Love Waits

O’er the mountains and over the seas
Islands separate these two lovers
Yet to the love that they shared
They promised to stay true unscathed

She misses the way he holds her hand
While holding him in the rain they stand
She misses the way he strokes her hair
He lights her heart like a burning flare

He longs to hug her and hold her close
Let her feel loved even the seas across
He longs to kiss her with a loving kiss
In the moment of deafening silence and bliss

Even though they're so far away
They feel happier even this way
Very soon again they'll see each other
True love really waits forever

Canigao Island escapade

POSTED 07/09/09: For more information regarding this island, you can contact me at 09182095200. I'd be more than willing to help you arrange your trip to Canigao. Thanks, Fiel.

"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. -G.K. Chesterton-"

After a last minute agreement, I and my officemate Adrian, decided to go to one of the many yet-to-be-known travel spots in Leyte and that is Canigao Island. Quoting what Charles Horton Cooley said, "To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change", we thought of the trip as a way to get rid of work stress, and at the same time to quench our thirst for adventure. Equipped only with thrill and excitement and a day worth of clothing, we left from the port of Cebu bound to Leyte last January 12.


To tell you a little something about Canigao, it is an uninhabited island off the coast of Itum, Matalom, Leyte featuring a lighthouse as its only significant man-made structure. The beaches are white sand, with tropical sea creatures and extensive coral reef in the surrounding waters. The western and northern part of Canigao island is placed under nature protection as a sanctuary thus making it a good place for activities such as swimming, diving, fishing, snorkeling, and boating. It was for us a perfect island get-away.


After leaving Cebu at 9 PM, we arrived on Hilongos, Leyte at 2 AM after travelling almost 5 hours across the Camotes Sea. Since we were not able to get enough sleep, we decided to drop by my house and sleep the rest of the morning. We woke up at 8 AM and ate breakfast. After which, we went to the market to buy food for the trip. Since we are only 3, together with my brother, we bought 1 lechon manok and rice. We also brought 1.5 liter coke, 1 bottle of Generoso, and mineral water. After getting everything ready, we left Hilongos and rode a bus to Itum, Matalom, Leyte at past 9 AM.

After a few-minute ride, we arrived in Itum, Matalom, Leyte. We have to walk to the coast area because the barangay proper is still far from the highway. Itum is the strategic place to get to the island because it is near and there are a lot of pumpboats going to the island. As long as there will be passengers bound for the island, there will be available to take you there.When we agreed on the fare, and the time the pumpboat will fetch us, we rode to Canigao.


Canigao Island turned out to be much better than we expected. Although the weather was not sunny, still we enjoyed what Canigao has to offer. Lush green vegetation, shrubs and weeds dominate the central part of the island. Some part of the island beach is stony, while the majority is fine white sand. After savoring on of nature's best, we decided to accomplish the must-do in Canigao, a trip around the island.

Since Canigao is not a large island, a stroll around the island will take less than hour only. While walking the what seemed to be an endless beach, a view of distant islands of Leyte, Camotes and Bohol can be clearly seen. If you look to the water, sea urchins, starfishes and schools of fish, offers a glimpse of the rich marine life around the island. Snorkeling would be best here, but unfortunately we weren't able to bring snorkeling gear.

Bathing in the sea is as enjoyable as the island itself. You'll eventually get used to fishes swimming past you in the water. You could see the sea floor because of the cool, clear waters. We enjoyed swimming in the waters failing even to notice that it was time to go home.

After walking around the island, taking a bath in the cool sea, and writing in the white sand, we hated to do it, but we had to bid goodbye to Canigao. We enjoyed the trip and hopefully we can come back to this island someday.

..come back..

days come passing by
still i kept on wondering why
what made you go away
you will come back again i pray

one day we bumped into each other
a day passed and again another
we talked and laughed and chatted
i dont know why suddenly it ended

i miss you everyday
i wanna hold you and make you stay
i dont want you to go away
you will come back again i pray

please come back.

2 gifts and counting..

"people making lists, buying special gifts.." keep echoing in my ears. yeah, the yuletide season fever is finally here. christmas party here, party there, party everywhere. a time to be with the family, our friends, our acquaintances, and people we have not seen back in our town. a time when we can rest from a year of work, schooling, exams, strict teachers, terrifying supervisors. a time when hearts are set free, exchange gifts to imitate the wise men gifts' of myhrr, gold and incense.

hahaha. i don't want to keep a serious atmosphere here. i just want to announce the two gifts that i have received so far. i guess this was already given to me. nway, just to be safe, "i assume.." first, a rubik's cube. yehey. it's second hand but doesn't matter as long as i can solve it. not everyone can solve it you know. i'm proud of having it displayed on top of my PC monitor. it's a mixed feeling when people get struck with awe when they see the cube solved on all sides. love the look on their faces. hahaha. i'm not bragging or anything, everything i just said is finished with "..modesty aside and humbly speaking.." hahaha.

second gift, shades. came from my teammate when we held our christmas party last tuesday. it's not the brand that i'm after but ika nga "it's the thought that counts." it's really the purpose of the gift that i'm contented with. anyway, i don't use it that much for now because i come to office at 6 AM and go out at 4 PM. not much sunlight to use it with. hahaha. don't want to get rayban (sana yun na lang! hahaha) and get it snatched somewhere in colon. oh well, i'm happy with it.

third, hopefully would be a jacket. discuss this later in my next articles.
that's it for now, two gifts to keep it going is not bad. hopefully i get more. Hahaha.

P.S. i'm still searching for a gift for this sunday's christmas party and i still have no idea where to find it. frank peretti stuffs, or chronicles of narnia bookset, and more. no band practice today so now's the chance. i found a long sleeve and a tie so cocktail party costume is partially solved. need to find a black slacks and leather shoes. tapos human, mura na og tawo tan-awn. hahaha. translated >> after that, i'll look like a decent man. lol!

Three More Days.. (or barely)

The gig that we we're supposed to perform in last week was cancelled. I think that was a blessing coz we haven't perfected the performance, and performing could have been tragic. Anyway, in the right time, we will be able to perform.

