Sep232008

Viva La Vida by Coldplay

I love Viva La Vida by Coldplay. Okay, scratch that. I love all their songs! Hehehe.

Viva La Vida, in Mexican means long live life and is used to celebrate life. :)

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Sep232008

An interesting read: The Myth of the Folk Theorem

Warning: Lots of numbers and mathematical terms involved = nosebleed!

It’s an interesting read. I’m not fond of mathematics but there are times when I do find the numbers quite interesting. This is one of those moments. I got this pdf file from the folks at Microsoft research, thanks to Dana Boyd’s blog.

Here’s the abstract:

A well-known result in game theory known as “the Folk Theorem” suggests that finding Nash equilibria in repeated games should be easier than in one-shot games. In contrast, we show that the problem of finding any (approximate) Nash equilibrium for a three-player infinitely repeated game is computationally intractable (even when all payoffs are in {−1, 0,−1}), unless all of PPAD can be solved in randomized polynomial time. This is done by showing that finding Nash equilibria of (k + 1)-player infinitely-repeated games is as hard as finding Nash equilibria of k-player one-shot games, for which PPAD-hardness is known (Daskalakis, Goldberg and Papadimitriou, 2006; Chen, Deng and Teng, 2006; Chen, Teng and Valiant, 2007). This also explains why no computationally-efficient learning dynamics, such as the “no regret” algorithms, can be rational (in general games with three or more players) in the sense that, when one’s opponents use such a strategy, it is not in general a best reply to follow suit.

If you’re from the social sciences and interested in learning more about the game theory then this might help. It’s not an easy reading because of the terminologies and the complex mathematical concepts involved… so be warned. :)

Download:The myth of Folk theorem

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Sep232008

Thinking of Moving to Baguio City

Moi with Ara and Neri in Baguio

I’ve been toying around with the idea of getting a job in Baguio City. It’s an unusual choice, I know, but let’s just say I’m ready to leave home and test my own wings.

But why Baguio City and not Manila, Cebu, or Makati? Read More

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Sep212008

She

She’s here. I was with her today, and she had the gall to act like nothing happened. I smiled, I talked, and went on like it was a normal conversation. But I don’t forget easily. Not the bruises. Not the tirades. Not the hurtful words. Those will stay forever, buried, but never to be forgotten. Read More

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Sep212008

Dead or Alive: Photos from Mintal Cemetery

Last summer I tagged along with a classmate whose research was about cemeteries. Cemeteries? Yeah, I know it’s weird, not to mention creepy. Despite my natural fear for the dead I managed to muster enough courage to navigate the cramped but relatively clean public cemetery. And of course, photo buff that I am, I lugged around my old and beaten camera to take a few shots not only of the tombs but also of the people whose lives pretty much revolve in this place for the dead.

This was taken a few steps away from the entrance of Mintal’s public cemetery. Contrary to what most people think, this public cemetery wasn’t too bad. The place was clean and the trees lent a beautiful shade to mourners who stay here. Read More

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Sep212008

Ethnography, Film, and Capital

Ethnography, Film, and Capital

A Reflection Paper on the film Nanook of the North

The film Nanook of the North starts with a preface, an explanation of the author, or in this case the film maker, informing the audience his intent and the context of the film. Created by Robert Flaherty in 1960, the film showcases the everyday life of an Inuit family in the Arctic North with most of the scenes showing how Nanook and his people hunt for food in the Arctic wilderness. As a documentary it has earned both accolades and scathing criticisms- especially with the ‘staged feeling’ of the whole film which I’ll discuss towards the end of this paper.

The Big Aggie

Nanook of the North is now regarded as a classic. The film has been crowned as a pioneer of ethnographic film. Given the context of the film industry back in the 1960s, the accolades and the crown is well deserved by Nanook of the North. Flaherty’s methods, specifically the use of narratives in his film spurred revolutionary changes in the film. He lent his voice to the film and introduced the use of narratives in documentary making. This is something that most producers now use and something that we viewers tend to take for granted. Admittedly, I’ve been so used to hearing film makers use narratives in telling their stories that when I first saw Flaherty’s film I focused on how basic and sparse it was. Reading more about the background of the film however enabled me to appreciate Flaherty’s use of narratives and can only flinch at the thought of what Flaherty’s contemporaries presented to their audience.

Read More

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Sep202008

There was me and there was you, Ano daw?

I am a jumble of thoughts, blurbs, or whatever you might want to call those ‘its’. When frustrated, I tend to hold conversations in my head, usually with the person (or in this case the guy) who’s troubling me. Here’s a snippet of the conversation I just had with myself, the guy, and my brain. Confusing? I know.

He says he likes me.

I say I don’t have the time.

There is time. We see each other a lot.

This isn’t going to work.

It will. It is.

Oh yeah? I’m a big mess.Not now.

I can fix it. For free.

Ha. That is why this won’t work.

It’ll be okay. This way may private sessions ka.

ANOoo? This is why I’m not entertaining calls from pt interns. So. damn. awkward.

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Sep152008

BatangYagit for PBA!

I started blogging way back in high school. By blogging I mean just writing my thoughts and publishing it in various platforms like livejournal, blogdrive, friendster, and eventually, wordpress. Blogging was another outlet, another medium to express my thoughts in, without even thinking of what bloggers are doing beyond cyberspace.

And this is where BatangYagit.com comes in. During one of my blog hopping sessions, I bumped into BatangYagit’s blog and thought, whoa… he looks familiar. Surprise, surprise, Batang Yagit was actually Winston Almendras, one of the popular guys in DCNHS, way way back in highschool. we were not  talking friends, he was older and the opportunity never came I guess, but I remember feeling a little relieved at finally seeing a familiar face in cyberspace. I started following his entries which  led me to other interesting blogs from fellow dabawenyos.

Batangyagit sort of introduced moi to the world of blogging, not just the writing part, but with the idea of an actual and real network, where people actually meet, talk, and organize events. By listening to him and his cohorts (Ria, Andrew, Migs, and Blogie) I learned about the intricacies and the potential of blogging as a communication tool.

Batangyagit does not scrimp on giving tips either. He gave me valuable tips and ideas when I was just playing around with getting my own domain. The language of blogging still baffles me at times, especially when they start talking about codes, APIs, and etc. Often times I’d find myself going over their blogs, looking for entries that would help me with my problem, or as it happens more often, I hear BatangYagit discussing something with Andrew, Ria, and Migs. What I hear I try to remember so I could pull it out later at home and try it by myself or read more about it.

Inadvertently, BatangYagit.com is responsible for sparking my interest in blogging. For that alone, he deserves my vote in the 2008 Philippine Bloggers’ Choice Awards.

Update: Nanalo si Batang Yagit kasama si Andrew of Alleba.com. Congrats Congrats! :)

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