was given the best "mobile project contributor" award.

Most Distinguished Award

The International Cooperation Project for IT Seminar was held during the second week of July. In this project, each team representing each country had to generate a 60 to 100-page paper report and a 30 to 60-slide presentation corresponding to the report. Each paper presents a comprehensive report on the current ICT status of each country. This included country profiles, industry status both private and government sectors, telecommunication status, government ICT policies, and international cooperation strategies. Team Philippines was assigned to lead all groups in the IT Seminar both in document output and presentation. Thus, the most distinguished award was given to us being received by a Philippine delegate.

DCS at the Investiture of the 8th Chancellor of UPD

2005-09-07T19:02:00.000+08:00

STD? SFD?

2005-09-07T18:54:00.000+08:00

I am wondering why only a handful of students attend the dialogue considering that we have more than 500 undergraduate students, right? Maybe next time we should serve merienda and lunch or maybe we can raffle off a CS jacket or a date with our single faculty members? hehehe...

UP Mac Users Unite

2005-08-28T13:18:00.000+08:00

Check this out!

Wireless IT Network Seminar

2005-08-26T17:43:00.000+08:00

Kenneth Talamayan and I attended a seminar on wireless IT network conducted by JICA.net. It was a good introduction for those with no background about the topic. However, since Kenneth and I attended the course on Mobile Programming in South Korea, it simply served as an update course. The materials were good but the way the presentation was conducted was not. Instead of projecting the presentation and showing on the smaller display the Philippine participants, it was the other way around - not good for those with vision that are not 20/20. =( Anyway, I could use what I’ve learned to update my CS 174 materials. =)

It was Kenneth’s first time to take the MRT and go around commuting. Hehe.. he was funny! Peace Kenneth! ;P

Sanjay's Birthday Bash

2005-08-09T15:04:00.000+08:00

Last August 7 (Sunday), Sanjay celebrated his 25th birthday in advance.
His mom prepared lots of delicious food which was good for 30 people that's why instead of having just a lunch party, it was extended up to dinner.

The day was full of activities like playing billiards, playstation, karaoke and a lot of chit chat. His father also sang and played his guitar.

Activities
-------------------------------------------------------

The guests
-------------------------------------------------------

The food

Congratulations Riza and Angel for winning....$$$(katching!)

2005-08-04T09:22:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Riza and Angel for winning the "Call for Convergence: The telic VoiceXML Challenge".

The contest was sponsored by Telic Communications, Inc. and promised a prize of $2000 for the winning team.

Here are some details of their project:

Title:
UP Diliman Voice-enabled Visitor's Guide
Developed by:
Riza Theresa B. Batista
Angel B. Calayag
About the project:

The University of the Philippines Diliman Voice-Enabled Visitor's Guide provides a convenient way to effectively find directions within the UP Diliman campus using automated and interactive voice responses to user's queries. The voice application prompts the user for his/her mode of transportation, proximity, point of origin and destination and then dictates specific directions for going from the originto the destination in the most optimal way possible.

CS 175 Mock Competition epilogue

2005-08-04T08:30:00.000+08:00

Basically, no more posts after the blackout, and we check the unuploaded solution - no good. 33 submissions, 7 solutions, max of 4 for one team. I hate interruptions of the type that makes things unfair and undoable.

CS 175 First Mock Competition

2005-08-04T08:26:00.000+08:00

Today is the first Mock Competition in CS 175, where we will see if the students have learned enough to get by. This will also gauge competition readiness for Ateneo less than three months away. Much as there is anticipation, there is anxiety. This is also 25% of their grades. Will they make it? What will happen? Stay tuned.

9:24 AM (247 minutes remain) Three clarifications. Not much else. We're hoping for an average of four correct solutions.

10:18 AM (193 minutes remain) After a flurry of submissions, one correct solution. For a medium difficulty problem.

10:21 AM (190 minutes remain) Another correct solution, for an easy problem, this time. Output format problems, though.

10:42 AM (170 minutes remain) Opened the Tortillos. Still waiting. No Slurpys.

