Echo Binary

SMART WiFi gets a new name — SMART Bro. Smart Comunications Inc. has unveiled on April 21, 2006 in their press release that its fixed wireless broadband will be now called SMART Bro - Amazing Wireless Broadband.

I don’t know what’s the reaction of current SMART WiFi subscribers about this news; however, what I’m sure about is that there are still complains about SMART broadband service. Some reported that the increasing number of subscribers in SMART broadband services had adverse effects on its service quality. Lately, SMART started improving its network facilities by installing upgraded routers (not new?). The network backbone was also upgraded up to a capacity of 10 Gbps but the exact number of core backbones is unknown. Let us hope they have added redundant WAN links in between core backbones to avoid frequent disconnections and limited connectivities.

It’s also a relief that Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) will stop rebranding the same wireless internet service. From now on, PLDT will be reselling SMART Bro in place of myDSL-W instead. That’s practical and more consumers-friendly because getting rid of the 2 annoying brands (SMART WiFi and PLDT myDSL-Wireless), the consumer won’t be confused about the true meaning of DSL and Wifi anymore. At last, PLDT and SMART heard the voice of IT professionals and stopped playing with the hype of WiFi and DSL branding.

If rebranding this old service will bring about changes, let’s hope for the best and wish every SMART Bro subscribers the best of luck.

DISCLAIMER: I’m NOT affiliated with SMART and/or PLDT at all.

Btw, are you aware that there’s Smart bro (not the wireless broadband service). It’s a tabbed browser from Mind Vision Software… eeerrrr?

Links:
Go to SMART Bro official website
Smart: SMART WiFi is now SMART Bro
Technorati Tags: Smart+Bro, Smart+WiFi, PLDT, MyDSL

Yesterday was Java in Manila 2006, the 3rd programmers conference organized by Sun Microsystems Philippines, Inc. It was fun and I believe that it is worth the money I spent. However, I have some disappointments. I’ll discuss it along the way. For now, I’m going to summarize what happened inside Rizal Ballroom, Makati Shangri La Hotel where the event was held.

I arrived 20 minutes before 8 o’clock. I immediately went to Shangri La to find where my schoolmates were. The delegates were already claiming the goods included in the package such as the event ID and a bag filled with brochures. Within few seconds I saw Victor, KC, Tina and Jed at the stairways. After I claimed my package, I joined them and we went upstairs. The light breakfast was served and I lead them for getting the food. I’ve attended several conferences and I know it’s useless to get shy. The food is served for all of us anyway.

The corridor is filled with exhibitors. There’s a yellow stub included in the bag given to us and we were supposed to get the stub signed by 12 major sponsors on the exhibit. Completing the stub entitles the delegates for one raffle ticket for the raffle draw later on the afternoon. I completed mine for about an hour. It’s really silly that most delegates put their attention on the exhibitors first, rather than the main event. I’m not sure if it caused the event to be delayed but the event was already behind schedule even before it started.

Matthew Thompson did the keynote speech. It was interesting but I already saw those facts and figures from Sun’s website already. After his speech, there were 2 demonstrations. I don’t really understand what the other speakers where trying to say. And I don’t have my eye glasses so everything is quite blurred at the projector screen. I could only understand Sang Shin even though he has a very oriental accent. Apart from him, I couldn’t appreciate most of the speakers so I’m quite disappointed at the presentations.

The whole afternoon was a battle between boredom and patience. I enjoyed not because of the talks but because of the food, accommodation and the booths at the hallway. Some exhibitors even gave away softwares and informative brochures about Sun products. I also wanted to finish the conference because I wanted to join the raffle draw. If I go home earlier and I’m not present when my name was drawn, I couldn’t get the prize. Unfortunately, the raffle draw finished and I didn’t get any prize. The consolation prize to all delegates who completed the feedback and Sun Developer Network forms at the end of the conference was a cool Java sport shirt. I think it was good enough for waiting until the very end.

Overall, Java in Manila 2006 is a success. I think that most professional Java developers really appreciate this yearly event. If the speakers had been more appealing to listen, it would be more inviting. I’m looking forward to attending another Java in Manila next year. Let’s hope it would be a better experience

Technorati Tags: Philippines, Manila, Sun, Java, Solaris

It was really a surprising event this morning. We’re all at the 30th floor of PhilAm Life Tower and the OJT orientation we all thought would happen between 9:00 - 10:00 AM was just a pretext to a final screening interview. All of us were nervous. Who won’t? It’s hard to believe that your effort would be wasted in a single blow. Disappointments are bound to happen anyway, that’s why I was not very enthusiast about the orientation this morning because I knew anything could change at the very last minute. And I was right. When I entered CA office this morning, there’s no guarantee yet that I had secured my OJT there. I was surprised but I realized this could happen due to strict selection of interns.

