theSpoke.net

Away for a while
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 7:37 AM

My family and I will be out of town for a few days. I'm not sure what kind of Internet access I'll have, but in case I don't get to greet you: Happy New Year, everyone!

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posted by Didith with

The best Christmas homily in recorded history
Monday, December 25, 2006 5:50 PM

The priest was brilliant. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but this is how his homily went: I prepared a long homily for this evening. However, since I see that many of you are standing and some are carrying children, I will use the shorter

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posted by Didith with

Recent writings; Assessing people
Sunday, December 24, 2006 11:14 AM

Thanks, Alfred for the very kind inquiry. Unfortunately, the only thing I have that's "public" is my blog. There's some creative stuff that's in press. Will blog more when they're finally out. *** In part because I am a teacher and

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posted by Didith with

Vote of confidence
Saturday, December 23, 2006 12:03 PM

Last night, during a gathering of family and friends, I had the opportunity to chat with Reni Roxas, my sister's best friend and my very first publisher. Reni watched me grow up. She's read some of my stuff (good and bad, mostly bad) and she

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posted by Didith with

Finding the will to do
Friday, December 22, 2006 11:58 AM

There's a list of stuff I have to do over the break--books to read, papers to write, cards to send out, dishes to cook, lessons to study, even games to play. The stuff needs to get done. Unfortunately, the spirit is unwilling. It always

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posted by Didith with

Use "nefarious" in a sentence
Friday, December 22, 2006 7:12 AM

Punzki blogs about what seems like natural pairings of certain words. I took exception to the use of nefarious. Coincidentally enough, an article today on Engadget describes Sony's rootkit schemes as nefarious.

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posted by Didith with

The journey
Thursday, December 21, 2006 8:22 AM

It's always discouraging when a door closes, and doors close all the time. It can be difficult to stay positive in the face of people who don't like your work. It takes time and determination to refine your work to a level of acceptance or

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posted by Didith with

Last day today!; Need more grad students
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 9:50 AM

This is the last day of class for this calendar year. I can't wait for the break! *** More and more interesting research opportunities are opening up. We need more grad students to help us! If anyone is interested, let me know.

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posted by Didith with

Family secrets
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:39 AM

Alfred shares an anecdote about keeping secret recipies within the family. I have a similar experience. There's a dish called tamales that we make a couple of times a year. It's different from the Mexican tamale in that the Mexican tamale

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posted by Didith with

More on maturity
Monday, December 18, 2006 8:15 AM

Thanks, Alfred, for your comments. When I was growing up, my teachers always used to tell my parents that they were surprised at how mature I was. Back then, it was a compliment. I was proud that people thought I was grown up.

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posted by Didith with

Maturity is overrated
Sunday, December 17, 2006 3:37 PM

As a mature adult, you are expected to be patient, kind, understanding, generous, forebearing, tolerant. You're supposed to be the epitome of good manners and right conduct. But sometimes, what you really want to do is cut loose--to

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posted by Didith with

Award
Saturday, December 16, 2006 11:27 AM

I attended the Celadon party last night. Remember I said I was nominated for the "Akala namin Terror...pero hindi pala"? To my surprise, I won! Wow, that was unexpected. I must confess, though, that it was a very pleasant surprise.

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posted by Didith with

Responses to Mr_I
Friday, December 15, 2006 7:17 AM

Thanks for the feedback, Mr_I. To respond to the first three questions, I think X could bring some valuable inputs into the picture, but I could find the expertise elsewhere. Also, X doesn't really need redemption because X's bad rep is a

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posted by Didith with

Judgment calls
Thursday, December 14, 2006 1:23 PM

I was considering working with X on a project. I asked someone who knew us both, "Is it a good idea to work with X?" This someone replied, "If you don't have to work with X, don't. I say this as a friend. Don't work with X unless

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posted by Didith with

Funny man
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 8:10 AM

Dr. Toby Dayrit is a brilliant scientist, a highly-respected Dean, and an all-around nice guy. He also has a sharp wit and a really dry, deadpan sense of humor that never fails to catch people off-guard. A sampling: During one faculty day,

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posted by Didith with

Pride and the working man
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:20 AM

He argued that his employer should be nicer to him because he stayed at his job by choice and not by necessity. There were lots of opportunities available. He could get a job somewhere else. He could work as an independent. He could earn more--much

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posted by Didith with

Teaching IT
Monday, December 11, 2006 11:54 AM

What computer-related skills would you teach students in Grades 1 and 2? If you were to write a textbook for "an IT subject," what would it contain? I've looked at several textbooks. They tend to teach keyboarding, parts of the

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posted by Didith with

Congratulations to Wil and Thomas!
Sunday, December 10, 2006 1:43 PM

Let's start with the good news: Wilhansen Li and Thomas Dy were first runner up at the Mapua PaC++klaban contest yesterday! This was a tremendous achievement because both students are freshmen, Thomas was fielded in at the last moment, and

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posted by Didith with

Gratia
Saturday, December 09, 2006 10:25 AM

Several months ago, I wrote that Celadon, the Chinese-Filipino student organization, hosts an annual festival called "Gratia" honoring teachers on the birthday of Confucius. Gratia was supposed to be held in September, if I'm not mistaken.

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posted by Didith with

Opportunity
Thursday, December 07, 2006 8:18 AM

Few things upset me more than wasted opportunities. Not opportunities refused, mind you, but opportunities taken but not appreciated. Opportunities are awarded for any number of reasons--merit, need, connections, etc. Opportunities have

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posted by Didith with

Hitting the ground running
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 9:48 AM

I'm back in school after a few days out of town. I'm actually not supposed to be back until tomorrow but a mess up with travel arrangements brought me home a day early. I should have taken the day off because today is back-to-back meetings

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posted by Didith with

They're baaack!
Saturday, December 02, 2006 12:09 PM

Next week, a group of PAASCU (Philippine Association of Accredited Schools, Colleges, and Universities) accreditors are visiting to review our graduate programs. It looks like accreditation fever is here to stay: over the last four years or so,

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posted by Didith with

When the mind wanders... part 2
Friday, December 01, 2006 1:36 PM

OK, this has to take the cake. My presentation is today and guess what? I didn't make slides! The paper was squared away and submitted two months ago and I just took for granted that I made the slides to match. In a moment of doubt

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posted by Didith with

December 2006 - Posts

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