Sunday, November 12, 2006

Tiring Week

My last week activities, were quite stressful and tiring. I was just instructed to go to Malaysia for a maintenance call in Micasa Hotel. They were telling me that users only need to login once, and they can access the internet after without even the need for the login page to come up. It turn out that, it was just an issue of MAC learning, where the authentication gateway will bind the users MAC address to its username login, so everytime a user login, it will be remembered and login page will not be displayed.

We took the Konsortium bus for Kuala Lumpur in Golden Mile Tower and we paid  29 SGD for each  ticket. It took us almost two hours just to reach Woodlands  Checkpoint. And another almost 5 hours more to reach KL, because of heavy rain in the highway which causes  a traffic gridlock.  It was almost 3pm, when we check in at Micasa Hotel. I worked until 2 am in the morning just to simulate the login issue. I was also having problem on my Ovislin VPN box which is not functioning well. I was trying to setup a PPTP server in the VPN box, to allow remote access from the Internet. However, with the PPTP server running, i still cannot access our hotspot gateway in the private network.

Then on Friday, I was again instructed to pick up the Lok box from an ISP to deliver it to another ISP somewhere in Midvalley Hotel. I was able to transfer the Lok box to their office and was told that their technical director was so busy to see me. Then, by 5 pm our Project Consultant for Africa, called me and was asking why his PC was picked up from his desk without his permission. Well, I have to explain again to CEO that it was a temporary PC which was provided to that consultant, while waiting for his laptop.

It was a stressful day...and I feel so exhausted....and then my supervisor called me and telling me to work on technical proposal on weekends. Hmmm, they were not even concern that I worked until early morning. They are not paying overtime fees for all the holidays and extra hours I have worked before, and now they want me to work even on weekends. Grrrr....well thats the life of an overseas foreign worker....no choice.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Back to the Fountain





It was weeks ago that I decided to visit again the place where I spent my time alone, on the first month that I arrived in Singapore. Our office before is located in Suntec City where in front is the Fountain of Wealth, the largest fountain in the world.

Being a freak I was, I find the moments emotional since I remember, this was the same place where I used to sit down, in front of the fountain until my eyes got so tired. It was the loneliest moment then as far as I can remember. For 30 days, I have no one to talk to in the office. I spend my whole week after office hours, sitting in these chairs.

Our office is now in Jurong East and this place is quite far. I was alone and trying to reminisce the nights where I just sat down here and listened to the music being played by the DJ, while watching the Lights Show display.

It was Friday evening.....and there were quite many spectators roaming around the fountain. I have written about this Fountain in my previous blogs, but I just want to post this again for sentimental reasons.Hmmmmm.....freakin emotional of me...i should have been a drama movie director instead.

As of this time, although I am still alone, I am having my MP3 player filled with alternative music to rock my ears. In this way, it will keep me smiling and rockin....

Saturday, September 16, 2006

empty sentiments


This blog has been a mixture of feelings and tecnical stuffs that sometimes I cannot identify what really is the purpose of this writings of mine. It was 7 pm in the evening, and I was walking below the Jurong MRT lane..it was dark already and I was watching the myriad of lights around Singapore. This was the same view for 5 months now ...the same lights..the same air..that I always encounter whenever I am going home from the office.

I am not sure that it is just maybe of my sensitiveness or is it just the feeling..that in a far country like this, you always feel alone...even if you find friends and people you meet everyday...there are times that you feel empty. I tried in going to places like Orchard just to kill time and relax..but I found nothing. The emptiness in me feels worst instead.

Is it the place or is it just me.....I have to admit that I am not used to of being alone back in Philippines..in the office even at home. I am always the lively one, the funny one, the noisy and sometimes the life of the group. But here, it seems being alone is part of being here....if you work hard, then you have to be alone....you have to focus....and forget being with the group.

But yeah.. I know being able to work here is a privilege...that many Filipinos like me have dreamed of. To be able to earn enough money which you can share with everyone back in Philippines. Being here..makes me a hero..a real hero not to the government, but to the eyes of my family and friends. Everyone is proud of you and will always mention your name on their conversation.

But have you tried asking yourself....are all your efforts being appreciated? what if time will come that you have to go home..no more job here. You go home, without a job.....then you find everyone expecting so much on you.

You have no choice but to repeat the same cycle again, find another job overseas and experience of being far away again or you will choose to start from scratch and stay in our country.So many questions I have in my mind..but yet answers may not be as clear as I expected them to be...

Hmmmm..as of now, I have to enjoy myself watching the rain.....if possible count every droplets that falls from the sky.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

at instant in 3 hours

I was so surprised when this afternoon 1 pm, when 4 men came inside my room with planks of wood. They said they will renovate the room and will put tables and cabinets. What? I ask, why today when I have so much work to do?...I was thinking it would take them the whole afternoon to finish it. And yet after 3 hours of banging around, this is what they have done to my corner...FROM THIS



TO THIS........IN 3 HOURS...This is our new system integration room, where I will stay for the next year to come.



Ok, for an opening, need to have a pose...hehehehehe. Did I fit in?...hehehehe looks smart though dumb at all times.

My test nook in Delta Network


After Micasa Hotel, another prospective project in Malaysia is coming in. An this time it is a 3 building apartment with 25 stories each. Quite a big apartment, and I am not sure for how long will I stay in Malaysia for this one.

Anyway I am here in my office, facing my Intel Server,Compaq Presario and Dell Inspiron 630m laptop. There is no really many things to test here, unlike when your working in an ISP or a telecommunications company. I am spending my time, just exploring the features of this Lok box, which as of now I find discouraging. I have been in contact with their US tech engineers, but it seems that most of those who responded were not that really familiar with the box.

Well here I am..in my new test nook as I call it. Quite a private room, which I will share with a Russian CDMA engineer, Alex. He will be putting his Agilent CDMA test Analyzer in his table, and I will be putting my Data cabinet at my side too.

Next week, some contractors will be coming here to construct the tables and cabinets for this room, so I am expecting that this room would look more arranged.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

nonsense sentiments

For all the days...this is the path I always took when going to Jurong MRT. The MRT lanes above serves as the roof, especially when it rains.


Here I am... under the concrete Jurong MRT lanes. With the indifference of the place, the only friend I have to listen to was the MP3 player which I bought for 69 dollars in West Mall. In times like this...music is my ultimate retreat and comfort.



Yes...my adopted home in Singapore, which brought much comfort and memories in my entire stay.



The flat where I stayed with both of my Indonesian housemates Didi and Ari. The sala is facing the swimming pool, which makes it accomodating and convenient.


This is the view that will greet you whenever you get inside Montrosa...such a nice place, i can say....although there are times that I find the place so empty....so lonely.....