11:02 AM (150 minutes remain) Halfway through. Slurpys solved. :)

11:23 AM (128 minutes remain) Another flurry of submissions, slightly harder problem, without success. An important part of competition performance is determining the easiest problems and the hardest problems. The judges always want to make it hard to make that distinction.

11:27 AM (124 minutes remain) Two correct solutions, two different problems, two different teams. One breezed easy, the other outputting to screen instead of file. Tsk tsk.

11:34 AM (118 minutes remain) They may have just figured it out. Oh, they did.

11:37 AM (115 minutes remain) I guess they did.

11:52 AM (99 minutes remain) Another flurry of submissions. Hmmmm... at least people can shift gears when they need to. Don't smash your head against the same wall over and over.

11:56 AM (95 minutes remain) ... And it also pays to revisit problems which were seemingly unsolvable for several tries after fresh insight.

12:32 PM (60 minutes remain) Inet went down. One hard solution. Test data was wrong for that set.

12:47 PM (45 minutes remain) 45 minutes. One team at expected, most teams below. Can they catch up?

1:12 PM (20 minutes remain) All's quiet and not all's well.

1:14 PM (18 minutes remain) Spoke too soon. Light goes out in NEC. Two teams' PCs die. (No UPS)

1:21 PM (11 minutes remain) One team's PC dies, before uploading submission. Will check after.

1:32 PM (0 minutes remain)

Apple welcomes UP Faculty

2005-07-01T07:28:00.000+08:00

UP CS Faculty at the Apple Executive Briefing

2005-07-01T07:25:00.000+08:00

JP, Florence, Mae, Joyce and Rommel

JEDI celebrates Duke's 10th birthday

2005-06-30T08:36:00.000+08:00

The JEDI Masters attended this Java Community party last night.

Queuing up for breakfast

2005-06-29T07:39:00.000+08:00

Queuing up for breakfast
Originally uploaded by prof_x.

Just like in pre-CRS UP, UP delegates to JavaOne '05 queue up for free continental breakfast.

Still working, promise...

2005-06-27T12:31:00.001+08:00

Don't bother me
Originally uploaded by prof_x.

Yes, believe it or not, this is part of the JEDI project.

Wow!

2005-06-27T12:31:00.000+08:00

Wow!
Originally uploaded by prof_x.

JP enjoying the Annual Gay and Lesbian Parade.

New Mac Geniuses?

2005-06-27T12:30:00.000+08:00

Learning new technology
Originally uploaded by prof_x.

Well, it won't take long til one of these folks will be certified as an Apple Genius. Look how they are starting -- using kids software. :) Let's start 'em early.

UP Alliance of Computer Science Organizations (UP CS NETWORK)

2005-06-22T10:23:00.001+08:00

Description:

The CS Network serves as an intermediate level between the department and the organizations/students, and a venue to convene and share ideas among organizations. It gives support to activities if what is asked will not exceed the capabilities/limitations of the department. It is open to any organization/student that/who is willing to help the department and/or college in any way.

Objectives:

To coordinate/mediate the activities of the students/organizations.
To improve information dissemination.
To ensure a systematic scheduling delegation of similar activities for department-related events.
To promote harmonious working relationship.
To support activities that promotes well-roundedness of the students.
To document every activity made.

Guidelines:

All projects of the Department and the ESC shall go through the CS Network if the CS students are the stakeholders.
An organization is required to present their department-related activities to the CS Network. An activity is department-related if the name “Department of Computer Science” is mentioned in the event or it supports the initiatives of the department.
An organization is not required to present their non-department-related activities to the CS Network. However, they are requested to submit a post-documentation of their project for the Engineering League of Excellence Merits (ELEM).
When two (2) or more NEW and same activities are presented in the Network, a First-Come-First-Served Basis is implemented. Established events are considered PROTECTED and are not subject to this rule.
All activities that will go through the CS Network must submit a pre-documentation and post-documentation. The template for the documentations is uploaded in the CS Network mailing list.
All minutes of the meeting must be forwarded to each organization’s mailing list unless specified otherwise.