Barely three days to go till touchdown. We were able to practice yesterday. Luckily, we came up with a convenient time to practice knowing that I work on dayshift while my band mates are working nightshift. We played yesterday and as i expected we are definitely improving.
Aside from the minor faults, the performance was good. Everybody now has memorized the sequence of each of the songs, where to come in, to stop, etc. But still have more polishing to do. And definitely we're running out of time.

I hope we make it on time.

P.S. I'm supposed to look for a "cocktail" costume for our Christmas party yesterday but since we practiced, i left it for another day. After all, a good performance with no cocktail costume is better than a bad performance with nice looking clothes. Don't want to get remarks such a, "Maayo lang sa porma". Hahaha. I think i'll wear pants. To jive with the "banda" look. =)

'coz i'm caught in suspension

yup. i guess you're right. the title of this post is a giveaway. it's a line from the song Suspension by Mae. And it's one of the songs that a band i was recently recruited to will play.

here i am again to the "band" atmosphere. i can't say that i'm good nor i look good in a band but i guess everything's just pure luck. last year, i played for a band in my company's christmas party. i played bass guitar to complete a band to represent our team in the battle of the bands. we got the third place, in a contest between three bands. hahaha. not bad.

this year, i'm playing the bass again to a different band but this time we won't be joining a band contest. (sigh!) it could have been a great honor to lose in a battle of the bands twice in a row. hahaha. instead we would be performing for merely a presentation. an ice-breaker. sounds cool? that's the half of it. i think it's not a laughing matter this time.

aside from that, we would be playing this saturday. earlier than i thought. i dunno about the details but it's with other local bands here in cebu. one of my band mates was invited and fortunately (or unluckily is what i think is more appropriate) we were just practicing at that time, so we got ourselves to play. i dunno if this will push through.

i just pray that our performance will be well. anyway, what matters is that we play together as a "band" and not as individual musicians. as what Jack Black's character said in the movie House of Rock; "In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you.." This is gonna be one interesting Christmas season.

Wish me luck! =)

long time.. no see..

it's been quite a while since i posted something. the last time, if i remember it right, was april and the rest was on my college days. whew, it's been really awhile.

i have no choice but to make this one my new year's resolution: write. everything is just messed up. :) even the way i write. idea is not a problem but the way i turn into a literary masterpiece is just a mess. pure mess.

a good example would be the last two posts that i made. the statements are not that coherent. lacks smooth transition from one sentence to another.

anyway, i'm struggling to get back to the writing business. i hope my fans can wait. ;)

LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS

Many of us already have his/ her loved one. They are there to fill our heart with inspiration, joy and sometimes pain. Someone who will hold our hands while walking in the mall, hug us when we are sad, and sit beside us in the jeepneys as we go home. Someone we call honey, baby, dear, love, cupcake and many other sweet names. Someone who will greet us “Happy anniversary!” or give us flowers on our monthsaries. Someone who will let us feel just how much they care.

Most of the time, our loved one is just a stone throw away, but occasionally we can find someone who are miles away from their loved one, even continents away. They engage into what we call long distance relationships and have their long-distance boyfriends and long distance girlfriends. Now I ask you these questions, “Is it worth involving yourself in a long distance relationship?” “Do long distance relationships have happy endings?

People say long distance relationship simply doesn’t work. I think not. I believe that depends on the commitment that the partners have for each other. If they commit to their partners with all their hearts, then I think the relationship will work. Many say you’ll just miss the person too much. Yes, I think that’s true. It is true that we will be apart from our loved one but surely we will not appreciate someone that we have until they are gone. You will learn to value your partner if they are far away from you.

Why commit yourself to a long distance relationship when you can find someone who is near? To answer that, what if the long distance relationship is worth everything? The partner you love might even be better than the ones who are near. Isn’t it worth trying? They say that a long distance relationship is plagued with endless tests and temptations. That’s right but if you love the person dearly, you’ll stay true to him/ her even though you’re far away from each other. True love defies every law, even of distance and time.

How can you be sure that your partner is not cheating? My dear friends, there is no assurance but if you loved the person, you should trust with all your heart and mind. If your partner cheats, it is his/ her loss for surely he/she can never find someone as loyal as you. As Leo Buscaglia once wrote “Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.” And part of loving is getting hurt.

After all, we can’t really say that involving oneself in a long distance relationship is a complete waste of time. Just like life, every relationship is what you make it regardless of your distance with your loved one. If you fill your relationship full of trust and loyalty then I can say you’ll have a healthy relationship. But if you fill your relationship with doubts and assumptions, you’ll just end up hurting each other. If you love the person, you’ll love him no matter the distance. If you can love that much if your partner is far, how much more when he is near, right?

I can truly say long distance is not that bad after all.

"BaSuRa Mo, ChRiStMaS TrEe Ko.."

“Even the least things such as garbage can and have the potential to be beautiful.”

A lot of waste materials can be seen everywhere, waiting for proper disposal. Some are disposed properly while most are left indisposed and it becomes a problem because of the quantity of these indisposed waste materials. In the facility, we can see cans of soft drinks, empty C2 plastic bottles, waste papers, waste boxes and coffee cups. These things are already considered as garbage but why not use these materials as components of a Christmas tree? Making a Christmas tree out of these wastes can make a beautiful Christmas tree at the same time it minimize the amount of garbage from our facility. Right from the start, we knew that these waste materials are potential Christmas tree components.

Every material in the Christmas tree can be considered “waste” or “garbage”. Most of which can be seen in our facility while others are from home. Empty C2 plastic bottles, soft drink cans, and used coffee cups were the primary materials. Then coffer cup cutouts and plastic bottles were utilized for the side decorations. The star on the tip of the tree is made from the coffee cup. Green mosquito net was made as the cover of the base that gives contrast to the red Christmas tree. Then the other decorations were waste papers and boxes turned into cute gifts, ribbons, straws, paper socks and curly sheets making a Christmas tree made entirely of recycled materials.

After making the Christmas tree, we realized something. The Christmas tree is a reminder to us not only of the birth of our Saviour, but also to tell us that we can make something from our garbage and we can mold what we considered garbage into something beautiful. Every component is different and is considered waste but when put together it becomes a part of something beautiful.

