Modern day Cebuano Crusaders

You never see these guys in a war zone. Nor see them in a full body armor. They are virtually in existence. These are brave Cebuano media men who have spent their lives and fought, and still are fighting against all the immorals in our society. They live their lives exposing corruptions and irregularities in the government and all sectors; fought alongside victims of injustice; uncover relevant social issues. They are our modern day guiding voice.

Tune up to DYRF/AM 1215KHz for Ike Durano's Alagad daily air program from 8AM -9AM. Be vigilant and educated, lend your ears. Fight back and keep fighting.

Feeding the Graveyard Shifters

In way to keep the engine running like a well oiled machine, most fastfood chains in Cebu have begun extending their usual operating hours to 24-hours, round the clock. This is to better serve the growing population who are working on graveyard shifts. For these people, fastfood chains are one of the few alternatives to affordable quick-meals when cafeterias and restaurants are closed. Years ago, the only fastfood chain ( they only offer donut) that is open 24-hours is the Dunkin Donut af Fuente Osmena circle. Now, Jollibee and MacDonalds at the same area are already open 24-hours. So with the MacDonalds at the GY Squire in Lahug. Call center agents, programmers and IT guys can chow anytime to their gusto. Time has changed, so with our diet. Just a friendly reminder to keep in shape, well admittedly circle is shape, right?

System Programmer's Bible

You just knew it just as soon you reached your second year doing system programming for any platforms, be it Unix, Windows, legacy or any proprietary systems. Every programmer dreams of having his or her own library, stacked with variety books and references on programming, operating systems, networking, algorithms, methodologies and specific computing technologies.



While theoretically you can get any books from a local bookstore or order online, you still have to balance the cost and relevance of these books to you and your work, otherwise you will end up stacking with unused books which you will without any choice disposed at a later date. The choice of books usually depends on the particular area of your work and interests, in some cases the books you have just build up as time goes by. But there are really books that you can't live without, these are so called programmer's bibles. They're precious and of endless importance to what you do. For system programmers like me, these are the top of my list.

Pizza craze in Cebu!

Next to coffee, the latest dining craze that hits Cebuano buds is pizza! Geez! Really? Not anymore a symbol of the upper and social class, pizza has come to be like an ordinary food, just as it is to italians. Looking back, pizzas were limited to expensive Italian laced restos and fastfood chains such as Shakeys and Pizzahut, catering the working and upper class eaters. These days, several outfits has sprung out, catering everyone from students, yuppies, working and the upper class. The goodies are very much affordable and so many to choose from. At the top of my head, I could name Pizza Roma, Roma Mia, Da Vinci, Jersey Pizza and the newest fave Yellow Cab, which just opened its second restaurant along the Mango Avenue. This one is serving 24-hours. Mama! Is there anyone who eat pizza at midnight and early dawn?. We'll that shows how hungry-eating-pizza Cebuanos are.

PFEC a scam?

If you've seen the movie "Boiler Room" starred Ben Afleck, Giovanni Ribisi and Vin Diesel, you would be reminded of what PFEC (Performance Foreign Exchange Company) is all about. PFEC which holds office at the Enterprise Building along Paseo de Roxas in Makati was exposed in the national TV through GMAs Mike Enriques 'Imbestigador' segment the other week. Imbestigador really did a superb job in revealing the company's illegal activities. As the segment unfolds, the company was operating an investment scheme through a foreign exchange trade. Clients were urge to invest in dollar account with the assurance of double and triple profit in just a span of weeks but only to be told of a transaction misfortune and dollar fluctuation resulting to unrecoverable loss of their investment, including the initial capital. Gosh! Days later after the historic expose, NBI raided the said office following several complaints of fallen investors. Armed with search warrants, NBI confiscated several computers and equipments to determine how the company operates. At present, the investigation is still on-going. Though I'm not sure if the company still operates or have already closed.

But guys, be cautious, incidentally I saw an adz clipping of PFEC in the local newspaper. They have an office here in Cebu at the North Reclamation area. These guys usually go for people in the upper niche, mostly retirees, balikbayans, high paid IT guys including software engineers and programmers. Should anyone who represents PFEC approaches you, be warned. You already knew...

Programmers secrets to maintaining a healthy life

There was once a story about the early days of the BSD Unix wherein core programmers used to lock themselves up in a room and feed on pizza for a week or until the work is done. This is used to be a normal culture in the IT industry particularly software houses scrambling to get a product out of the line. Hard work and getting the project done in a very short time always come at the expense on the life and health of programmers, software engineers and everyone involve in the project.

For most of us, programmers life is very sedentary. We work on our desk all day which leads to unhealthy lifestyle. I've come up a list of possible ways contributed by friends and associates in the IT industry to balance life and work in pursuit of a vigorous and healthy lifestyle:

• Love what you're doing.
• Get physical.
• Nutritious intake.
• Work with a group or circle.
• Get enough rest.
• Less caffeine and alcohol.
• Exercise and stretching between work.
• Relaxed and conducive work environment.
• Get hitched.

Nowadays, IT companies are very much aware of these and have came up with varying programs aimed to balance the work and life of their employees. If you feel your doing much work and nothing else, please be empowered to consult your Human Resource department for changes.