I was chosen as one of the five trainees and I’m sure it’s not luck that brought me here alone. I’m relieved but I felt sorry for those people who were not accepted in. Reality can be really harsh and at times like this, you can always lean back to Him and just hope for the best.

I just remember what the trainor in Trend Micro told me in my previous interview, pertaining to career in IT — You won’t lose any opportunities. It’s everywhere. It’s just a matter of time that it knocks to your door.

Two days ago I was accompanied by my father to Sta. Cruz, Manila to get my NBI clearance at Sta. Cruz NBI center. I can’t remember the name of the building but it’s beside Isetan. After an hour, we left the building with my NBI clearance and we strolled along Avenida. My father is a “Manila boy” as he spent most of his younger years in Manila when he was taking his degree in engineering, so he toured me from Quaipo to Carreido since I’m too peculiar in that area. I missed the good old times when we go to Quaipo just to buy electronics parts at Raon and go shopping for bargains at the nearby stores. That was about 10 years ago when our local area has not been developed yet.

We reached Recto MRT Line 2 (Megatren). My father doesn’t want to ride the train but I forced him anyway. Then we alighted from the train at Gilmore station. My next agenda was to buy an LCD monitor. My father was relunctant to buy, but I was able to pursue my interest. In order to save my eyes from degradation, I really have to buy an LCD monitor to replace my busted CRT monitor.

I immediately went to PC Express Plus. You can say I’m already a patron buyer (suki) because I bought my 160 GB Seagate HD, Linksys router and Radeon 9550 videocard at PC Express.

Right after searching the list of LCD monitors available, I was in a dilemma if I would buy a 17″ or a 19″ LCD monitor, and which brand. I did a prior research but it didn’t help. Typical 17″ costs around P13,500 today while a typical 19″ cost around P20,000. There is a P6,500 difference and it seems to be not cost effective. Again and again, my father insisted that I buy the 17″ LCD monitor only because it won’t fit my PC table at home. I argued that I could adjust the height of the racks, but it’s too troublesome. If I adjust the rack where my printer is located, it would be difficult to reach my printer and it would be very inconvenient to change ink, let alone open the printer cover. Therefore, I just decided to buy 17″ LCD monitor in the end. I used to have a 17″ CRT and it just right for all my needs after all.

My criteria for buying LCD follows the recommendation of CNET monitor buying guide. First I looked at the pixel response rate. I need 8 ms or less because I don’t want ghosting in my games and movies, although 12 - 16 ms will be good enough. I want a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 in 17″. In 19″ LCDs I expect to get a higher resolution, but all 19″ LCDs in Gilmore that I have reviewed feature native resolution of 1280 x 1024 only. If those 19″ LCDs had native resolution of 1600 x 1280, I would have chosen 19″. I also looked for decent luminance and contrast ratio. Surprisingly only one passed the 8 ms criterion — ViewSonic VA712. I thought Samsung 740N is better since it is priced slightly higher than ViewSonic but I was wrong. Although it has a very good contrast ratio of 1500:1 compared to VA712’s 350:1 (typical to most LCDs), Samsung 740N has a 25 ms pixel response rate, so I ditched it off my list. Obviously I chose ViewSonic VA712 because it is clearly the best available LCD monitor currently available. In addition, it has a good picture quality, no dead pixels, and comes with 3 years warranty. It does not have DVI connection though. I don’t really need it because VA712 has an automatic timing correction of analog signal. ViewSonic produces high performance LCDs and I believe in its quality. CNET also reported that most monitors do such a good job of signal conversion that digital connections are not as important as they used to be.

I’m using it right now and I’m very pleased with its performance.

Links:
ViewSonic VA712b
Response time: the faster, the better?
CNET Monitor Buying Guide: LCD basics
CNET Monitor Buying Guide: LCD vs. CRT
ViewSonic: LCD advantages
Technorati Tags: Viewsonic, VA712, LCD+monitor

Several days before Holy Week, some of my friends had a rush of OJT hunting. There are several companies I have applied at the very beginning of our school holidays; however, those companies are either mass hiring for full-time employees or they do not have slots for OJT (how stupid that some companies accepted OJT applications and yet they didn’t even contact applicants. RAWR!!)