My Visit to M.V. Doulus

Hi everyone. Whew! I've been to the ship but i was not really that thrilled. I mean, the line was long and you have to go around the pier just to get yourself to the ticket booth. The books? Men, they are really for kids. I mean, you got children books, bibles and all that. And oh, there's the almanac, thesaurus and and some atlas. Plus if you dig religious songs this is the place for you. Also some books to get your weight down, how to cook stuff, vegetarian recipes and books about tropical fishes (thrilling huh!). If you want to learn how to play soccer, yup lucky you! there are a lot of teach-yourself-how-to-play-soccer books.

What I liked about the visit is that you get to purchase books sometimes at really low price. If your lucky though. Purpose driven life books come at 200 pesos and the whole Lord of the Rings Saga comes at 400 pesos. Amazing right? THe three books combined to one compiled copy at a price much lower compared to purchasing the three books separately. Plus the nice sea breeze and as you go down the ship you get a glimpse of the whole pier 1.

If you love souvenirs, you are not lost. If you can afford there's the Doulos mugs that comes around 150 pesos. ( I couldn't afford so i didn't buy one.Hehehe) And the Doulos ballpen (Oh God! It's so dear) comes around at 25 pesos. And there are stickers, and other stuff that will forever remind you that you have visited MV Doulus.

Okey, okey I admit. I don't wanna spoil your POSSIBLE visit to the ship. But i wanna tell you guys i didn't enjoy the visit. As a book enthusiast, there are not much things to purchase. Or maybe i just expected too much about the ship and unluckily it did not meet my expectations. Or maybe just maybe, they have already run out of "good stuff" to sell. ( I heard that this will be the last voyage of the ship because it's so old.)

Hmm. That's basically it. Hope you still visit the ship after reading this. Hehehe. God bless and have a nice day.

TRIVIA: MV Doulos was made in 1914. And imagine how many years it has been travelin'. Almost a century. Cool!

P.S. The price of the books in MV Doulos come in Doulos units. So instead of 200 pesos you see 200 units which means 200 Doulos units. 1 Doulos unit is equivalent

JoKes Daw..

In a great romance, each person plays a part the other really likes. - Elizabeth Ashley

Many a man owes his success to his first wife and his second wife to his success. - Jim Backus

No man should marry until he has studied anatomy and dissected at least one woman. - Honore de Balzac

Honeymoon: A short period of doting between dating and debting. - Ray Bandy

Marriage is low down, but you spend the rest of your life paying for it. - Baskins

I feel like Zsa Zsa Gabor's sixth husband. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't know how to make it interesting. - Milton Berle, when called to the microphone at the 2nd Annual Comedians Hall of Fame Inductions

Love: a temporary insanity often curable by marriage. - Ambrose Bierce

The world has suffered more from the ravages of ill-advised marriages than from virginity. - Ambrose Bierce

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste. - David Bissonette

Ah Mozart! He was happily married - but his wife wasn't. - Borge

In the blithe days of honeymoon, With Kate's allurements smitten, I lov'd her late, I lov'd her soon, And call'd her dearest kitten.

But now my kitten's grown a cat, And cross like other wives. O! By my soul my honest Mat, I fear she has nine lives. - James Boswell "Life of Johnson"

A sweetheart is a bottle of wine, a wife is a wine bottle. - Boudelaire

For a male and female to live continuously together is...biologically speaking, an extremely unnatural condition. - Robert Briffault

My mother-in-law broke up my marriage. My wife came home from work one day and found me in bed with her. - Lenny Bruce

Never tell. Not if you love your wife... In fact, if your old lady walks in on you, deny it. Yeah. Just flat out and she'll believe it: "I'm tellin' ya." This chick came downstairs with a sign around her neck 'Lay on Top of Me Or I'll Die.' I didn't know what I was gonna do..." - Lenny Bruce

Insurance is like marriage. You pay, pay, pay, and you never get anything back. - Al Bundy

Nothing says lovin' like marrying your cousin! - Al Bundy

Once a boy becomes a man, he's a man all his life, but a woman is only sexy until she becomes your wife. - Al Bundy

If you are afraid of loneliness, don't marry. - Chekhov

Marriage is an adventure, like going to war. - G. K. Chesterton

An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have; the older she gets the more interested he is in her. - Agatha Christie

The most happy marriage I can imagine to myself would be the union of a deaf man to a blind woman. - S. T. Coleridge

MoDuLe 13

1. Are you in favor of the enactment and enforcement of laws that will regulate and control the use of computer technology? Explain your answer.

I would definitely agree to regulate and control the use of computer technology. It is because crimes unknowingly are done in large-scale values. A very good example is the piracy of copyrighted information. Here in the Philippines, people think that piracy is just okay because it’s an accepted norm. They think that piracy is not a crime. But if we enact and enforce laws that will regulate and control computer technology use, people will become aware that what they are doing is not good and is punishable as a crime. I think that this is a very good step in stopping computer-related crimes. The only problem that we will meet I think is the way they enforce and implement these laws because the general trend in implementing laws is that they are good only in the first few months of implementation. After awhile, the way they enforce is no longer that tight and so people comes back to committing those crimes again. Another thing is that some government officials can be bribed so laws created or enacted became useless. As my final word, it is not about what laws we enact or enforce, it is about how we implement these laws that matter.

2. If you were to decide the case of Landmark Hacking, what will be your judgment? Support your answer (use jural and non-laws or ethical principles)

I find the defendant guilty of the crimes she has been tried in this honorable court. I would find the defendant guilty as charged. If the defendant was morally right, even if she was given the user account and password, she should have not proceeded in the illegal entry to the system. Even if she says that she has no bad intentions in hacking the system she cannot justify her actions because the fact that she entered the system illegally would definitely incriminate her. It was also found out that she and the other person possessed classified documents that belong to the school which were not supposedly possessed by employees. Because of this, it can be concluded that she stole instructional material that are important part of the school business. Stealing of valuable documents using computers is clearly a computer crime. I think she is really guilty of the charges.

PLeAsE PoSt SoMe CoMmEnTs. ThAnK YoU! :-)

MoDuLe 12

From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/:

computer crime
n.
Criminal activity directly related to the use of computers, specifically illegal trespass into the computer system or database of another, manipulation or theft of stored or on-line data, or sabotage of equipment and data.