UP Team Dominates ImagineCup 2005 Philippine Finals by TJ Vergel de Dios

2005-06-14T14:15:00.000+08:00

*What is the Imagine Cup?
ImagineCup is an annual programming competition for students. It is run by Microsoft and is open to all undergraduate students studying at any university in the Philippines. This worldwide contest is now on its third year. The competition highlights some of the best student developers in the country.

*Contestants from UP Diliman
Two teams from the University of the Philippines, Diliman joined the competition. All eight team members are graduating students from the Department of Computer Science. This is the first time UP participated in this event.

The theme for this year's competition is "Imagine a world where technology dissolves the boundaries between us." UPTeam1 (iSchool) developed an entry inspired by UP's UVLE. UPTeam2 (Vulcan) developed a customizable web service based on Stanley Milgram's Six Degrees of Separation theory.

*IC2005 Local Finals
The ImagineCup Philippine Finals was held at the Eugenio Lopez training facility in Antipolo last June 7 and 8. Three teams made it to the finals, two from UP Diliman and one from Ateneo de Manila University (last year’s winner). After one day of team building and preparations, and another day for project presentations and judging, the judges have declared the final rankings. UPTeam2’s presentation bested all the other teams. The second place was awarded to Ateneo, followed closely by UPTeam1.

*IC2005 Team Philippines
The UP team will represent the Philippines in the world finals. The group now comprises of: Jon Eric Cantos, Kristina Jane Baylon, Sarah Kristine Roxas, Rhea Therese Lucas, TJ Vergel de Dios (coach).

*IC2005 World Finals
The ImagineCup 2005 World Finals will be held in Yokohoma, Japan on July 27 to August 1 where over 30 countries will compete. The Philippine team is currently enhancing their project and presentation skills. They are looking forward to compete and win in the finals and bring home pride for the country and UP Diliman.

UP Student Org Beats First World Universities By Phillip Kimpo II (http://kimpo.uplug.org)

2005-06-14T12:49:00.000+08:00

Yes, the Filipino can.

A student organization based in UP Diliman’s Department of Computer Science (DCS) bested 750 chapters worldwide -- many of them from the US -- by winning the recently concluded Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) 2004-2005 Student Chapter Excellence Awards.

The Association for Computing Machinery - University of the Philippines Student Chapter (UP ACM), the first and only Filipino ACM chapter, bagged two out of the five categories, Best Community Service and Best Recruitment Program. UP ACM won 500 US dollars for each award.

Founded in 1947, ACM is world’s oldest and largest educational and scientific computing society. ACM’s student chapters are spread worldwide over 500 colleges and universities.

The Chapter Excellence Awards are given yearly to the chapters with outstanding Activities, Website, Recruitment Program, Community Service, and School Service.

Last year’s batch of winners were five North American chapters. This year saw the Philippines barging into the prestigious circle, winning not only the usual single category, but two.

The other three winners were from the University of Kansas (Activities), University of Texas at Austin (Website), and Dalhousie University (School Service).

UP ACM, founded in 2003 with DCS instructor JP Petines as its chairman, joined the Chapter Excellence contest for only the first time. It boasts of over 90 members, with DCS Professor Rommel Feria as the chapter sponsor and Ardee Aram as its present chair.

Community Service That Matters

While UP ACM was able to bag the Best Recruitment Program award through the phenomenal increase in its member population (jumping from roughly a dozen to 90 in just one semester), winning the Best Community Service award was entirely another matter.

It did not lie with quantity; it was the quality of service rendered which ultimately won the distinction.

With last year’s Best Community Service award won by a US chapter donating a batch of computers to a middle school, UP ACM decided to go on another track. It believed in the power of imparting knowledge, not material objects.

In its winning essay submitted to ACM, the Filipino chapter stated:

It has oft been said that when you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but when you teach him how to fish, you feed him for life. This axiom is especially pertinent for a Third World country such as the Philippines, where some of the more expensive physical resources, i.e., computers, are luxuries. These tangible assets must give way to an intangible one --knowledge. In our country, knowledge is of the utmost value -- it has no price tag, but it is priceless. It does not crash, it does not break down, and it will serve you for life. Practicality dictates that in lieu of supplying people with computers, we must educate them about these machines. And who better to educate than youth, on whom hopes of the nation are pinned?

