The War at HOME… This should be an eye-openner

March 31, 2009

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.

Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being.

This should also be an eye-openner to the Philippine Government to stop corruption IMMEDIATELY, and prioritize stabilizing the country. Thus, Filipinos should be able to find jobs in their homeland, and not go abroad for some CHEAP LABORS.

I am a Filipino too. I hate CHAO’s STUPID ARTICLE, but what I hate more is our government that is filled with corrupt officials (from the local to the national government).

IE8 Released

March 20, 2009

 

After long months of waiting, Microsoft Corporation just release last Thursday Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. I have not fully played with this browser yet, so I’ll get back once I am done. Anyway, here is the screenshots of the new browser.

 

 

Metrobank Remittance Systems

March 3, 2009

We are going on production, yes we are going on production. That is if everything THE SENIORS PLANNED turned out well. Luckily there are few bugs found on my module, except for features that is not in the Functional Specification Document. Come on, how can you expect a feature to be deployed, wherein in the first place it wasn’t asked implicitly or explicitly. Anyway, here are the things I want to say regarding my current project:

1. The senior developer should also get inputs from the junior developers SPECIALLY IN PLANNING. After all, JUNIOR DEVELOPERS are also part of the team.

2. Never spoonfeed. If you want your junior developer to enhance his skill, allow him to explore and make a research.

3. Identify what SDLC model is best suited for the project. Not a BAHALA na SYSTEMS. Also, establish sprints and milestone.

4. If there are change in system requirements, update everything including FSD. Don’t assume that everything is understandable. After all, documenting the systems is a must for all software projects.

5. Establish a mailing list for both the client and the team members. This will make sure everyone is part of the communication.

6. SENIOR SHOULD DO A PEER-TO-PEER CODE REVIEW. Make junior developers aware. Don’t just erase their code.