A computer crime is generally described as any crime accomplished through special knowledge of computer technology (Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge). It cannot be denied that even the use of computers has extended to becoming instruments of crime. Funny to think that due to technology advancement even crimes are done using computers. Crimes that were supposedly done by criminals before have been perpetrated by the use of computers. Because of these crimes, it won’t take long before a computer becomes a murder weapon. Computers have simply become objects of crime.
Computers are objects of crime when they are used to destroy, damage, or disturb other computers. Another, computers become instruments of crime when they are used to plan or control such criminal acts as complex embezzlements over long periods of time or when a person uses a computer to steal personal and valuable information.
Computer crimes include fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement and felony. A very good example of these crimes is the credit card fraud wherein stealing of personal information and fraud are clearly committed by the perpetrator. Impairment of computer services, delaying of computer services and illegal use of other computers’ resources are also considered computer crimes. The release of the Melissa virus, which caused substantial interruption of the Internet and overloading of mail servers, is a concrete example of these kinds of crimes.
With the advent of personal computers to manipulate information and vandalism by telephone (Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge) or though the internet, increasing number of crimes-mostly simple but costly electronic trespassing, piracy of copyrighted or classified information-have been done by computer hobbyists, known as “hackers”, who use their technical expertise in stealing or destroying valuable information. The hacking of USA’s security agencies is a very good example of this.
Still other crimes are called white-collar crimes, because these involve crimes conducted in company offices, and were mostly done by trusted computer users within the businesses. Stealing company information, abuse of company resources and theft of company properties and assets through the use of computers. The stock fraud in Cisco Systems, Inc. would very much belong to these kinds of crime.
As a student, I hope that people would stop using computers as objects of crime or better yet to stop committing these crimes because the creation of computers was not to destroy or embarrass other persons’ lives because just like other machines, computers were created to aid man in his work.

PLeAsE PoSt SoMe CoMmEnTs..

MoDuLe 11

First Case: WHELAN VS. JASLOW
If we look at these case based on previous theories discussed, I think what Whelan Associates, Inc. did was not wrong. You see we cannot conclusively say that Whelan is copying Jaslow's software when in fact it was not exactly the same program. It is unfair to Whelan if we immediately conclude that they plagerized Jaslow's work. Although based on the court findings, Whelan spent a lot of time studying Jaslow's program, the possibility that Whelan was only basing its program on Jaslow's cannot be eliminated. Maybe Whelan was studying Jaslow's because it wants to find out Jaslow's strengths and weaknesses, make a seperate program, and apply the necessary improvements. But the fact that Whelan was basing his program on other's work will immediately make Whelan guilty no matter what Whelan's true motivations are. As I was saying, we can only base our arguments on certain speculations because we did not experience the case first-hand.

Second Case: COMPUTER ASSOCIATES VS. ALTAI
I would definitely agree to the court's decision in this case because unlike the first case, we can clearly see that the direct possible perpetrator of copying Computer's program was no longer involved in the second version of Altai's program. Even if we take the first version of Altai's program, we cannot also say that Altai copied Computer's work because it was not the whole program that was copied. The programmer of Altai was only basing his work on his former employer's codes. So I think the court was right.

Based on this two cases, we can learn something that we, future programmers, ought to do. First, as much as possible, we should create ORIGINAL programs so as to avoid future conflicts in the future. Although we can base on other's work proper credits must be taken into account, or we must not copy other's work in totality. Second, if we get fired from a company, it is a proper protocol that what we did in the company we must leave it on the company. Although we made programs in the company who have fired us, it is not right to own and use the codes we made and use it on purposes beyond the company's area. Although you are already fired, you must be responsible enough in keeping the company's properties intact.

Third Case: APPLE VS. MICROSOFT
This case is a classic example betwen the clash of being "similar" and "identical".
From http://www.thefreedictionary.com :
i·den·ti·cal

adj.

1. Being the same: another orator who used the senator's identical words.

2. Exactly equal and alike.

3. Having such a close similarity or resemblance as to be essentially equal or interchangeable.

4. Biology Of or relating to a twin or twins developed from the same fertilized ovum and having the same genetic makeup and closely similar appearance; monozygotic.
sim·i·lar

adj.

1. Related in appearance or nature; alike though not identical.

2. Mathematics Having corresponding angles equal and corresponding line segments proportional. Used of geometric figures: similar triangles.

So based on these definitions, we can clearly see that Micosoft did not commit any crime on mere basis ofsubstancial similarity. We could think that Microsoft could never come up with Windows if not for Apple's work but Microsoft was able to come up with its implementation which is original and is not based on existing ones. I agree with the court's decision.

Case Four: LOTUS LOOK AND FEEL
This is similar to the third case however this case is unique because it looks at certain specifics. In the third case, what Apple was fighting for was the GUI interface as a whole which of course failed. In this case, Lotus sued other companies for a specific item which is the menu structure or the arrangement of commands in the menu hierarchy. This cannot be argued because this menu can be seen and therefore cannot be denied. Although there is no code copying, the menu itself can be copyrighted. If I were the companies sued, they should have not copied exactly the items on the menu and instead come up with a similar menu by either renaming the items or excluding old items and adding new ones. This should have been done by the companies in order not to stir copyright controversy.

PLEASE POST SOME COMMENTS.. THANK YOU..

MoDuLe 10

THE UNTOLD LEGEND

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom there lived a wise and good King. The kingdom that he ruled was peaceful and in progress and so happiness and contentment reigned in the kingdom. Everybody was of course happy because they have plenty of food and there was order everywhere.

One day, a powerful barbarian arrived in the kingdom. His name was Pornography and he was famous because of the great controversies that involved him. According to legends, this man can bring chaos with him and the places where he goes gets destroyed. The subjects were very much terrified and so they immediately went to the wise and good king.

The king, seeing his loyal people, immediately consulted the wise men of the kingdom. Four wise men came from the East, they belong to the Order of the Preliminary.Another three came from the West, and they head of the Council of Finalists. And so a great debate was assembled and everyone was invited to see the historic assembly.

