This piece was sent to me by my officemate. If you are a programmer, you can relate on this..

Response to "Programming Can Ruin Your Life" or The Benefits of Being A Programmer. First, in order to understand this post, you have to be a programmer and have read Programming Can Ruin Your Life on devizen.

Finished reading? Good. Quick summary: Being a programmer makes you socially handicapped.
What about the benefits? Surely there are many, and I think they far outweigh the drawbacks. I'm not a big fan of long, paragraph style posts so I'm going to make a list. Besides, programmers prefer lists.

We scratch our OCD itch. Nearly all programmers seem to have some form of OCD. We are obsessed with our work, oftentimes choosing to finish a database wrapper instead of sleeping. In the real world, nothing is perfect. This pisses us off! In the wonderful world of 0's and 1's, we can write specific code to do specific tasks. Insert data into a database? Done! Email customers after they sign up? Easy! We are very task oriented and our OCD requires us to know 100% that we can cross off this item on our to-do list. Try doing that in political science or psychology.
We see details others don't. Minor features on clothing, slight color differences, different scents. Everything is unique to us because we are trained to see everything in black and white, 0's and 1's. A picture frame isn't "almost" straight. There is no such thing. What's the benefit of this? We can admire nature and enjoy the smallest things in life.

We see beauty in structure. No one can argue this one. Programmers reverse engineer everything in their heads. We look at a building and immediately think of all the components (as well as wonder what kind of network they have set up and if their security policies are any good). This is especially when we look at software, which also goes back to number 2. Everything has a system and we spend more time thinking about how something came to be rather than just taking it for granted.

We can take a huge project and cut it down into bite-sized tasks. We face this every day. Someone wants an application to manage a multi-national corporation with 2,000 employees. Of course, that someone also has no idea about the details of the system or what it exactly has to do. That's our job and we are damn good at it! Before you know it we'll have a giant to-do list with a feature by feature breakdown. Let's see you philosophy majors do that.
We are better at managing things. Checkbooks, to-do lists, shopping lists, home improvement projects, bills. You name it and we'll name a website that we use to track, analyze, and complete it. We are organization freaks when it comes to data (most of us, however, are not so good at keeping our desks clean).

We see life as one giant application. Present us with a problem and you'll usually get a straightforward answer with detailed steps to take. Now, if you are a guy, you realize this can sometimes be a bad thing, since most women aren't asking you a question to find a solution, they just want to talk (We of course, will never understand this - just stop trying.)
We are not afraid of failure. Why? Because we fail daily. In fact, usually dozens of times per day. Half our day is spent trying something, and the other half is spend fixing the mistakes we made. We know they happen and focus more on solving the problem than getting it right the first time. Iterate, iterate, iterate!

We can type without looking down. And we won't hesitate to laugh if you can't. But seriously, we take pride in our intimate knowledge of the tools we use, and spent a lot of time finding ways to be more productive. This spills into other sectors of our lives, which is a very good thing. As programmers we are trained to look at something and try to figure out a better way of doing it (which is why there are a billion social networking sites, and a quarter million of any other type of website out there).

We aren't afraid of trying something new. We do this every day. Being involved with technology requires us to learn a new tool, programming language, or standard practically every week. While some of us cherish our programming language more than our ability to walk, we are generally open to learning something new to improve our lives. This is also why we are so fascinated with new gadgets. Programmers get tired of things very quickly, so anything new and exciting is going to make our hearts race. Marry a programmer and everything in your house will always be cutting-edge (WiFi refrigerator with email notifications, anyone?)
We can make anyone seem stupid when it comes to computer. Oh you want to do that with your computer? *click* *click* *enter*. There you go! To people who aren't that familiar with computers, that's Merlin style magic! Ok we are actually seen as geeks but this list had to have 10 items (there's the OCD again)

By email, a good piece to reflect on...

AN OPEN ADVICE ABOUT CAREER DECISIONS:

Several of my staff has approached me lately about their careerdecisions. I really appreciate my staff opening up to me. It is quite reassuring to know that they're still having second thoughts aboutleaving. Here is part of the email I sent to a "confused" staff:
I have worked for more than 5 companies already so I guess you mightbe correct in saying I have had considerable experience about leaving andmoving on. I will not stop you nor tell you to leave, though of course itwill be better if you stay. In any career decision, leaving or staying Ibelieve, based from my personal experiences and as an HR professional,should only be done for the right reasons.