Saturday, September 09, 2006

The Green Palm Tree

After a long 3 weeks in Malaysia, i am just so happy to be back here in Singapore and go on with the normal and convenient life of being here. It was a nice morning.

And this is the first view I see, the moment i opened my eyes from my 7 hours deep slumber. A GREEN PALM TREE. The palm tree who greets every morning and wave her leaves as if telling me..wake up Kristian for the new morning is waiting for you.















So I got up and opened the window, then look up to the sky, complimenting the new morning with its beauty and admiring the sight with my friend..the Green Palm Tree.














With all the hassles and bustle of daily life...with all this gadgets mingling with our lifestyle, with all the friends hanging around you, with all the pain, pressure and hardships we have survived..sometimes the best friend we could have is someone who just show us how beautiful the world is...even she remains silent and would never speak to you..but by her simple sway..you truly feel then she is there..admiring you...looking at you and telling you..Be thankful because God Loves you so much.

Thats my true friend...the Green Palm Tree.She never speaks to me..but she has told me everything I need to know...

Thank God it is Saturday.......

Monday, August 28, 2006

Happy Birthday Kristian - self message



There might be so many times that life has been hard for you....moments that has battered and whip you with pain and fatigue....but remember that you have survive it all....God as always has been good to you, through the years...

You might be unperfect and has done mistakes but it is bringing joy to your loved ones and striving to make them happy, what makes you important...

For once, stop thinking.....free up your mind..lighten your heart....release your worries,anxiety, self pity and negative mindedness to the air...keep smiling...

You might not be as 100 percent happy on this day of yours...but i know persons who love you were happy for you..that you have reached this number of years to love them....and care for them...And you know deep in your heart that they always pray that youll have more birthdays to come....

Happy Birthday Kristian....

Friday, August 11, 2006

alone at Micasa Hotel



Until now I still can't believe myself that here I am staying in a 5 star all suite hotel...in a well furnished room complete with a big bathtub, TV, refrigerator , kitchen, small sala, and a soft white bed. Hehehe so much for being ignorant. But this is my first time to have stayed on this kind of a hotel. I will be spending my days and nights here alone for 3 weeks, until the wireless hotspot project is finished. The question is how did I manage to stay in this expensive room, with my company not complaining about the expense?Well, it is because this is free..hehehehe for the whole duration of the project.

As of now i have just finished the first phase of the wireless hotspot project. Together with my Malaysian cabling contractors, I was able to pressure them, to finish the whole building. Hmmm, I still remember on my first job, where I used to follow orders from a Malaysian supervisor...and now here I am giving orders to a number of Malaysian technicians. However, this people were really good in their field, to be honest compared with our cabling guys there in CDO. The UTP and power cables were placed and installed neatly in the ceiling. But what is interesting here is that, during my work with Dataworld, I was the one who climbs and crawl in the ceiling..but now I just stand and give orders for them to crawl in the ceiling. Hehehehehe, do you feel the wind now?.....sorry i am just very enthusiastic on this things, simply that i did not expect to have this kind of job here. But, honestly..with this kind of responsibility, i am also quite nervous of the outcome of this project. Once, this one fails, then goodbye to me.....Hopefully not.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Wifi at Micasa

I am quite busy as of this moment, since i have been coming back and forth in Kuala Lumpur for 3 weeks now. Micasa Hotel is quite a challenging project for a wireless hotspot, considering that it has very thick walls, double layer doors and marble corridors. I have done several signal test, with all the access points placed in the lobby area, and the maximum signal I can get is 60 percent inside the room. Well, this value is quite enough for a stable internet access as long the signal is not intermittent. I have use Netstumbler and WirelessMon from Passmark in getting all the parameters and information I need. Hopefully, my management will approve my request for a license on Airmagnet Survey Pro, which I think is more powerful and accurate for a wireless site survey.

Fortunately, I have the freeware WireShark to help me in doing the packet analysis for the wifi packets transmitting between the AP's and my laptop.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

The magnificent Batu Caves in Malaysia

After a gruelling day of visiting the clients and discussing with our contractors for the Micasa Hotel Project, me and my sales manager decided to take an hours off by visiting the famous Hindu temple in Malaysia.

The  Batu Caves are situated
thirteen kilometers (seven miles) north of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. They
are the sacred place for the Hindu's in Malaysia. They consist of three main caves and a number of smaller ones.
The caves are made of limestone and 400 meters long and
100 meter high. They were discovered in 1892. From your hotel in the Golden Triangle
you can reach the Batu Caves easily by taxi or public bus (11 and 11d). The
public busses can be boarded at the Pudu Raya Bus Terminal in Kuala Lumpur.


At your arrival you will be greeted by lots of monkeys. They are going for your
peanuts and banana's, which  you can buy in several shop, before you climb
up to the caves. You have to climb 272 steps, which will lead you to the religious and
magnificent Batu Caves.


We took a taxi and pay 20 Rinngits for us to be there.When we arrive, my indian sales manager stop for a while and offer his prayers. Then we took the 272 steps leading to the main temple at the top. The temple is guarded by a giant statue of Hindu God Lord Murugan. Quite a sight really, especially the cathedral like cave inside. There are a number of Hindu stautues inside which represents Hindu God, while Indian priest prayed, giving blessings to Hindu devoteess coming for a visit.

By 5pm, we took the bus back to Kuala Lumpur and paid 2 Ringgits.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The power of Lok Box


I attended a technical training for Lok Technology at the 3rd floor office of IDS in Creative Building. It was just infront the Strategy tower, so it is only a walk away from our office. The training location was on the Qualacom Datacenter conference room. It was conducted by Russ Grant, the technical consultant and a former technical manager of American Airlines.

The product was more of an all in one network appliance which covers all basic network services needed for an ISP operation. As they say it is like a ISP solution in a box. With one box you can have a bandwidth manager, firewall, intrusion detection, router, proxy server/web cache, billing server, RADIUS, etc. It is like a box of network goodies rolled into one. Imagine putting up an ISP with only 1 box in your rack. Of course, as a technical guy, we always ask about its performance. In a appliance like this, we always ask, in what service does it perform best? As a bandwidth manager and a firewall? As a proxy server and RADIUS? Or just as a billing server. But with altogether you run them all, then we ask about its limitation, reliability and mean time before failure. It is basically a new box, although its inventor Simon Lok a very popularly known scientist-genius, who was noted by his colleague as tech crazy, for using a 3D eye glass as his monitor, is quite long in the networking business already.

The training was quite informative, mostly discussing the features of the Lok Box. With all those features, i dont think 2 days is enough if we would like to discuss everything. But in summary, configuration is very simple. A GUI console accesible by a web browser and then you read click, read click. Hmmm, those CCNA fanatics will never like this box, typing commands on the console is quite cool than clicking on those window based console hehehehehe.