The assembly was started and the king was the first to speak, “We all know that a great turmoil has arrived to this peaceful kingdom. And so I summoned these wise men to seek council about this Pornography. I would like to ask if I will allow his entry upon my kingdom.”

A young but calm-looking wizard immediately answered, “I am Relativism and I speak for the Order of the Preliminary. Your highness, in dealing with Pornography we have to consider many things. You see, he has not only visited our kingdom but also other kingdoms as well. He has already a large army all over the land of Internet under his command. So the question on jurisdiction must be answered. Shall we arrest his armies outside of our kingdom? Also there are many kingdoms especially in the western countries that do not even care what Pornography does. There are also kingdoms in which pornography very much defies their culture and a very good example of which is the kingdom of Philippines. Another thing is that it can’t be denied that in some parts of the globe there are people who don’t even know what Pornography does. Perhaps because of the illiteracy or perhaps they just didn’t see what chaos Pornography brought to the Land of the Internet. So my king, I believe we just have to let Pornography into our kingdom so that less blood shall be shed. We simply cannot stop him.“

The people nodded in approval but suddenly the wizard beside Relativism stood up to silence them. He spoke in an almost authoritative voice and said to the king.

“Highness, I am Absolutism and I advice you not to heed Relativism’s view because it is not right. The place where Pornography attacked does not matter anymore because his spells very much destroy the minds of the young. Pornography drives peoples’ minds crazy and some end up raping and attacking women. Whatever the culture, wherever the location, I think, does not change the possible dangers that Pornography brings. We cannot always check who encounters Pornography and who gets in his attacks. Although people will say that it really depends on how the person will interpret what he sees, preventing him from seeing Pornography can on the other hand eliminate all the possibilities that he will be used in bad acts. So I think prevention is still the best cure, that is why Pornography must be banned in the Internet especially in our kingdom. Many people have the potential be victims now because he is everywhere in the Land of Internet.” Before he could finish Egoism spoke to them.

“My king, what they are speaking are just the ill powers of Pornography. I am Egoism and speak for the people who want to join Pornography. There are also certain good things that Pornography brings. Take for example, criminals who can’t have a wife of their own. They can simply go to Pornography and can see naked women and other things, which could satisfy their hunger for flesh. So in this way, we are instead preventing rape and similar crimes because these criminals can now have an outlet for their lust. My king, we also have to consider these things.”

“I am Altruistic your highness and I am very much against what my twin Egoism here said. Egoism, you are only looking for individual satisfaction and not for the welfare of the many. My king, although this does not necessarily apply to everyone, it can’t be denied that there are some people who can’t control their lust. Seeing pictures of naked people stirs up their imagination and they end up raping poor victims contrary to what Egoism said. This is a bad side of Pornography and this would make Pornography evil. If people continue supporting pornography, this would make Pornography more powerful. This is not good especially when we know that there are minors who are victims. Because of the difficulty in looking for money, for example in the kingdom of Philippines, there are many people that resort to Pornography just to earn a living. They invest their body and their dignity just to earn little amount of money. “

After hearing the Order of the Preliminaries, the king spoke, “Although each of the wizards from the Preliminaries have a point I still am not satisfied, so lets hear from the Council of the Finalists.”

Utilitarianism was the first to speak up of the three. He spoke as if in a trance state, “Those actions that bring happiness are considered morally right while those actions that inhibit happiness are considered morally wrong. If people feel they are happy in joining Pornography then I think that is right for them. We cannot also forbid them to see Pornography because in that case we might possibly inhibit their happiness. So my king, the people can perhaps ask themselves what they really make them happy. We cannot simply force them.“

The wizard with blue cloak spoke next, “My king, I am called Categorical Imperatives and I think it’s not what happiness that is more important. What is important my king is the Shield of Will of the person who chooses to do the act. If the people uses the Shield of Will no matter what Pornography does to them, whatever spells he may cast on them, Pornography cannot control them. No matter how much we allow Pornography in our kingdom, if people have the Shield of Will, Pornography has no power against us. Even if we know that we are not necessarily happy in what we are doing, as long as it is our will then it is what is right.”

The king was still has not decided, and the people were getting reluctant. After a moment of silence, the last of the wise men finally spoke up.

“I am simply called as Nicomachean. Pornography has no match against the weapon to which each of us has been endowed with. We don’t know this but if we only look into our hearts then we can know what is right or what is wrong. Each of us was born with this and I think that is what protects us from Pornography’s power. The greatest weapon that I am telling you is our rationality. The other wise men said that if we are happy then that is more important, another said that it is the Shield of Will that will protect us. Others said that we should allow Pornography to dwell in this kingdom because we can’t simply defeat him. Or we shouldn’t allow him to prevent him from inflicting us with his powers. My people whatever their reasons are, I would like to emphasize that we have the power to choose. And that is what differentiates us from the minions of Pornography. We have to simply choose and it is the only power that we can hold on to.”

Hearing what the last wizard said, the good king and the people of the kingdom felt enlightened. For the first time in their lives they were not afraid and they never felt any fear. So they faced Pornography with awesome courage and zeal. And so peace once again reigned in the land and they lived happily ever after.

MoDuLe 9

I would chose the issue on digital divide as the most prevalent issue on the internet. We cannot deny that because of poverty there are people who haven’t even seen a computer in their entire life. There are people that do not have access because access on the internet means additional cost especially to ordinary citizens. The government doesn’t have major programs that aim to teach people about computers.

To compensate for the number of people who don’t have access to computers, there must be quality in terns of people who are studying in the field of computing. As a student, I must study hard, so that when I graduate I can compete with the quality of I.T graduates in other countries. Also students can conduct extension works and conduct computer literacy in depressed areas, so that peole who can’t afford to have access can now have opputunity to learn even just the basics of computer use.

THE GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE

The term “digital divide” first emerged in the United States in 1993. The theme was important to citizen pressure groups who argument that government should force the new Internet companies to pay the additional costs of extending their products and services to the poor. But the Clinton Administration proved cool to this view. The framers of the 1996 US Telecommunications Act, after noting the existence of the digital divide, disappointed social activists by insisting it wasn’t government’s role to redress it. The various federal government programs that had been set up to close the Digital Divide in the Clinton era were discontinued under Bush. After 2000, with the dot-com bust, pressure on high-tech companies to respond to digital divide largely evaporated.