For one, you shouldn't leave because you don't like several peoplein the company, nor should you stay because of the friends you have madehere. At the end of the day, it is your life. Your friends or "enemies"should not make or break your career. If you let them be the decidingfactor, then maybe you should think twice. You are the craftsman of yourfate and the captain of your ship. Captain Hook shouldn't be one of yourworries!

Do not leave nor stay because of the "brand" of your company. Ifthat was the case, I would have rushed off and sign my JO in "C"! Askyourself whether you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fishin a bigger pond. Know your priorities. Only you can answer that.

Do not leave the company because you're so damn frustrated about theway things are being run, or stay because you have this "messianiccomplex" that you can change things overnight. Be realistic about thethings. Learn to accept that there is no perfect company. Be acceptingthat change is a slow and painful process at times and be thankful thatyou realize and act on things that can be changed and improved.Definitely, do not leave or stay just because your parents want youto. I know I am advocating obedience to parents but again, we are talkingabout YOUR career. But learn to value their wisdom and discern well.

Money isn't everything. The package being offered now might bebetter but look at the long-term prospects. Do not leave or stay justsolely on the compensation package. Look for growth prospects and reviewtheir career plans for you. Your immediate gains today might actually be aloss a few years from now if you do the Math.

Boredom is another challenge all professionals are faced with duringlull periods in their career. Do not leave because you have become sobored with your job. Do not stay either because you want things as theyare. Change is inevitable in any organization. Talk to your boss. Ask formore responsibilities or other tasks if you're bored. Enroll in a specialcourse. If you're satisfied with the status quo and is just waiting forretirement hoping things will stay the same, you're in for a bigdisappointment - either you will be forced to change or you will be forcedto leave. Be ready before that time comes. Boredom or complacency isperennial battle most professionals have to deal with. Arm yourself withcreativity everyday!

Tonight I suggest you rest well. Sit still and listen to what He issaying. PRAY. I have always made my career decisions through His guidance.He was and still is my Career Adviser/Talent Manager. Your work, our work,is a vocation. He knows us more than we know ourselves so trust Him forwhatever plans He has for you. You can never go wrong.

And remember: Use your head to get to the top. But use your heart to stay.

This was sent to me by my officemate..

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in aday are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front ofhim. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and emptymayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked thestudents if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jarHe shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between thegolf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. Theyagreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Ofcourse, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jarwas full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'

T he professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured theentire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between thesand. The students laughed.
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognizethat this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the importantthings---your family, your children, your health, your friends and yourfavorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained,your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house andyour car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no roomfor the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend allyour time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for thethings that are important to you.
'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Sp e ndtime with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit withgrandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out todinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house andfix the disposal. Take care of the golf ball first---the things that reallymatter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows youthat no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a coupleof Beers with a friend.'

Time runs too slow....

I dont want to get sentimental today but I'm not feeling ok. Im not fine if you want to ask..

Everytime I feel like this, one thing is for sure...Im not happy anymore. I am not enjoying anymore. I like to bit my self a little harder for me to be awaken.. But I want to be asleep rather than to realize where am I.. I could never be asleep forever. I have my ambitions that I have to accomplish. Maybe not that luxurious, not that extravagant, but still I can say that I got it.

The road is heading through it. Maybe I'm a little shy, or I'm just a coward. Life's tough!!!

We could never say everything in the air and in an instant, it will all come true.

Nobody could say that I'm not a fighter. But still a fighter is just a man....

I'm thinking of what will happen next. I want a fix plan.. And today, Im afraid of what will happen next.. I dont know what to think and where to run to and to whome to be with...

Im tired, as what I said yesterday, but Im not complaining. It is just what I feel. If you love your work, we will never be tired of doing it. And if you love the people in it, you will wish to be there as always... today, I'm dropping my thumb down for that......

It is 10:40 am, Im here in an internet cafe. I have to do something important today.

My stomach started to ache. I left the house at I think 9:15 am,no breakfast. Im still updating my blog, viewing my friends in friendster, uploading photos... I just finished the program that I'm doing since last night after the short drinking session with Kuya Buddy.

I sent the updated template to the client that badly needs to generate reports today. Well that's life. I have to consider first the client's need before eating. Too bad..