The training ended 2 pm, and I have go back to the office. Friday, i was told to visit CommunicAsia exhibits to source out some network solutions available in the market. Then, at friday afternoon, i was told to stay because Bangladesh visitors are coming, and i have to present Lok box. Then, night came, nobody came..of course it is the last day of CommunicAsia, those guys are already drunk and prancing around bars and clubs before going home to their country.

Well....we still have the Net to surf.........



Wednesday, June 14, 2006

kay bisaya man gud

haay kakapoy ba aning kinabuhia, sa balay inenglis, sa opisina eninglis napod kay wala man ta kauban nga pinoy. wa na ako englis nahurot na, usahay lami kaayo magsinggita ug bisaya para makaistorya pod ko. Usahay tawn magistorya ko ako kaugalingon para lang makabisaya ko. Naa pod ko mga kadula ug badminton, puro pod tagalog, dili gihapon ko ka bisaya, haaaay kakapoy ba ani. Usahay matingala ko ani mga intsik diri, mga sapian man unta pero pirti kahilig ug mugbo nga sinena. Maorag ang mini o micro ba tawag ana, pirti kauso, pastilan kita tawn nga gikan sa layong syudad, mag cge na lang pangag-ho.Ho!!! Naa poy uban diri nga pirit kahilig ug high tech na apil bakos naa gadagan dagan nga LED nga suga. Pastilan magkatawa na lang ko ako ra usa, kulang ani nila antenna sa ulo para mahimong robot.

Sa tinood na lang gabidlion nako cge kaon aning pansit nga sabaw nila, dili nako kasabot sa pagkaon. Tungod tawon sa ako kaignorante, pa sosyal lagi order pod ko Korean food daw, pastilan pirti kahalang, lami kaayo isyagit ug tabang, ug lain pa ra ba diri kay ang drinks lahi ug palitan nga corner, pastilan pirti nang halanga, galuha na ako mata. Mao lagi na magbasa basa, unsaon nga inintsik man pod nakabutang didto unsaon nako pagkabalo nga halang tu.

Bilib pod ko diri kay ang bus didito ra jud mohunong sa bus stop. Ako nga ignorante lagi, pag abot sa bus doul sa ako gipuy-an puypuy dayon maorag pinas ba, tweeet tweew!! ayay dili amn diay pwede, gitan-aw ra tawn ko sa driver nga natingala. Hulat pa tawn ko pila ka minutos ayha nihunong ang bus didto sa sunod nga bus stop. Mao!!! baktas napod ko pabalik. Samot ta kaniwang ani diri.

Ganahan pod ko diri, kay uso ang sapyot! heheheh sa pilipinas maulaw ta inshirt kay wa lagi ta sampot, apan diri pastilan kadaghan ga insert, way mga sampot. So kita para sunod sa uso, inshirt pod ta, tutal daghan bitaw mi sapyot...hehehe lipay pod ko.

Naa pod ni mga indiyan diri, nga wala ko kasabot ngano pirti kabaho sa ilahang mga ilok. Moarag wala gani sila kaila unsa nang tawas, basta hapon na ting pamauli, pastilan maorag lami na kaayo dili moginhawa sa bus. Mo utong na lang ka pagayo, hangtod ka mga mo kaging para dili nimo masimhot ilaha ilok.

Pero ako lang pansin, pirti ka mga slim ani mga intsik diri, kargado man gud sila ug baktas. Uso kay baklay diri, mao na baklay lang pod ko. Dha tawn sa ato kada corner sakay, tapos hunong bisan asa, diri tawn kung imo opisina isa ka kilometro sa bus stop, wa ka choice baktas ka paingon didto. Gusto ka hatod didto, sakay ka taxi nga pirti kamahal. Plete sa bus 65 cents, sa taxi paglingkod nimo 2 dollars na. Sa ato 60 pesos na. So baktas na lang ta...para tipid.

Haay ok na, napagawas na nako ako bisaya.....diri na lang ko kutob.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

My own corner in the office



From Suntec City Tower One, we have transferred to International Business Park. The Strategy last Monday. I have spend my whole Sunday afternoon, putting all the PC of my colleagues in their respective cubicles. And I was happy since I was given my own cubicle and a table, not really a big one but having your own private corner to work is much better. The office was really big, wide and beautiful, with all the view of the garden around us. It is like working in the center of the park, where you see the plants, birds and the small fountain from your table. It was really nice, much better since the company's CEO has declared one big room at the side of the conference room as my IT laboratory and testing room. Hmmm at last, before in Philcom i have place myself in server room just to have a test area, and here they are giving me the whole room. Well, the problem as of now i still dont have nothing to test except for a lone win2000 server, 2 wireless access point, 1 small USB voip gateway and a lot of UTP cables. Well, the only difference is that i have my own laptop to use, a silver color with white plastic outline DELL Inspiron 630m, which makes it like a MAC notebook from afar. To make it more MAC-like i use the FlyakiteOSX to change the Windows theme. Hmmm, everybody in the office were asking me then, why i am using Mac.

Late this afternoon, i have spent my whole time trying to think ways how to crack the administrator password of the Win2000 server given to me. I ended asking the help from KLUG mailing list. While waiting for their response, i also made my own googling around the net, looking for the solution. Burn a CD with EBCD software, and boot it up. Reset the machine adminstrator password to none and reboot Win2k server to directory server restore mode and then go to registry and edit some keys as instructed by www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm


Saturday, June 10, 2006

the badminton fever goes on

I was invited by my indonesian room mate for a badminton tournament at Bukit Gumbah Sports hall this morning. Didi my Indonesian friend, decided that we walk in going to Sports Hall. The view in going there was quite beautiful and nice, especially the lake beside the road.Then at the sports hall, there were 6 Filipinos also waiting for us. They are SAP programmers/administrators working for HP, Levis, Creative Tech, Sony and Panasonic. I am with a software developers group and i am the only one who works with hardware. The badminton was good enough with the 3 Filipinos who are quite good and my Indonesian room mate Ari was also a good smasher. I was still adjusting to my brand new Yonex Carbonex 8000 racket at this moment..heheheh...in CDO, this racket was just a dream. However, i still want to have that 200SGD racket which cost 13K in Philippines...hopefully. Well, at least for now i am happy that i can play badminton now to ease my homesickness.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Whats in a name?....Kristian

at last after 4 days and i am back in Singapore. We go by bus and only paid 30Ringgits for the one way trip. Actually, Malaysia is just a bridge away from Singapore. It was always raining hard in Kuala Lumpur, so we have to take a taxi cab wherever we go. People in Malaysia were generally a mixed race of Malay, Indian and Chinese. Since, we Filipinos has the same facial features with them, it always ends up that they talk to me in Malay language. Well, i just smiled and sheepishly telling them " No Malay, only English". But one thing that really suprises me when, i was asked by our Malaysian colleague by my name. I answered. "I am Kristian". "Ahhhh, he quips. "Your name is very familiar, you know Jericho?....Pangako Sa Yo? My God! i never realized that Jericho Rosales was so popular here that everyone knows her character name in that telenovela Pangako Sa Yo. They were smiling and telling me, how they watched everyday Pangako Sa Yo every night with their family. It was quite a surprising information for me, however it puts a little pride in my face for such recognition by one of our actors Jericho Rosales.