Thus UP ACM held a computer literacy outreach program for the children of Barangay UP Diliman last April 2005 in one of the DCS’ computer laboratories. Sixty children from underprivileged families attended the two-day event.

Related Links:

ACM Student Chapter Homepage; http://acm.org/chapters/stu/
ACM Int’l Home; http://acm.org/
UP ACM Official Website; http://www.upacm.org/
UP ACM Summer Computer Literacy Outreach Program; http://upacm.org/activities/sclop.jsp
UP Diliman Department of Computer Science; http://engg.upd.edu.ph/cs

And another switcher!

2005-06-09T20:16:00.000+08:00

Welcome Small Dipper! Sorry but I do not know what Florence's iBook's name is nor do I know Riza's powerbook's name. :) Anyway, have fun using your new toy, Joyce. Just be sure that you run Software Update regularly to keep your system secure. However, make sure that you 'Repair Permissions' before and after doing an update.

Some other tips:
1. Use your battery at least once a month. Recondition the battery every few months.
2. Disable automatic user login.
3. Run 'sudo visudo' and add 'Defaults:ALL timestamp_timeout=0' to disable the sudo insecure root grace period. This will require you to enter your password everytime you invoke 'sudo'. By default, it gives you a grace period of x minutes after entering your password.
4. Enable tabbed browsing on Safari and enable pop-up blocking. You may download Firefox or Camino (Mozilla browser for Mac only).

Let's have a Mac Meet one of these days... :)

Our Wikipedia Entry

2005-06-06T16:08:00.000+08:00

I just installed a wikipedia dashboard widget on my Mac and fired it up to test it. I tried University of the Philippines and found an entry there with links to different colleges and departments. Then it hit me - there is no entry for our department! Yes, I just spent 10 minutes creating an account and creating an entry for our department. Maybe the others can start filling it up with more useful information. Feel free to change it.

Remember that wikipedia gets a lot of traffic - we should ensure that our information is up-to-date. I know that this is not easy but hey, it is better than not having an entry there, right?

New Blood!

2005-05-31T11:50:00.000+08:00

This coming first semester of SY 2005-06, we will be welcoming two new faculty members in our department. They are Ms. Rina Caballar of UP Baguio and Ms. Christine Clarin from UP Diliman. They both graduated last April 2005.

Farewell Sir Ronnie

2005-05-31T11:46:00.000+08:00

Last May 26, we had a despedida party for Sir Ronnie at the "Dampa" in Libis. Sir Ronnie will be leaving the country on May 28 to start a whole new chapter of his life in Canada.

Farewell Sir Ronnie and goodluck!

Multo sa 233A?

2005-05-24T18:54:00.000+08:00

Kayo na ang maghusga.... (pictures taken by TJ last May 23)

Accenture and Innove donates PCs and stuff

2005-05-20T18:47:00.000+08:00

Accenture and Innove donates PCs and other stuff (printers, external CD writers, scanners, UPS) to the department of computer science.

Camiguin side trip

2005-05-20T18:41:00.000+08:00

After the JEDI training in Cagayan de Oro, Joyce, JP and Florence decided to go to Camiguin before returning home.

JEDI: the training begins

2005-05-20T18:36:00.000+08:00

Last May 2-5,2005, the JEDI (Java Education and Development Initiative) team conducted the first set of JEDI trainings in Baguio and Cagayan de Oro. Mario and Riza were the JEDI masters for the Baguio training, while JP, Joyce and Florence trained the soon-to-be JEDI masters in Cagayan de Oro.

The second set of training was last May 16-20 in Nueva Viscaya with JP and Riza facilitating the training.

Escape to Villa Vergel de dios

2005-05-20T17:37:00.000+08:00

Last April 20, the three April birthday celebrants TJ(12), Riza(20) and Florence(21) decided to treat the DCS faculty to a day of unwinding at the Vergel de Dios compound in Bulacan.

Activities were: Karaoke, eating, swimming, eating, golfing, eating, sleeping, eating, playing with the animals, eating, tour of the Vergel de dios compound and finally...eating.