June 24, 2001

Ow, my tired ankles!

Yes, I started taking karate classes. As in today, 8am, with Sensei Dr. Martin Villarica and Sensei Lea Rodriguez. My classmates are a mom, her two kids and their two kiddie friends. That makes the average age of the class 15 (I'm 34).

It's amazing how much info you can get on the internet if you're interested in shotokan karate. You can learn about belt colors, rankings and their meanings. (I'm now a white-belt; the prerequisite is ENTHUSIASM. The kids are yellow belts--of course, I'm extra nice to them!)

Are black belts just white belts who soiled their sashes after decades of practice? Not quite. Here's the real scoop.

Why take up karate? When I was in college, I tried judo and was rewarded with bruised hips. Painful, but a lot of fun! After college, I tried aikido and was rewarded with a dislocated left shoulder. Much more painful, but still a bit of fun. A teeny bit.

Then I saw some TV shows where guys were alone, performing some kind of martial arts choreography. It was called kata.

The Amazon Editorial Review of 25 Shoto-Kan Kata (by Shojiro Sugiyama, Peter Panayotou [illus.] and T.S. Fleck) defines kata as...

...a series of defensive and offensive moves against imaginary attacks from different directions. Also, a kata includes many moves for physical exercise and for connection to subsequent moves rather than for actual application.

That's more like it, I silently told myself as I rubbed my sore shoulder. Imaginary attacks--physical fitness, and you get to stay alive!

Anyway, I'll need to practice some stances, punches, blocks, and kicks. Getting from white to yellow belt requires passing 10th kyu testing requirements, or Kiro Obi. There's also a required kata known as Taikyoku-Shodan.

Hmmmm. Does this mean Manuel is going offline? Spend time away from the computer? Well, not exactly. But Chris Barylick's Technology and Social Isolation has definitely struck a nerve:

...The geek culture is cool beyond belief in controlled doses and provides some amazing toys to play with, but it doesn't beat going out and meeting new people or trying something completely different.

So here I am, stepping out more. Meeting more people. And never allowing myself to be fooled, not even for an instant, by smiling, cherubic six-year olds.

It's amazing how hard their fist feels on top of your solar plexus as they let out one bloodcurdling KIAI!

June 21, 2001

Infoworld: When the 'e' drops off. Barb Gomolski. At some point, the "e" is going to fall off e-business, and it's just going to be business as usual. Just when this will happen is anybody's guess. Not next week certainly, but probably several months (as opposed to several years) from now.

WashingtonPost: To B2B or Not to B2B: Still the Question. Carol Vinzant and Neil Irwin. Public Auctions Fail to Deliver, but Company-Specific Online Exchanges Show Promise.

MforMobile: IDC reveal the ten key trends in Mobile Commerce for 2001/2002. The mobile commerce industry remains massively over-hyped. And it's all the carriers' fault. Now tell us something we don't know.

June 19, 2001

Happy Birthday, Jose Rizal! (Although I wonder if Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo students are ecstatic.)

News.com: Microsoft security flaw threatens Web. Robert Lemos. Microsoft said Monday that a "serious vulnerability" in its flagship Web server software used by computers running more than 6 million sites could allow hackers and online vandals to take control of the computers.

News.com: FTC levels charges in Net pyramid scheme. Associated Press. SkyBiz.com, based in Tulsa, Okla., and three partner companies promoted a work-at-home business, charging $125 for an educational software package and the opportunity to earn money by recruiting others to buy the packages, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday. (Hmmm... I guess I'm passing up on my friend's invitation to join Prosperity.com.ph)

June 17, 2001

Happy Father's Day! [origin] As my friend would text me: "Bawal maglaba ngayon, day off natin."

Visited my dad, talked a bit, and exchanged a few books. Now these two are on my "to-read" table: Forgive and Forget : Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve (by Lewis Smedes) and Afterdeath: A New Future for Human Consciousness (by Darryl Reanney). Will let you know how things go once I've read them.

June 16, 2001

Yesterday was Adi's first day of school. Will tell you more about it after I've "recovered."

Been thinking of getting another computer. Maybe this time, I'll try buying a Mac. Computer store retailers, learn from this.

June 14, 2001

Heard over AM radio (DZBB RAM File) that the Vatican, to counter pornography, will come out with its own magazine called--get ready for this--Prayboy. Could this be it?

Got bleary-eyed watching "Alien Cargo" at Skycable. Saw this waifish-blonde who looks (face only) like Aiko Melendez.

News.com: Microsoft "incredibly sorry" about goofed fix. Robert Lemos. Microsoft contritely acknowledged Wednesday that its second attempt to fix an Exchange security hole went awry. Rather than fix the problem--and the security hole--the company's second attempt at a software patch included a catastrophic bug that caused many servers to hang. The company was not aware of the problem until alerted by CNET News.com.

June 13, 2001

Total solar eclipse on Thursday, 21-Jun-2001 09:33 GMT
It is now Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 18:03:23 GMT

June 11, 2001

Phil Daily Inquirer: President Macapagal orders the Commission on Higher Education to study the inclusion of Mandarin as an optional language in the curriculum of colleges and universities. Can you say Ni Hao Ma?

June 8, 2001

The Register: MS patches Exchange 2000 email spy bug. Crackers could ferret their way into a victim's email by exploiting the way that Exchange 2000 allows users to access their in-boxes over the Web. Microsoft has issued a patch; the flaw revolves around the interaction between Outlook Web Access and Internet Explorer in handling message attachments.

Wired: E-Books Out of Print Already? Last year, all anybody talked about was e-publishing. This year, the subject was as rare as an out-of-print book. That's not to say there's apathy about the Internet, e-publishing or e-books. There are just more questions than answers.

NYTimes: More Cutbacks by Consultants as Accenture Trims Its Payroll. Accenture is the latest consulting firm to show signs of strain because of uncertain economic conditions in the United States. Companies that hired the firms in past years are reluctant to spend as much now, industry officials say.

Information Week: Feds Turn To E-Learning To Cut Costs. Faced with tightening budgets, government agencies push for online training for employees.

Webisodes / Flash Fiction
Almost Gone
From The Mouths Of Babes
The Cyborg Sitter

Poems and Essays
Red Orange Juice
Mind Arrest

Technology Articles
How To Protect Yourself From Email Viruses
Create, Market and Sell E-Books

Top of Page