After this I will proceed to our store to eat. Then continue on coding. I need to finish everything before the explosion of the bomb!!

I'm tired. yeah..but Im not complaining. Compalining is bad..chills! It is just an expression of what I feel.

I want to share the Six Inspirational Filipino Quotes To Live By sent to my email by my office mate. Enjoy....

1) Lahat ng problema may solusyon, kung walang solusyon, wag mo nang problemahin.
2) Always remember, kung kaya ng iba, ipagawa mo sa kanila. Don't force yourself, make life easy.
3) Hindi lahat ng gwapo may girlfriend... ang iba sa kanila may boyfriend...
4) Don't face your problem if your problem is your face... umiwas sa lahat ng bagay na nakakaaninag-- salamin; microwave; stainless steel na kawali, kaldero, kutsara, tinidor; mag-pokus sa mga letra kapag nasa harap ng computer screen.
5) Di bale ng tamad, di naman pagod.
6) Praktis makes perfect but nobody's perfect, so don't praktis.

Hehehhe cool lang tayo.

Editorial (Malaya Newspaper, January 26, 2009)

‘The approaching storm is more severe than it appeared last year.’Let’s stop kidding ourselves that the shutdown of the assembly testfacility of Intel in Cavite is an aberration that has only marginal impacton the overall employment situation. The loss of 1,800 jobs at the plantmay pale in arithmetical significance to the 1.5 million jobs Gloria Arroyoclaims her economic stimulus will generate this year. But the jobs Intelused to provide are qualitatively of a magnitude better in terms of incomethan digging ditches, sweeping streets or similar makeshift employment.These are the very jobs – paying higher than minimum wages with generousadditional cash and non-cash benefits - that are about to fall victims tothe global economic slowdown.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines earlier warned that in oneLaguna export processing zone, around 35,000 have already been affected bythe slowdown in foreign demand for electronic and automotive parts. Aroundhalf had been dismissed while the other half had to agree to a shorter workweek just so they could retain their jobs.We do not know where TUCP got its figures. But its estimate fits with otherprojections of a likely loss of 60,000 in the information technology alone.It should be kept in mind that the reverses of the electronic assembly andautomotive parts exporters were not immediate results of last year’sfinancial crisis. The drop in demand for their products was caused by theoverall economic slowdown which came in the wake of the credit cruncharising from the bankruptcies of banks.

The country may have emerged from the dramatic first shocks relativelyunscathed. There have been no bank failures, for example, despite theexposure of some financial institutions in the bankrupt Lehman Brothers.The effects of the economic slowdown, while less dramatic, may impact thelocal economy more broadly and more deeply.The electronics sector accounts for 70 percent of Philippine exports andemploys about half-a-million people. Where Intel goes, the rest are sure tofollow. Automotive parts makers form the next biggest sub-sector in theexport of manufactured products. Here is another industry headed for thesunset.

What remains? There’s the mining industry, another sector whichconsistently tracks the movement manufacturing sector of the developedeconomies. Then there are the agriculture products for exports which happento be tied to consumer demand.The conclusion is unavoidable. The approaching storm is more severe than itappeared last year. Let’s forget about the purported resiliency of thelocal economy and the claimed ability of government to pump-prime it.Let’s batten down the hatches and brace for the worst.?

Labor group identifies65 ‘vulnerable’ firms

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines yesterday identified 65 largecompanies it described as being "extremely vulnerable" to worker layoffsresulting from the global economic crisis.Most of the companies have already implemented some "changes" in theirworkforce, said TUCP secretary general Ernesto Herrera."Many of these firms have already begun laying-off workers, are about toretrench personnel, or have already asked their staff to report for work ona rotating basis, for shorter periods," said Herrera, former senator.These firms, he added, mostly belong to the industry of manufacturingsemiconductor devices and other electronics components; computers, computerperipheral equipment and accessories; TV and radio transmitters andreceivers; and sound or video recording or reproducing apparatus, andassociated goods.Herrera said majority of the companies are located in special economiczones.