Well, also i remember last time when my Indonesian roommate told me how popular is Christian Bautista in Indonesia. At least, our fellow countrymen have brought pride to us through their talents. Perhaps, if i go to Indonesia soon, my name would still be very familiar...hopefully.


Tuesday, June 06, 2006

The amazing Petronas Twin Towers of Malaysia

Wow!!! was all i can say....it was really quite amazing and a spectacular sight at night.  It is a world landmark for Malaysia, and it is really beautiful, specially at night with all those lights. We are to meet that night a guy from an ISP based here in Malaysia, for a dinner meeting. So we walked around together with my colleague looking for a good place to eat. It was quite really amusing because my Indian friend is looking for spicy foods, while I am for the non spicy ones. Two different taste from two different worlds...At last, we meet the guy and his technical manager at Suria KLCC. It is a crescent shaped restaurant located at the foot of the Twin Tower. Really, as i was looking up the towers, i know i have only seen this in the Internet, but now here i am dining at its very foot...hmmmmm lucky me...perhaps.

We stayed at Micasa hotel, a 5 star all suite hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It is really a good place, and we paid about 200Ringgits per night for the accomodation. It was quite expensive really when you convert it into peso but in Singapore dollars, it is the cheapest yet high class suite already. The room is very wide with all the amenities inside, even a complimentary chocolate bars.It is one room that i have never sleep in before. In Manila, it would cost you 2000 for a night just to lay on that bed. Yeah, nice bed, nice room and nice place, but we have come here to work, so not really to enjoy the sights. Perhaps next month i have to come back here for a site survey on this hotel. We are currently talking with our partner here in Malaysia, to connect this whole place to the Internet wirelessly. So many foreigners are living here and you bet, Internet is one service that they would like to have.


Sunday, June 04, 2006

TrainSignal CWNA Video

I tried searching for Wireless reference with Bitlord and i found one torrent on Train Signal Wireless. It is one of the best training video i have watched so far when it comes to wireless. I have spend my whole afternoon watching the videos...I am quite alone today because my two Indonesian room mates were out watching the movie Xmen 3. The demonstration on Netstumbler, AirMagnet, Airdefense and Qcheck were quite very interesting. Also the demo on WEP and WPA cracking using the AirCrack tool. Well, i have to prepare my clothes for I have to be in Lavender MRT by 7 am. I can take a bus going Bukit Batok and has to spend 30 minutes in MRT I guess to arrive there. Malaysia is just very near Singapore and you can take a bus in going there. Well, gotta sleep now........

Friday, June 02, 2006

Malaysia Trip


I was told by our Sales Manager that i have to prepare for a Malaysia trip this Monday. We will be meeting an ISP there who has a project in a 5 star hotel. The project is wifi hotspot for all the 290 rooms, 3 restaurants, 2 conference rooms and the whole building lobbies. We have to convince this ISP that we are the experts on this kind of thing...brrrrr and do you know who is the expert they were referring to?.....ME.

The letter send to them reads like this,..our wireless technical specialist will be coming also to discuss technical details on the project. I have done test on 10 different radios but hotspot as big like this..not yet. But, again...once technical always technical...It is just a matter of signal mapping, getting the location of access points, getting signal strength and plotting the signal into a diagram. AirMagnet surveyor is the expert on that, although it cost 2000 USD. So for this trip, i just have to use Netstumbler to get SNR, Signal Strength, Noise margin, etc.

Well, i dont have a digital camera, so no pictures for this Malaysia trip, but somehow i am quite sure i will be going back there for many times. Hopefully, we got this project so i have something to be busy about for the whole year.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Singapore Life

I am quite amuse really last time when i was travelling on a bus, i notice i already consumed my 10 SingDollars in my Ezlink card. I only found out now that you have to swipe your card the moment you enter and leave the bus. I spent 1.55 SingDollars for every travel, when in fact I need to pay only 0.75cents. Ohh my gosh, it has been a week and I was only swiping my card whenever I enter only. That is one lesson for us who comes from a country where swiping cards were not really that popular. Here, in Singapore everything seems to be cashless, except for the food i think. On the Bus and MRT, you have to buy an EZlink card where you deposit a minimum of 10 SingDollars on it. Then you use this card whenever you travel by MRT or by bus. Actually, here you talk always about travel time, not travel distance. Really, it is so convenient in terms of transporation here. Now for a Filipino like me, it is really amazing to notice that this is one country with too many lanes, highways and roads and yet not a single soul of traffic police in the road. They do not need traffic police, because everybody was following traffic rules. Really i can say that this is one small island country which must be emulated by all other Asian countries. I wonder if Philippines can also do this?.....imagine such a small country yet very well known globally.

Right now, i am really trying to adjust on the food. Chinese food are quite good, but sometimes our taste buds is still adjusting. Indian food are quite spicy and I am not really a fan of spicy foods. Today, i spent my whole morning walking around the city and looking up in the map, to locate my office and the Ministry of Manpower. I just got my Employment Pass, and again I noticed their government employess were quite courteous and accomodating. You will just get Q ticket on the Q ticket machine. Wait for your number to be displayed on the LCD and then after minutes you will be served and voila finish. Also, in the Medical checkup, it took me almost 2 days when i was applying for Philcom, and here it only took me 20 minutes and everything finished from blood to physical check up. Hmmmm, mind you, even taking the blood pressure was automated.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Suntec City



Our office is located at Suntec Tower One. The place they called as the Suntec City, consist of 5 towers constructed in a circle way around a very huge fountain (Fountain of Wealth) which according to Guinness World Record is the biggest fountain in the world. So that night, same ordinary boring night, I decided to sit down near that fountain and just wait until 10pm. It was a sight, when the fountain starts its Lights Show. There were 5 spotlights (I think…) pointed towards the very huge fountain, which creates amazing patterns on the flowing water. It was beautiful really but it only made my homesickness worst…well at least I can still control it. There were quite few Filipinos around this area or maybe I have not seen them yet. Lovers were sitting, cuddling and hugging around the fountain. Then I noticed that after the Lights show, the water stopped and people began encircling the center fountain 3 times. The center was like a Jacuzzi where it continuously gush water from its pipe. The announcer said, it was for good luck, and the people are touching the water from it. Hmmmmm, someday I will come down there, to do the same…..perhaps it will bring good luck and wealth to me also.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Singapore Here I come