But if concern as concern over the Digital Divide declined in the US, is surged in developing countries. Just as economist Joseph Stiglitz gave legitimacy to the view that the “Washington consensus” in intergovernmental affairs was weighted against the interests of developing countries, many developing countries searched for a formula to close the Digital Divide. Hundreds of conferences and seminars were held to discuss Digital Divide ­ you can find 1.4 million references to speeches and project descriptions by Google search. The concern culminated in Geneva’s World Summit on Information Society, with 13,000 delegates from protect themselves against the common view that they would fall further and further behind as the internet industries spread their influence across the planet. But despite all the speech-making and hundreds of pilot projects set up to address the divide, the perception persists that the Digital Divde is growing not declining and, what’s worse, no formula has been offered to suggest how to harness the market forces that shape ICT products and services.

If there is an axiom that defines the digital economy it is this: 80% of the profits of telecom and IT companies come from the top 20% of the market. Thus, the entire culture of those industries is focused on “end to end” solutions of the most affluent customers. There have been some examples in the history of high tech when companies have tried to ignore this reality. For example, the founder CEO of one of the early US computer companies got excited by the idea in the mid-80s

Phase one: Offering carro Many of the first intergovernmental task forces to close the digital divide were created at the height of the dot-com boom when their organizers sought to become “honest brokers” for huge trust funds they thought would be established by billionaire moguls and G-7 governments. The World Bank strategy, following the pattern of debt-relief negotiations, was to offer carrots, in order to coak governments to privatize their telecommunications companies and other policy changes that could reduce prices and lead to better quality of service. But as the dot-com bust took hold, few carrots could be seen. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) made a pledge of $15 billion in development assistance to developing countries to promote closing the digital divide. The gesture was made as part of MOFA’s role as host of the 2000 Okinawa G-7 Summit, in which President Clinton extolled the virtues of digital technology and urged the G-7 nations to pool funds to close the divide. But the Japanese have found it difficult to fulfill the pledge after neither the US nor other high tech nations chipped in. Adding to the disappointment, some developing countries found that they were unable to gain revenue from spectrum license fees, or by mobilizing foreign direct investment into the rural telecom sector. Adding to the gloom, venture capitalists curtailed experimental projects in emerging markets in 2000 and only began to rise again in late

Phase two e-Readin: Wanting to embolden reformers, influential researchers in universities, such as economist Jeff Sachs, joined forces with reformers to promote a concept called “e-readiness,” or “network readiness.” The term refers to quantitative rankings of countries regarding the extent to which they were able to muster the complex policy changes that would be needed to become an “information society.”. By 2001 it was clear that some countries were doing a terrific job becoming e-ready, while others were not - a reality that was actually deepening the digital divide between countries. A study by National University of Singapore professor Wong Poh Kam showed that this pattern of deepening inequities between nations was particularly evident in Asia

Phase three: Taking on the PT Certainly more must be done than e-readiness research to strengthen the hand of reformers in countries where entrenched interests prevented reforms. Soon, the reformers set their sights on a common target: the “PTTs.” They are the incumbent “Post, Telegraph and Telephone” companies which tightly control the path and pace of a country’s transition as an information society. Like tenured college professors past their prime, many PTTs protect their status by extending favors to political allies, controlling the setting of standards and other aspects of regulation. After fifty years of telephony most fixed-line infrastructures were expensive, slow, bulky, and narrowly confined to cities. By 2000, most developing countries had only between 2-5% phone penetration rate, despite prodding by the World Trade Organization’s telecom services act. There was clear evidence that restructuring telecommunications was a pre-requisite to e-readiness. An ITU study found that countries that liberalized or privatized their telecom sector had doubled telephone penetration between 1996 and 2000, compared with only incremental growth by the unreformed countries.

Phase four: Wireless emerges as “disruptive technology,” and alliances between reformers and wireless entrepreneurs are born. &nbsReformers soon found that it wasn’t easy to dislodge the entrenched power of the PTTs, even after the governments mandated telecommunications sector reform. Just as in the business sector, some reformers evoked the name of Austrian-born economist Joseph Schumpeter, to argue that the only way to accelerate each country’s transition into information society’s is to promote “disruptive technologies” by backing entrepreneurs whose business models promise to undermine the control of the old guard.

In China, for example, China Telecom is a huge and politically powerful telephone company that employs more than one million employees. In recent years a rebellious anti-Telecom coalition rallied around a competing carrier, China Unicom. Unicom’s alliance included an assortment of players that each had separate reasons to counter the strength of Telecom: competing ministries, bureaus, scholars, entrepreneurs and multinational corporations. They each had separate motives, said one author assessing the coalition. “Some had a philosophical stance embracing free competition, some wanted to contain the power of government ministries tied to the incumbent, some were competing business interests that financially benefited from lessening China Telecom’s power."

In March 2003, the European Community became the first Official Development Assistance (ODA) donor to explicitly declare itself willing to provide financial support to wireless coalitions that aim to counter the dominance of incumbent telecoms in Europe. So far, no such example of this sort has occurred in Asia. But there are signs that the approach may emerge soon in Indonesia.

A country with a huge potential market of as many as 200 million new wireless customers, Indonesia offers another example that shows how rival coalitions can use the digital divide issue to advance their strategic position. Thanks to IMF pressures, Indonesia’s telecommunications market officially opened in 1999. Seeing an opportunity, two of Singapore’s flagship telecom carriers, Singtel and Singapore Telemedia Technologies (STT) made billion dollar investments to claim stakes in the Indonesian telecom market, the biggest investments in Indonesia since the Asian economic crisis in 1997. With its future dominance in doubt, the incumbent carrier, PT Telkom joined with a group of Korean investors to announce an “e-Indonesia” project.

The project, announced with farfare in the Indonesian media, is intended to close Indonesia’s digital divide. But Telkom’s rivals were worried. They feared it would give Telkom’s platforms unfair advantage: special access to the booming “e-government” and small/medium enterprise markets. Critics grumbled that eIndonesia would give Telkom control over a “universal services fund,” established to help low-income areas. They feared it would be used to subsidize Telkom’s own rural market-building activities.