The 65 "vulnerable" firms are:
1. Texas Instruments (Phils.) Inc., 2. NXP Semiconductors Philippines Inc., 3. Rohm Electronics Philippines Inc., 4. Intel Technology Philippines Inc., 5. Epson Imaging Devices (Phils.) Inc., 6. NXP Semiconductors Cabuyao Inc., 7. Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines Corp.,8. Ibiden Philippines Inc., 9. Sanyo Semiconductor Manufacturing Philippines Corp. 10. Shin Heung Electro Digital Inc., 11. San Technology Inc., 12. Analog Devices Gen.Trias Inc., 13. Ionics EMS Inc., 14. Nikko Materials Philippines Inc., 15. SIIX Logistics Philippines Inc., 16. Pricon Micro-Electronics Inc., 17. Dyna Image Corp. Philippines, 18. First Sumiden Circuits Inc., 19. Cypress Manufacturing Ltd., 20. Fujitsu Die-Tech Corp. of the Philippines, 21. Vishay (Phils.) Inc. 22. SB Flex Philippines Inc.; 23. Allegro Microsystems Philippines Inc., 24. Katolec Philippines Corp., 25. Fairchild Semiconductor (Phils.) Inc., 26. MD Tech Phils. Inc., 27. Fuji Electric Philippines Inc., 28. Daeduck Philippines Inc., 29. ON Semiconductor Philippines Inc., 30. Nanox Philippines Inc., 31. Sanyo Capacitor (Phils.) Corp., 32. Rohm Mechatech Philippines Inc., 33. P. Imes Corp., 34. NEC TOKIN Electronics (Phils.) Inc., 35. Tong Hsing Electronics Phils. Inc., 36. Poongsan Microtec Philippines Inc.; 37. AMI Semiconductor Philippines Inc., 38. ISPL (Phils.) Inc., 39. Orient Semiconductor Electronics Philippines Inc., 40. Yu Jin Optical Electronics Inc., 41. PerkinElmer Optoelectronics Philippines Inc., 42. Analog Devices (Phils.) Inc., 43. SMK Electronics (Phils.) Corp., 44. Toshiba Information Equipment (Phils.) Inc. 45. Panasonic Communications Philippines Corp.; 46. Fujitsu Computer Products Corp. of the Philippines, 47. Samsung Electronics Philippines Manufacturing Corp., 48. TDK Fujitsu Philippines Corp., 49 Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Philippines Corp., 50. Wistron Infocomm (Phils.) Corp., 51. Calamba Shinei Industry Philippines Corp.; 52. Hoya Glass Disk Philippines Inc., 53. Mistumi Philippines Inc., 54. Nidec Subic Philippines Corp.,55. Sanyo Denki Philippines Inc.;56. Shindengen Philippines Corp., 57. Aikawa Philippines Inc., 58. Trends and Technologies Inc., 59. Fujitsu Ten Corp. of the Philippines, 60. Panasonic Manufacturing Philippines Corp., 61. Sony Philippines Inc., 62. Sharp (Phils.) Corp., 63. Muramoto Audio-Visual Philippines Inc., 64. Clarion Manufacturing Corp. of the Philippines 65.Nippon Antenna (Phils.) Inc.

The TUCP asked the labor department to provide assistance not only todisplaced overseas Filipino workers but also to local employees who losttheir jobs.Assistance, according to Herrera, should include six months of emergencyunemployment loans from the Social Security System, extra child supportinsurance for those with at least one toddler, additional direct cashtransfers from DOLE and/or the Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment, preferential treatment of their children in the grant ofschool tuition subsidy or government scholarships and skills retooling programs to help them find new employment elsewhere.

It is exactly 3:14 PM Saturday, I'm still here in the office waiting for the laptop that I'll be using this weekend. Yeah, I'll bring job at home. We'll this season is tough for us here in FPTI and I should be ready for the worst scenario. I have so many things to do this weekend, to name a few I have to finalize the documents for BOC, apply the changes based from the validated format from the users, I have to accomplish my OBA for the whole week to be sent to the HR by Monday morning (if not I'll probably got a memo).

I just came from a lunch out with my bosses, office mates and with Mr. Presti of PowerOLAP just arrived yesterday from USA. Tonight they are planning for a billiared-videoke session but I decided not to go for an important matter.

I'm lucky today coz our network administrator gave me the access to the internet. Access here in the office is at 12 NN to 1 PM and from 5 PM I think to 8 AM. But its Saturday so I must enjoy the preveledge.

Its 3:25 PM and I'm still waiting for the laptop. Our IT assistant is installing the OS, Office and other drivers on it. It was formatted this morning to remove the virus and I am guilty for that hehehhe.