I arrived here in Singapore just last May 17, 2006 at exactly 6pm. Changi International Airport was one amazing clean airport here. Singapore from the airplane looks like a woven carpet. Trees and bushes were planted in an unbelievable straight line. This was my first day here, so I was a little bit nervous at the same time. Singaporeans are generally nice and smiling. Just like a typical Chinese. Also there are so many Indians living in Singapore. Then I was told to go to Waterloo Hostel 55 for my accommodation and there I was met with a huge room and the scenic view of the Singapore Arts and Museum and Bayview Hotel. It was a good sight, but really I was very lonely thinking of my family in the Philippines. The hotel was located on the Waterloo street crossing the Middle Road and Bencoleen Street. It was really quite a peaceful and silent evening for me, so is started strolling around the corner, to ease out my loneliness. I noticed a fashion show in Nanyang School of Arts Academy, so I stop and watch for a while. These Singaporeans were quite good on those dress designs. They were having foreigners as their ramp models. Then I gone into a Hindu temple near the Bencoleen street, where I sit for a while watching every people passes by. It was festive on that area but really I was still lonely, perhaps just trying to adjust on my environment.

Hopefully I can buy a digicam in the future so I can post some pictures here. As for now, I have so much to tell you, but I will take it up on next post.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Being wacky in IT

Spending too much time in server room and watching these blinking lights, lcd monitors and green/red icons, makes you feel little bored sometimes. So its time to be wacky.



IT Room is hunted.....I see people..ugly people.



Spending quality time with servers...smile people for once!!



Muse of IT room..hehehhe not exactly from our department but a good friend of the group



Hmmm..let us relax dude, time for a snack.



Work all of you!!! or I will eat you!! har! har! Is that the manager?...



The original group...IT SYSOPS...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

A journey to a new path (Singa)

I just received a message from Delta Networks yesterday that my employment pass for Singapore has been approved in principle. It was good news and a mixture of happiness and sadness swirls in my heart that moment. Happy, because I will have the opportunity to work in a country which is known for its world class IT services and sad at the same time because i have to leave again. It was written in the Bold Letters "to work as a WIRELESS SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST". Well, well i do not know yet what faith prepares for me on this new journey. I heard i will be crossing Asian countries every now and then. Hmmm nice to hear, but as they said, gotta read and study the contract very well. When in doubt ask and negotiate. Salary is not really that high compared to a system administrator working there in Singapore, but i was hoping other benefits would come in aside from the basic salary. Well, hope that if crossing countries will be part of this job, then expect that i will be blogging it every now and then. Bye for now.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Damn print server....problem

Its been so long ...and here i am blogging again. Been with too many things to think about that i forgot about blogging lately. Well, today is Holy Friday, and here i am facin this monitor and watching some CCNA tips from a LearnKey CD given to me by my friend from Globe Telecoms. Well. i just remember a week ago, i was there in Meter King Office tryin to make an old Infosmart printer server run in their network. The network was not that really complicated, but it was setup into 2 different networks, to protect the group of PC which access billing and inventory applications in windows 2000 SQL server. It was already 8 pm and I still this little white box is not running. I have to search for 5V/1A power adapter in Divisoria just to power up this thing. Well, it took me hours to find one 4.5V/1A, costing 500 pesos. I installed the Printer monitor software and let it run, and whoa!! and the HP printer was displayed but still the port status where it is connected is OFFLINE. Tried to directly connect the PC to it and still Port status is offline. I can detect the printer server, configure it, but the printer connected to it will not go online in the network. I have tested all ports but still the printer cannot be seen in the network. The printer config software uses NETBIOS to look for the printer server and the printer server communicates with other PC through IPX protocol. Already enabled IPX on all WinXP PC but the HP Printer is still offline. Then, at the last minute i decided to use ethereal to trace down what could be the possible problem. And there, it is....Printer server ARP and IPX broadcast is considered unknown by every Windows XP machine. Only a Windows 98 PC can identify the printer server, so it turns out that this box is of no use in a Windows XP network.Hmmm..too bad this old printer server is already obsolete and does not offer any firmware upgrade in its website. It was 9 pm when i left the place and goes straight to office for my graveyard shift.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Sun x2100 dual AMD Opteron server testing


I have been playing with this new server from Sun Microsystems, which has a dual AMD Opteron processor. Quite a petite pizza box but with powerful specs. Start test with the installation of Suse Linux Enterprise 64bit 9, however it was a failure since it hangs up everytime it starts extracting packages. We tried to use Suse Linux Enterprise 9 32bit version and everything went fine and OK. Again, we reformat the hard disk and installed it with Suse 10 just to verify if it went well.

BURN IN
While installed with Suse 10. we did stress testing of its CPU, Memory and Hard Disk with an open source stress testing software. We emulate by forking 13 processes, each of which spins in a tight loop calculating the sqrt()
of a random number. A CLI command was provided to run such kind of load emulation. Then we installed a Windows Vista Beta version and run Prime95 to stress test again. Ater that we run CLIBENCH as a benchmark tool. The results was compared with another Intel Xeon Server. Quite a good test, at least we can identify possible values which can be used as references.

Right now, i am installing it again with Suse 10, and well try to install the Linux version of CLIBENCH which is GLIBENCH. Well try to compare if the results on a windows Vista OS if is the same with Suse 10 OS.

By the way SLES 9 64 bit installation failure was pointed to a Service Pack2 ompatibility with x2100 hardware. We have not tried it yet with SP2 since it is really a large file to download. Dataworld is already calling for the return of the said unit.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

life so hard nowadays

Quite out of topic but my I am just not feeling good writing about my chronicles on IT stuff....perhaps I would have to change the title of this blog from chronicles to outpours as suggested by one of my colleagues in Customer Traffic Services. Utilities such as CEPALCO, Water District, even Philcom began adding the 2 percent RVAT on all bills. Recently, last week CEPALCO informed us about the 3 percent additonal on our bill since the 3 percent Prompt Pay Discount was cancelled by TRANSCO to all electric utilities. Make it all in all 5 percent increase in our electric bill. What used to be a 700 /month electric bill increases now to 1000 / month. Then the 200 /month water bill increases up to 400 / month. Huh!!! on the same usage, I got this additional expenses. For the past months now, we are really going on rough times as we pratically trying to budget my salary. Hmmm....quite really hard today....and the only thing i can think of is going abroad....perhaps that can solve my problem.

