Much of my non-office browsing during office hours is increasingly being thwarted by the Desk's website filtering system. Previous websites that I was able to access are now restricted. Kudos to the system for becoming more and more efficient (no sarcasm here) but unfortunately (but fortunately for the Desk) this cuts down the stuff that I do when I've got no official work to do.
However, the efficiency of the website visit filtering system has its down-sides as well. While it restricts the average libido-spiced macho Desk employee from visiting porno and sexy sites (FHM is still accessible though), it does filter useful websites such as PAL and Cebu Pacific so barring you from making checks on the next available flight to Davao for a quick meeting. If you're planning to do some extensive research, chances are you'll be hit with restriction when you come across sites that are marked by the filtering system as one of the following: travel, entertainment, hobbies, recreation, entertainment, lifestyle, and sports.
And I think I've mentioned so many times before that the Desk is clamping donw on social networking. So, even my department's small attempts at social marketing (via Facebook and blogs) have already been halted even before they started. Access to blogs that end with .livejournal, .blogspot, .typepad, and others are effectively blocked so if an opinionated writer has written something (negative or positive) about the bank, I won't be able to view it.
That is the life of the Desk employee.
* * * *
My rig, the Compaq CQ40-310AU I bought last year and which was recently alleviated of its "flickering screen" problem now has another problem -- it won't boot up.
It looks like another trip to the HP Service Center is in order this week to have the rig up and running by Christmas break.
* * * *
This weekend, the family, together with friends and other blood-relations will celebrate the first birthday of our little daughter, Issa.
Rissa Kristelle's birthday actually falls on December 13 but it being a Monday meant that the celebration had to be moved either before the 13th or after. We chose the latter. It's going to be a pizza and past party at the same venue where our eldest, Ikai, also celebrated her first birthday.
Our Ikai has actually been declaring for quite some time now she won't be attending Issa's party (jealous, no doubt, about the attention that the littler one is getting). But after much negotiation with her, she agreed to attend because she'll have a part in it -- an important part -- the leading of the prayer before meals :) Now, she is excited about attending and leading the prayer so that's one potential headache solved!
We invite friends to share the celebration with us on Sunday.
* * * *
We're switching cable television providers.
Despite the great channel line-up and the affordability of Destiny Cable, a bad experience with their collectors-technicians has left a bad taste in the mouth. Get this -- even though we already paid our dues for the month of October and November, the cable TV service remains disconnected. And to top that, it's because of the power-tripping of their collector-technician assigned to our account.
I won't go into much detail but the service has been disconnected since November 12. It was reported by the collector-technician to the Destiny office last week. Go figure. I paid the dues last November 26. We've been calling their Bangkal office (where our account was assigned) for reconnection daily since the 26th. Last Saturday, we were told by the Bangkal office that the collector-technician refused to bring back the service! And the office can't do anything about it!
It looks like Destiny Cable is ruled by it's collectors. No, I'm not singling out Destiny because we've been enjoying their service since two houses before and we've not had the pleasure of experiencing the rudeness, impoliteness, and arrogance of their collectors before. It's only now in our current address that we've encountered this.
Given the power wielded by their arrogant collector, even if the service was reconnected, we're sure to be on the receiving end of discourteous service so rather than face that possibility, we decided to terminate the service once and for all.
That same afternoon, we signed up for SkyCable.
* * * *
Anathem is history.
Yes, I've finished reading Anathem some two weeks before and while I liked the story, I thought it was overly too long. The plot itself was surprisingly simple but getting to it was like going through a giant maze with lots and lots of side passages.
Talk about aliens. Yes, Neal Stephenson's take on humans encountering species from another universe (albeit from multi-verses) was a great adventure story that challenged you intellectually. He built a world so familiar yet so unfamiliar that you always had to stop and check yourself -- you're not reading about something happening on Earth although the circumstances, the scenarios, and the people are Earth-like.
In the story, the world is fragmented into two major beliefs -- the Mathic and the Saecular. The Mathic are portrayed as knowledge seekers who believe that everything boils down to mathematics. They don't believe in a god or any god. On the other hand, the Saecular make up the most of the world and believe in religions and gods and miracles. The story intertwines the two worlds and caught in between is the protagonist, one Fraa Erasmas, who emerges as the hero who saves the day (simplifying stuff here so as not to reveal any spoilers).
Stephenson tackles the concept of multi-verse in this volume. Any comic book aficionado will know what multi-verse means but for everyday folks' sake, the concept of the multi-verse is that our universe co-exists with millions upon millions of other universes. Watch the Jet Lee movie "The One" or read DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" for more on the concept of a multi-verse.
It's an interesting read actually do I do find the intellectual discourses at times tedious (I've said before, I'm innumerate!). But all in all, Anathem is one book I'd recommend for someone who likes his intellect to be piqued. If you like your books to make your brains work out concepts and theories then Anathem is a book for you.
* * * *
Currently reading an old book from my library, Cormyr, a Forgotten Realms novel written by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb.
This novel intersperses the current story with historical chapters about the foundation of Cormyr (and the reason why Cormyr has a Royal Wizard) so while you're getting into the thick of the action with the today plot, you're also being given history lessons that will later on answer your whos, whats, wheres, and whys.
I think the last time I read this book was about five years ago and to re-read it now is like reading it for the first time as I've already forgotten much about the story and details that the book contained.