Reformers in Indonesia wonder if e-Indonesia will provoke a counter proposal among competing wireless carriers, which would offer a different path for closing Indonesia’s digital divide. One important question is what position would be taken on this issue by Indonesia’s Consultative Group of Donors (CGD), an informal alliance between the World Bank, other UN agencies, and bilateral donors from OECD countries, such as Japan and the United States. “In the past three years the CGD group has held many meetings on Indonesia’ digital divide, and many now agree that the key to extending ICT to the poor is circumventing the influence of the incumbent telco,” said Idris Sulaiman, a Jakarta-based consultant to the US Agency for International Development. He adds, “The sudden emergence of Singaporean corporate stakeholders in our wireless market is causing many to wonder if these companies could be mobilized into a path of reform. The formation of such alliances may be politically risky and awkward for many of the players, but it may be the only way to trigger the changes needed to close Indonesia’s digital divide.”

Source: http://www.digitaldivide.org/governments.html

MoDuLe 7 AnD 8

Please bear with my opinions. I know it's not that great but i still hope you'll learn something from it. Enjoy! :-)

COMPUTER ABUSES. There are some activities however that most educators would agree are misuses of computer technology in a school environment. They include: profanity and obscenity, harassment, hacking, spamming, password sharing/"sniffing", deploying, viruses/trojan horses/worms, copying copyrighted software and inappropriate virtual interaction with minor children. Other grayer areas of computer misuse might include: use of internet filters, restricting free speech, commercialism, political content, art/health issues vs. obscenity and sharing files via peer-to-peer networks.

"Data Diddling" - Probably the most common method used to commit computer crime because it does not require sophisticated technical knowledge and is relatively safe. Information is changed at the time of input to the computer or during output. For example, at input, documents may be forged, valid disks exchanged, and data falsified.
"Browsing" - Another common method of obtaining information which can lead to crime. Employees looking in others' files have discovered personal information about coworkers. Ways to gain access to computer files or alter them have been found in trash containers by persons looking for such information. Disks left on desks have been read, copied, and stolen. The very sophisticated browser may even be able to look for residual information left on the computer or on a storage media after the completion of a job.
"Trojan Horse" - This method assumes that no one will notice that a computer program was altered to include another function before it was ever used. A computer program with a valid, useful function is written to contain additional hidden functions that exploit the security features of the system.
"Trap Door" - This method relies on a hidden software or hardware mechanism that permits system protection methods to be circumvented. The mechanism is activated in some nonapperent manner. Sometimes the program is written so that a specific event, e.g., number of transactions processed or a certain calender date, will cause the unauthorized mechanism to function.
"Salami Technique" - So named because this technique relies on taking slices so small that the whole is not obviously affected. This technique is usually accomplished by altering a computer program. For example, benefit payments may be rounded down a few cents and these funds, which can be considerable in the aggregate, diverted to a fraudulent account.
"Supperzapping" - Named after the program used in many computer centers which bypasses all system controls and is designed to be used in time of an emergency. Possession of this "master key" gives the holder opportunity to access, at any time, the computer and all of its information.

PRIVACY ISSUES. Yes. Many people expect that their online activities are anonymous. They are not. It is possible to record virtually all online activities, including which newsgroups or files a subscriber accesses and which web sites are visited. This information can be collected by a subscriber's own ISP and by web site operators.

Cookies. When you "surf" the web, many web sites deposit data about your visit, called "cookies," on your hard drive When you return to that site, the cookie data will reveal that you've been there before. The web site might offer you products or ads tailored to your interests, based on the contents of the cookie data.
Most cookies are used only by the web site that placed it on your computer. But some, called third-party cookies, communicate data about you to an advertising clearinghouse which in turn shares that data with other online marketers. Your web browser and some software products enable you to detect and delete cookies, including third-party cookies.

Web Bugs. A web bug is a graphic in a web site or an "enhanced" e-mail message that enables a third party to monitor who is reading the page or message. The graphic may be a standard size image that is easily seen, or it may be a nearly invisible one-pixel graphic. E-mail messages that include graphic displays like web sites are known as enhanced messages, also called stylized or HTML e-mail. The web bug can confirm when the message or web page is viewed and record the IP address of the viewer. The IP address is a multi-digit number that uniquely identifies a computer or other hardware device (such as a printer) attached to the Internet.
You can defeat web-bugs by reading your email while offline, an option on most email programs. You can also install a software program that detects web bugs. To learn more about web bugs, visit http://www.bugnosis.org/. This site offers a free bug detection program. Many software products that detect and delete third-party cookies are also able to detect web bugs. The latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer enables users to turn off third-party cookies and disable web bugs.

Marketing uses and "spam." Records of browsing patterns are a potentially valuable source of revenue for online services and commercial web site operators. Direct marketers can use such data to develop targeted lists of online users with similar likes and behaviors. Such data can also lead to unsolicited e-mail, known as "spam." Additionally, browsing data may prove embarrassing for users who have accessed sensitive or controversial materials online.

Browsers. It's important to be aware of the information transmitted to remote computers by the software you use to browse web sites. The major browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Most web browsers invisibly provide web site operators with information about your ISP as well as information about other web sites you have visited. Some web browsers, particularly if they have not been updated with security fixes, may be tricked into reporting the user's default e-mail address, phone number, and other information in the "address book" if the browser also handles your e-mail. (See the demonstration in Additional Resources to learn more about the information transmitted by your browser.)

SOURCE: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm

COMMENTS PLEASE..

MoDuLe No. 6

1. Pornography
Strictly speaking, I think pornography doesn't violate any of the computer ethics commandments. As what I've said before the action depends on the intention of the person visiting the pornographic sites. But I think I can give an example where pornography violates the several of the commandments. It is the situation in which a person used a computer in editing a picture and making it pornographic. For example, pictures of actors/actresses are attached to naked bodies in such a way that you can barely notice the fraud from the real picture. Advancement in technology is used to achieve this and would very much humiliate the people involved. This would very much violate laws such as thinking of other people's welfare, and using the computer to harm other people.