On rough times like this, a juicy fruit gum or any mentos candy will not really make you feel fine. Then, when you open your TV set, there you will see this no nonsense politicians rallying in the streets fighting for the masses and so called 'mahihirap". Ahhhhg...i want to shout and kick this bullshit people in their butts oooppps i am swearing already..This people make our situation worst instead, when in fact everybody knows that this politicians are just doing it because they have plans to run for a higher position next election. I am not really a PRO GMA but at least we have a working president instead of ERAP who spend his night drinking with his celebrity buddies and going to casino playing cards. I know that this RVAT is really a burden to all of us, but somehow it has reasons why it must exist and what it can contribute to help our country. Havent you notive that the those so called oppositions are the same politicians who are with GMA before. By the way, my onw list of my most hated TRAPOS has PIMENTEL and GUINGONA as the top 2 contenders, considering these old useless politicians are from Mindanao. I hope they shut up and just retire to their own provinces, instead of displaying themselves in the media posing as democratic fighters when in fact they are just a bunch of old traditional politicians.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

The Russian wins.....Israel loses....

Hehehehe, it sounds like I am playing the strategic war game and in an ecstatic voice i would shout YES, RUSSIAN WINS....But nope it is not a game, but is the Wifi Radios that have battled for supremacy in our wireless world. Hopefully, with its CLI kind of console, our friends in the field will not have a hard time configuring it....Infinet Wireless after a thorough test and evaluation proved to be dominant in all levels against Alvarion..





Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Hmmmm overtime again

My shift for thsi week is from 10pm to 6am in the morning on next day...thas why im a little bit groggy when my boss called me to come to the office today to accompany our Russian friend from Infinet Wireless to install their Non Line of Sight Wireless Router. This wireless router is also one of the cool wifi gadgets available in the market. Although, configuration is mostly done on CLI but it is compatible to any third party web console, if you would like to develop your own. Gotta prepare....i wonder where are we going....is it to Villanueva or Claveria?

Zyxel P660R traffic test is finished....

After more than 48 hours, at last i finished the stress test for Zyxel P660R Modem. I have checked its parameters including CRC errors or any malformed packets that occur during the traffic flood test. Well, its all clear, with only 9 CRC errors which is negligible in compare to the number of bytes it received for almost 3 days. Looks like this traffic generator i got frm the net is quite useful after all. Hopefully, I will found a free tool that is able to simulate VoIP traffic, so it would be more easier for us to analyze VoIP problems.

As of now i am trying to simulate a setup where each subscriber aside from Internet connection, will have a VoIP access. Some kind of a VoIP on DSL thing. Well, the idea is to create a separate PVC on every DSLAM port allocated for VoIP and allow some settings on QoS. I have not started it yet, but hopefully soon.


Thursday, February 23, 2006

Proxim 5054R Wireless Router Final Test

Just wrap up the final test procedure i have with Proxim 5054R Subscriber Unit and its Base Station Unit. I was concentrating on the QoS feature which was added recently as a new feature in their new firmware. Tried to hook up two VoIP gateways on SU and BSU and observe voice quality while calling the other number. Fortunately, my colleague "mole" have prepared already the connection to the softswitch, so i just change the IP address of SU and BSU to be able to register and pick up a dial tone. Proxim has too much to offer in this new firmware. You can configure 64 logical channels to carry specific traffic and identify each prioritization by using service flows and packet identification rules. Well, it is definetely cool to see those bandwidth management-like feature in a wireless radio. Considering, that nowadays, traffic does not concern only on data, but voice and video as well. Tried to add 2 new PIR(packet identification rules) for upstream and downstream traffic, specifically for g729 codec voice traffic. Also tried to set ToS marking 7 as high priority to allow Real Time Traffic be first in the queue whenever it is detected. Then i also make sure that on the PIR the destination IP and Source IP is defined to make sure that the vocie traffic from both gateways will be detected as high priority.

Then, with dial tone coming on both phones, i dial the other access number and make a voice call. While the voice traffic is streaming, I observe the actual bandwidth allocated for Best Effort traffic. I notice that when I speak loudly, bytes per second for BE traffic goes down to 0. Ahhh...QoS is really working, BE is allocated with 128 kbps and VoIP is also allocated with 128kbps CIR/MIR. Since, VoIP has the higher priority, so all the available bandwidth is used by VoIP leaving BE traffic with nothing. Ahaa!! i guess my friends in Dataworld would be glad to know that their QoS works after all on their beloved Proxim....Hmmm what the use of my being Proxim Certified Broadband Specialist if i cannot make it work hahahahaha too much wind gushing here...well thanks for reading to those who are hardware techie out there....

Saturday, February 18, 2006

New soft tools to use....

Been spending my time scouring the world wide web looking for a PC benchamrking tools to use. Have downloaded one but it is just a demo, and has very limited features. However, there is a freeware called Prime95 which has a torture test to check your memory and CPU stability which I use to check new PC arriving. But, i was reading my emails, when this techie guy shares his favorite freeware sites which contains pirated software and utilities. Well, it is definitely cool and at last i have found one complete PC bencmarking tool to download. The software is 3DMARK05.

Also i luckily found one good traffic generator in the net, which i am using now in doing torture test to several routers, switches, and wifi radio here in the table. Try searching it in Google..the name is traffic-0.1.3. This will answer your questions such as "will my router fall apart if there are 100 tcp/udp sessions running through it?...or will my wifi radio crash apart if there are 100 clients bomabrding it with udp packets?...Hmmmm i think this one tool will definitely solve some of our network problems outside...maybe?

Friday, February 17, 2006

Yahoo PC to Phone global service

Hey guys, check this out. For as low as 0.130US cents you can call Manila landlines from your yahoo messenger. Other countries also charges as low as 1US cent to call landlines or mobile phones. For Manila, it is worth 6 pesos only per minute to call anyone direct from your yahoo messenger without bothering to dial operator assisted hotlines. Aside from the free PC to PC calls, this offer might be one good alternative when trying to call relatives abroad.
For yahoo global rates check this link.

For insructions on how to call, check this link

Proxim MP11 Ruggedized Wifi testing


Just opened a box which contains the Proxim Radios ruggedized type sent by Dataworld. I was informed that this new Proxim radio has upgraded itself to a new software revision which allows QoS features to be configured, specifically for Voice applications. I am just having trouble looking for the other laptop since it was borrowed to test an IP VPN box of Engineering. Quite a good looking radio, which comes with a 17 dbi sectoral and 18 dbi Panel Antenna. I had my first glimpse of its software and it looks ok specially the QoS flavors stuffed inside. For readers, QoS means quality of service. Basically it means, prioritization of traffic in a data network. It allows you to identify what traffic, from which traffic or from whose traffic you would like to prioritize in a data link. Usually we need this for RTP(Real Time Protocol) traffic which comprised mostly of voice or video. Voice traffic for one is a latency(delay measured in milliseconds) sensitive data, which requires that both sender and receiver synschronized for quality voice communication.So in a data link, we usually employ QoS on both ends to be sure that Voice packets are streaming with no problems.