Anyway, I am very thankful that a friend of mine, P4, is kind enough to offer a chance for PLDT internship. Some of us simply freeloaded (like me). I don’t know if that’s the best term to describe it but during those dire times, most of us are very desperate to start working on our On-the-Job-Training already because some early birds are already earning OJT working hours during the holidays. We felt that we were left out of the OJT hunting game, but of course it is not just a game that you can give up easily. It’s the prelude for the real world.

Based on the preliminary results of Philippine Labor Force Survey released on March 15, 2006, there are 2.8 million unemployed persons January 2006 already which is equivalent to 8.1% unemployment rate. That’s slightly better than last year’s 8.3% unemployment rate. But still, recent graduates make the number of unemployed people bigger. The expected candidates for graduation this coming August are about to make that figure worse. Scary.

OJT in IT is not simple as it seems to be…. well, at least in my experience. Not so many companies are willing to take in inexperienced college students for them to train in a specific IT field such as Cisco networking, Java programming, UNIX or Solaris administration, blah blah blah… most of the times these positions already require at least a year experience and there are very few companies who entrust their projects to interns. That’s understandable but that’s not the problem. Some IT companies accept OJTs just for the sake of it without offering real training. Some give interns clerical work, typing jobs, all-around assistant positions and whatnots. It’s silly. Some OJTs I found in Jobstreet simply requires you to know MS Word! You won’t even find this kind of OJT serious. If you want to get into a big company and find a serious OJT, it often requires skill aptitude test, screening and some interviews. In reality, finding a company for internship requires a more complex procedure. Your “connections” inside a company such us your relatives, your parent’s friends and sometimes, your friends’ friends to the nth degree, is proven to be very effective to boost your chance of getting accepted. It’s not always helpful though.

Enough ranting. I will now chronicle what happened in my three weeks OJT hunting.

Right now three companies have entertained me in internship — Trend Micro, PLDT and CA (in order of date of application). I couldn’t wait for Trend Micro for their confirmation because two weeks before Holy Week I already took their test and a whole week had passed without any call or email from them. So, I didn’t want to waste more time and tried my luck in PLDT. The process was not easy at all. We had to go at Mandaluyong several times just to complete the requirements. At the verge of giving up, I also applied for CA before Holy Week and I was immediately considered for interview after Holy Week. We went back at PLDT the other day and apparently our OJT application in PLDT had been approved. P4 worked some magic. I thought I will settle for PLDT…. that’s what I thought but CA already clouded my decision. It is really tempting — free breakfast, it’s in Makati, P150 allowance a day, real training and requires me to get up later because the office hours starts at 9:00 AM. I’m probably crazy if I refuse the offer. Although PLDT would provide good internship, I don’t think I’m built for long journey everyday. I could rent a condo in Pasig but it is not practical right now.

The Holy Week passed by so quickly. I have unwound for a while, visited some relatives and breathed fresh air in Batangas. That’s about it. Nothing more exciting.

The OJT blues continued. It’s already the first week of 4th term. To my uttermost surprise, Trend Micro HR department called and I was scheduled for an interview at Libis. OMG… now that’s more trouble. What if I pass the interview, how I do choose the best option? I don’t even know how to go to Eastwood. I rode Taxi when I took the exam three weeks ago! I asked Carl and Lloyd about the proper directions and landmarks. I’m really grateful that they doodled for the sake of the improvised map of Quezon City, Pasig and Makati.

The interview in Trend Micro was ok and I went home thinking that there is a possibility to get the OJT. However, it is very tiring. It’s even farther than PLDT Pasig. It seems that CA is still the most practical choice if I get selected there for internship.

Two days later after my interview in Trend Micro, CA scheduled my presentation and interview on April 20th. I delivered the presentation well but I was nervous. I have not presented in front of a total stranger before in my entire stay in college so I think it’s normal to I get a shiver in front of them. The day after, CA called about the orientation on April 24. Eh? Did they confirm my slot in CA already? Was it implied? I’m not sure but it sounds like they actually accepted me in internship already.

By the end of the day I have decided to go for CA. I know those people who came with us in PLDT would understand my situation, especially P4 because I have discussed this issue with him long ago.

Let us do our best!