2. Spamming
Thou Shalt Not Interfere With Other People's Computer Work. This is what I hate specially when using free emails. Spamming involves sending advertisements, announcements, and product endorsements to email accounts in bulk. This violates the commandments especially on the one that involves other people's work. This violates because first it is a burden in erasing thousand of unwanted messages. In my experience, if I go to the Internet café just to check important emails, I ended up using all of my time in deleting these spams. The time I should have spent in reading and replying to important emails was consumed on deleting useless emails. Another violation is the disk space these spam mails are occupying in the email account. This violates the use of other people's resources. Spamming is really not a good thing.

3. Hacking
This situation entails close analysis. This is so complex because of the many sides that we have to look at. For the sake of discussion, we'll take the bad side of hacking, the one which is harmful such as breaking into secured systems just to extract restricted information. Although we know the more appropriate term is "cracking', we also know that these act quite violates many of the existing commandments. First, using the computer to harm other people (this is self-explanatory). Second, snooping in other people's file, and lastly using the computer in stealing. Whatever the motive of hacking, most of the time this involves breaking into other people's computers.

4. Sending chain letter emails(such as prayer and novena)
Just like spam mails, chain letters is another nightmare of people using emails. If you entertain this kind of emails, this is quite a burden because just like the spams, all your time will be spent on forwarding and deleting this mails. Its because these mails contain threatening contents such as bad luck if not forwarded, death to loved ones, years of suffering, death and many more so people have no choice but to concede to these useless emails. Sometimes they even use the Lord in threatening people. Because of this, I think this violates messing other people's work. Also this occupies a lot of disk space so this is another violation, using other people's resources without proper consent.

ADDITIONAL INPUTS:

Viewing this in altruistic point of view, this would violate two strong commandments:

Thou Shalt Think About The Social Consequences Of The Program You Are Writing Or The System You Are Designing. Although this does not necessarily apply to everyone, it can't be denied that there are some people who can't control their lust. Seeing pictures of naked people stirs up their imagination and they end up raping poor victims. This is a bad side of pornography and this would make pornography bad.

Thou Shalt Always Use A Computer In Ways That Insure Consideration And Respect For Your Fellow Humans. If people continue supporting pornography, this would also promote human trafficking. This is not good especially when we know that there are minors who are involved in this. Because of the difficulty in looking for money, for example here in the Philippines, there are many people that resort to this just to earn a living. They invest their body and their dignity just to earn little amount of money. This is a sad reality in our society especially in our country. If no one supports pornography, there will be no human trafficking and other similar crimes.

Lets now take a look sa hacking in altruistic side.

The best example of hacking in altruistic side is the movie SWORDFISH, starring Hugh Hackman and John Travolta. In the movie, Hugh has already given up on being a cracker for his family but he was searched and blackmailed by John. Amidst his futile attempt to resist, he was forced to break inside one of the government agencies because if he refused to do so his daughter would be killed. I think this does not violate any of the commandment its because what is at stake is not codes or programs. In the movie, what is at stake is the life of Hugh's daughter. I think this is a very good example.


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MoDuLe 5

I would choose the problem on freedom.

I think this would summarize all other problems on the morality. As we can see, all other problems will just be a part of the problem on freedom because the other problems are just based on some restrictions, which mean they have no freedom in totality. If we were to ask ourselves what is morally right, what is wrong, it would take time because we have to take many considerations. But what if there were no considerations that we have to base on? What if we can do anything? I think that's what limits man and his actions. If there's nothing that can stop man from doing anything, then they say that he has no morality. Worse, since we people are used to basing our actions on some standard so we can't fully express our feelings of hate, fear, and other struggles in life.

I'm not saying that people should fully express their feelings because if we express our feelings without considering others then we might hurt somebody without we knowing it. As what they say, we are free to do anything to our hearts desire but the question is whether our action is right. We can but is it right? To better understand this we will look at an example.

Example. This is a common issue among the youth today and in fact it is very controversial. What I'm talking about is the issue on pornography, such as visiting pornographic sites. Is viewing of pornographic materials in these sites bad or good? If we use computers in the internet café, it is impossible for the café-in-charge to check whether the users are visiting the appropriate websites. The café-in-charge could not accommodate all the users. No matter how many posters are posted which disallows the visiting of pornographic sites it goes to the user, it is the user's decision whether to open it or not. He is of course aware that he can do anything he wills, in other words he has the freedom to do anything. He knows that no one will restrain him but if he is moral, he will not visit these sites. He knows his freedom to do it but he has to ask himself if it is right. As I was saying, this all depends on the person using the café.


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EthiCs in The ComPutiNg WoRLd

Based on the lectures, I think it would be the Nicomachean Ethics which dominate the computing world. I want to emphasize that there is no specific theory that will fit computing exactly but I think Nicomachean ethics will describe it in a much large scope. I want to point examples that would make other finalist theories invalid.

BUYING LICENSED SOFTWARES. It was clearly pointed out in the lecture that most people buy licensed not by their own will but in compliance to the law. If people will be given the choice between licensed and pirated, they are more inclined in choosing pirated softwares because of the significant price difference. If this is the case, this defies the theory on categorical imperatives because the theory said an act is good not because of certain consequences that occur in its performance, or on the basis of its end-result, but because of the "will" that accompanies the act. Also because people are suppressed in choosing their own free will, this will also inhibit their happiness. Now based on the utilitarian view, what inhibits happiness is morally wrong which is not true for this case because we all know that piracy is illegal.

DEVELOPING SOFTWARE\PROGRAMS. This will again make categorical imperatives out of the picture because nowadays people make softwares not because they "will" it but because they are paid to do it. For people who develop viruses or other evil softwares it is their happiness to develop such softwares, but this is not morally good because viruses destroy other people's work. This a contradiction to the utilitarianism theory.

Final Word: Man has intellectual capabilities which means that he has been given the choice to do or not to do. The world of computing is so complex in itself so to live in that world, man must weigh the consequences of his action, decide for himself not depending on others and using the arguments of reason he can do things that are morally right. This was described in the Nicomachean Ethics and that based on these arguments, I believe it is the one dominating the computing world.