Tried to power up both radio and access both consoles on Subscriber Unit and the Base Station, yet both cannot connect to each other. Check config and notice that both were configured to maximum 36mbps speed which has actual throughput of 20 to 24mbps. Since the antenna were just a feet away, i thought it might be affected by too much reflection signal on both walls, which produce multipath fading. Sometime those reflected signals create some kind of a negative resultant to other signals which cancels the legitimate ones transmitted in a proper angle (ok?)With 5ms latency on both SU and BS, i degraded the data rate to 1024kbps and provide values for antenna gain. Reboot and well, it is now connected....good work. Well i just have to check this QoS by doing VoIP test which requires VoIP gateways and telephone to determine voice quality.

I feel this wireless thing..is too much for me now. Just want to learn something new like Linux,Ruby or those PHP stuffs. For a 3 months now, i have been handling too many brands of radio that i hardly remember anythin on how did i configure it to run(hehehe) looks like the radiation have toasted my brain already.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Airspan Wimax is on air

at last, the Airspan AS4030 Wimax radio is now connected. With the help from our friends in the transmission department, the radio is now online with a maximum bandwidth of 5mbps. What we have to worry later is, the configuration of the E1 channels. With an RSSI of -71dbm, i guess is enough to established a good link. That was a good day, perhaps i can say i was the first to see and configure a Wimax Radio here in Cagayan de Oro, perhaps?....hehehe other telco are testing this too. I still have here another Wimax Radio which looks like those Nokia and Erricson boxes i have seen on Cell sites when i was working as a rigger/installer for Globe Telecoms before. (ummm..that was my first job)

Monday, January 30, 2006

I receive a DHL Package......DSL CD Manual

I was surprised when i arrived this morning in our office when the guard informed me about a DHL package from Manila. Haaa!! i thought it was a gift but then it was a CD. At last i got the DSL Training CD from one of our suppliers in Manila. Gotta open this one and check the training manual inside...

Hmm, and by the way i am still having problems on this VLAN test of our DSLAM and this new switch. I was assigned a test scenario in which i have been workin on for a week now, but still no success in getting what I wanted. Tagged and Untagged packets seems to be my word nemesis for this day and i am still trying to understand how this will work. I have been reading info on VLAN but putting it in combination with ATM technology which includes Virtual Channels seems to be a little bit challenging and complicated. We have been succesful in creating a simple VLAN stuff, but we have a scenario in which we would like to implement in our network. Hopefully i will have the full report by next week. I have seen boxes of Nortel WLAN-Mesh radios outside the lobby and i was thinking perhaps those are coming to our test room for a visit. Still have 2 Wimax Box here and i havent started testing it yet.....With all this testing, i dont know if i can still have time learning this Linux and Ruby thing which i feel is really an important skill for me.

Ok gotta go.....

Sunday, January 29, 2006

PAY IT FORWARD NOT BACK....


Last night i arrived home late after I accompanied some engineers from Manila who were helping us in configuring and installing the call center solutions for Ariba. We ate our dinner at SunBurst which was just a wall away from the Ariba Call Center. The food was delicious especially the "kinilaw" and the chicken crackers which was made from chicken skin. That night, i was very tired and would want to lie down immediately and sleep like a cow throughout the night. However, I thought of turning the TV on first to check on News Central for any current events of the day. My attention was caught by a movie from Studio 23 Presents which is entitled "PAY IT FORWARD". I was curios, what the hell it means? paying forward ...? or is it the right word was to pay back or maybe it was just one of those jargon used by movie writers. So i decided to watch even if my eyes were really really tired already.

The movie was about a 7th grade boy who was inspired by the assignment given to them by their scarface teacher. The assignment was to think of something that could change the world and put it into action. The one with the best idea will have extra credits for the whole year. So as inspired he formulated the idea of creating a chain like reaction of giving favors to people. The idea was to help or do some favors for 3 persons and each person will do the same to another 3 persons thus it is called paying it forward. The boy started it with a homeless man, his mother and his teacher who give the assignment. Days came and the boy give up because he thought that the favors he gives to the 3 persons were not paid forward. But unknown to him, his mother, the homeless man and his teacher have done their share in paying it forward to another 3 persons. Until it grows and grows and have reached the city, when it was noticed by a young journalist. The movement was then called as the Pay it Forward Movement. So the boy was traced and became instant celebrity for the idea he has started. When asked why did he do it, he answered that everything sucks so he likes to see if the world really change. However the story ended tragically when the boy on the day he was interviewed was stabbed to death by a gangster because of his effort to help the young boy who was beaten by them.

For an hour my eyes were glued to the screen and feeling the compassion that emanates from the movie. The movie ends with all the people from all over the city coming to their small home bringing flowers and candles to pay homage to their son. It was a good movie, something that reminds us that sometimes giving favors to others doesnt always means we have to ask to be paid back. It is one trait that we Filipinos genereally dont have. Because of "utang na loob", we always ask something in return for every favor we give to others in need. We have breed corruption and dishonesty because of our goal to pay back the persons who have helped us.

Imagine if we do this Paying it forward thing....then every one will be helping more people than we ever could imagine. It would be a global revolution, more profitable than Pyramiding scam we have before. PAYING IT FORWARD is one thing that must be part of our Filipino culture instead of that "UTANG NA LOOB" thing. Do you agree with me?......

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Alone in a 4 corner room

Just last sunday, we have started our 24 hours operation for IT-Systems and Operations. Today is wednesday and i will be coming in at 10pm and going out 6 am in the morning. I am used to working 24 hours before but this was my first time to be working alone. It was very quiet so i decided to play my favorite music from my favorite band MYMP. I got a copy of their 3 albums in my hard disk, including the Live Performance they have in Music Museum. Since my table is located in the server room, so the song reverberated in every corner of our DataCenter. MYMP sounds too good, and every song carries a memory within me. Haaaah...sentimental na naman..I was continuing the wireless test, and was reading the Linux e books in my hard disk, while listening to MYMP songs.

I have prepared myself for the very cold temperature inside so i have brought with me my Zenshin jacket (luckily i was given one, the only jacket i have right now). I have also a pack of Milo and a glass of water to make me busy while reading this e books. Too bad i dont have a spoon, so i have to borrow one from the Traffic which is in another room. Well, my objective tonight is to read this Linux stuff here so i can start my Linux learning process...but it seems my eyes are beginning to give in. Nope, i have to finish this modems here....


Sunday, January 15, 2006

badminton challenge anyone??

Just enjoy a lot the badminton game we have yesterday at Sports Zone. Last Saturday, i got this challenge from a friend of mine Edgardo from Manila Teachers MIS Department. The invitation was of a mixed doubles match against him and his girlfriend May2 from XU faculty. A bet of a free snack and the 1 hour badminton court rent is at stake. Hmmmm, confident enough since i have been playing straight for 2 months now due to our company wellness program which include badminton heheheh I obliged and accepted the challenge. My partner was my officemate Engr. Judith from Network Management Center, who is also a badminton addict. We had 3 sets and luckily inspite of the cocky serve by Ed, we were able to win 2-0 after n hour of game. It was fun and hopefully we will have another invitation for the same bet. Hehhehehe I enjoyed the barbecue at Butchers Best after the game, since it was free, fruits from the game we won. I am expecting a rematch then afterwards.




Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I am so tired today.....blah blah

It was already 12 midnight when i arrived at home. I was working at Meter King office on their semi structured cabling for their Local Area Network. I was having a hard time placing the surface box since there are cubicles already installed. It was my 2nd day there, the first day was spent on laying all the UTP cables in the ceiling and putting the plastic moulding on every corner. Last night, was putting the surface box and information outlet. Too good the AMP brand surface box needs only to be clipped instead of punching it down. It makes the termination much easier compared to punching it down. I was so tired then, because i was in the morning shift which means i come in at 6 am. I have to wake up 5 am and have to work until 2 pm, then straight to Meter King until 12 midnight and have to wake up again 5 am this morning. Aaaah, no wonder I am always thin.....Sometimes, i used to smile and laugh whenever people will tell me how thin i am, how rugged i look that day but deeply inside, i am ashame also. I am always thinking of things, it seems my mind is always full of problems, worries, plans, lessons to learned, people i love etc....i think too much and it drains my energy all the time. I am always restless on everything....on everything i do, i always want more for it, to make the people around me happy. Yeahhh too much thinking.....and feelings.. thats what makes me thin perhaps.

Well, today i have to finish my assigned task. I am late again bacause i was too tired to get up. I have to finish the Alvarion wireless test and the DSL Configuration guide for field engineers. One thing, i always wanted to do now is to study and practice this Linux stuff inside in one of my PC here. I dont seem have enough time...too many things to test first. Yeah i remember, one of my ex colleagues in Dataworld will be celebrating her birthday this January 15. Ms Emelyn , a good friend and a efficient co worker during my technical seminar stints and presentations last year. I was their Netwoking Specialist then. I am not hearing invitations yet....perhaps a free meal.Birthdays are good , it is one way of reminding us how short time is every year for us. So celebrate, in any way......shout, eat, smile, sing, dance.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Firefox Extension : Performancing

I am so glad about this firefox extension tip, i got from the famous site tildemark.com. Surely, it makes my blogging easy and fast. I am so glad tildemark is fun of those tips, heheheh i know bai, youll be tying the knot of commitment this January 21, so one advice i can give is be gentle at first and be cool always. Congrats bai!!!!

Saturday, January 07, 2006

ADSL modem with built in Broadband Router, Firewall, Bandwidth Manager, VPN and Content Filter


Good day guys, just received another DSL modem with more features that is stuffed inside. Check this out dude Zyxel Prestige 650H-31. Its one bulky black box with a blue slash-like face and a number of LED's blinking like christmas lights. Its Media Bandwith Management is quite cool, since you can allocate bandwidth on each interface according to IP or port. With VoIP and Online Games so popular nowadays, this box might solve the usual latency problem which is critical to these kind of services. Subscribe a 2mb bandwidth and allocate bandwidth usage according to your services might improve customer satisfaction in your internet cafe or office. From 2mb, you might allocate 1mb for online games, 512kbps for internet surfing, 128kbps for VoIP, 256kbps for FTP and 128kbps for P2P. In this way, no service will use more than the bandwidth allocated to it, which means 100% service guarantee and congestion free. Also its VPN and Firewall feature is other good additional goodies inside.

Content Filtering is done with URL keywords and you can set it on schedule. For example, you can block adult sites from Monday to Friday 10am to 6 pm and allow access to it from 7pm to 12pm. This is good especially if there are kids surfing around during day time.

Bandwidth management can be set with priority according to IP address or port and protocol ID. A group of PC can be identified as for Online Games or you can set a specific port (e.g. PORT 21 FTP) to be prioritize on your bandwidth other than all services.

The box is quite good, however i am experiencing intermittent connection whenever i am using the PPPoE. Tried to test it using a Static IP and observe it for the whole day.

Mercury Drugstore slow service


I am not really that demanding person and i am quite good in extending my patience especially if i am in a service oriented area such as restaurant, drugstore, etc. However, whenever i was asked to buy medicine, i always notice the difference between these two most popular drugstore for me, here in Cagayan de Oro City. Mercury Drug Store and Rose Pharmacy. Sometimes, slow service can be attributed to employee instead of the whole management of the said drug stores. The same experience you might notice when shopping in Ororama against SM.

One time i bought Clusivol in Mercury Lim Ket Kai Mall. Since i was in a hurry all the time, i took the liberty of writing the word Clusivol in a paper so i would just give it to them and they can prepare it right away. There was a long line infront, too many people waiting to be served. While those staff inside are moving very normally, you cannot even see a slight hint that they are in a hurry. So i decided to go to Divisoria Mecury, perhaps the person there are much faster than here in Lim Ket Kai. And again the same stiff attitude are being exhibit there while people waited for their drugs to be served. Why are they like that? One man said, they move slowly because they are professionals. They are college graduates, so you have to wait for them to serve you. So, that was the reason, they are not "tindera or saleslady" so you cannot expect them to be fast in serving you. They are pharmacist, so you have to wait!...I transferred to Rose Pharmacy and i was served immediately. The next day, i observed Rose Pharmacy and yes, when there are too many people buying, they ran and hustle up. Is it because most of them are college levels only and not professionals? or it is just the way they work. Hmmm, im not really sure why but i guess when buying a drug i will buy it in Rose Pharmacy or other drug stores other than Mercury especially if i am in a hurry.

When i was in college i have worked with Mcdonalds Lim Ket Kai for 5 years and one lesson i learned is that when satisfying a customer, you must be accurate and fast. And until today, accurate and fast are the words i keep remembering when working on something. Mercury Drug Store may boast itself of accuracy becasue their staff are college grads but still they are not able to pass the customer satisfaction mark.