Rodel E. Dagumampan

Time to relax, time to spend time with the family. Time to go somewhere we never been and visit places with friends and family. But will I? or shall we? Answer: Partly.

With almost 20 work related items to do this Christmas vacation in preparation of our company’s plan in 2008, I would still be busy I think. From employee development plan, product development plan and technical documentation and requirements gathering for our product, to designing official logo and writing content for our official website. 2009 will be the year will everything will go full blast. Hiring more developers, testers and offering internship program to students.

I am looking for a place to stay in Baguio City where I can spend several days and use wi-fi for long time. Know some? Please contact me.

Karambola ni lolo ito!

If you are an avid reader of GMANews.tv; the official website GMA News and Public Affairs, you may have noticed the the trail of TV ratings report on prime time and datime programs of two gian tv networks. A regularly updated survey as resut of AGB Nielsen Media Research.

This week ABS-CBN TV Network filed a lawsuit against giant media research firm AGB Nielsen for what it described as a well coordinated manipulation of TV ratings. Not less that a day GMA Network released a press statement stating their interest on getting the bottom of the issue. GMA Network has not been accused yet nor mentioned in tv news or broadsheets. Later AGB admitted there has been isolated cases of tampering in provincial areas but insist its is just isolated cases and does not affect the overall result. GMA denied any wrongdoing and insist they play fair and but have promotional initiatives in metro manila provincial areas.

FYI, GMA Network goes public with a celebrated Initial Public Offering (IPO) programme. In just few days, the firm’s folded multiple times. I have been monitoring the performance of GMA while I am researching how-to’s and ideas on investing on stock market. Since year 2000 GMA Network’s performace s very impressive, evident by their market position as the No1. TV Network in the Philippines.

AGB Nielsen is I think is the defacto name in tv survey. This is a major case that may compromized the integrity of their job. I can imagine how demoralizing is this to all their employees and how stressful it is their media relation officers and directors. The issuance of Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to cease AGB from further conducting tv ratings survey in 20 days is another headache. The advertisers holding-up their subscriptions and potential loss of customers.

While AGB said this is just an isolated case, still the value and intergrity of their reports has been compromized already. Whether you still 1000,00 or 100,00, the point is you still steal and you are marked.

This is a story that made me aware how these surveys were conducted. I don’t know they have to install a channel monitoring device on selected households to monitor their viewing behaviours. I thought this is just a multiple choice form that each household being surveyed asked to fill-up. Like SWS’ and PulseAsia’s.

While we really have no idea what actually happened, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Let the truth prevail, everybody deserved to know.

Isang tulog na lang. This will be my last dinner here in Davao, tommorow I’ll be home for christmas. All my backs are packed, the gifts, souvenirs, books and work papers. I’m excited! After three months stay here in Davao City, I will finally meet my friends in Manila and Lipa City again. Inuman todamax. I did not tell my family the exact date of my flight, they’ll be surprise for sure.

I am planning to go to Baguio City after Christmas but I find it hard to find a hotel or transient house that has wifi. I found one which I think is a fine place and very cheap, but too bad they are fully booked. All units were booked for the next few months ha! Not surprising for Innsison transient house in Baguio. Now if you have friends there who have a good place to stay willing to accept transient, buzz me.

Lots of activities for this vacation. I also plan to visit my college benefactor Mr. Tony Zara. I am very excited because after I graduated last 2004, this will be my second time to visit them. I used to visit their beautiful place in Ayala, Alabang during college to show them my class cards and assessment form for the next semester. Very generous couple. I just have to bring them their favorite pinais na tulingan at mga gulay pitas sa aming farm and they are very happy. I just hope we have harvest this season . Christmas present for them, please give me ideas!

I really love visiting their please. It keeps me dreaming and dreaming BIG. Its Ayala Village in Alabang where where success and prosperity speaks for itself.

Reunion time. Two of my classmates arrived from Hong-kong and Dubai. They treated my friends out last month but I was not there, bad timing. There has been two bonding activities that I missed. Its always fun meeting my college classmates again, all of them We shared a lot of things as we live in the same house, same room, same bed, shared notes and computers in college. FYI we lived in one big house for 1 year, the whole duration of your thesis project. Barikang kaina-inaman ito hehe.

I have saved enough for the furnishings of our house. The last two years has been my best years. Last year I blogged about building our house and its almost finished now. There has been a lot of delays because of very expensive materials, high cost of labor and electrical wirings. While its not yet finished my family have to moved last June for the fear that our old house will be blown out my the last typhoons. Thank god, its still there and now serve as storage for our rice, feeds, woods and fertlizers. Still look like a house but blown doors, shattered windows, falling rusty roof and sawaling dingding.

It was very funny because last time I had vacation, July, I asked my mother if we can spend night there. I want feel again our sahig  na kawayan. I want to sleep there again with just banig and kumot. When I was young, all of us lived in this one place. No rooms that separate us, just a dressing area and 1 aparador. I missed that place really, while it back hurts the last time I sleep on it I still love it. I missed the feel of blowing winds from our silong. The tranquility of the soroundings where sounds of kulig-lig, keeps on playing whole night like a chorus in perfect rhtym. The 2:00 o’clock habbit of our chickens. And the visible light of fireflies that conquers the whole dap-dap tree that we can view from the whole of our ding-ding na sawali. At 7:00 PM, Kuya, Taba and I  used to count stars and numbers of fireflies that approaches the dap-dap tree. At 8PM we’re all down. I sleep between my sister and my brother.

While thinking how much would the furninshings will be, I am also thinking this might not be too practical. Only my father and my mother will live thee next year anyway. I am working here in Davao City. My brother works and live in Lipa City. Taba my brother will study in Batangas City and my youngest sister Jennifer will be in Manila for freshman college. I am thinking maybe just fixed our parent’s bedroom so they may experience the most comfortable sleep and living of their life. Enough not to be worry of food to eat next day or fear that their children might not get into school next month. Enough for my mother to raise our pigs to sustain their daily expenses. Enough for my father to just take care of our carabaos and consigned rice field. Enough for my father not be exploited to accept farm plowing for 300 pesos a day no lunch.

This also my first time to pay big bucks for the terminal fee. FYI, recently Davao City International Airport raised their TF by 200%. From the previous 50.00 it became 200 pesos. That’s 15.00 difference, I can buy another pasalubong t-shirt for that.

When we evaluate DSL service providers here in Davao City almost 6 months ago, we thought the Bayantel is the most reliable DSL service provider in the region. We are WRONG! If you are starting a business here that requires reliable internet service; on our experience, never trust Bayantel-Davao’s DSL service. Our 6,000.00 pesos business account was never worth the value we are paying for. The 6,000.00 pesos DSL + Phone subscription, but a phone unit without Hands-Free button.

We are in the business that extensively use the internet not just for browsing pages. Our systems and operation need reliable connections that stays connection if not always, at least 80%. A session lost takes a lot of time to reestablished. We conduct remote administration for our servers on Denmark. All of our projects’ source codes and builds are being hosted by a commercial subversion provider CVSDude which stationed their FTP servers in Australia. We have systems that runs background processing that when disconnected needs to be restarted.

It really feel frustrating, angry, we are almost cursing Bayantel in the office most of the times. We will blow out their building (pun intended). We tried calling them several times. They will come here with their technicians but there are no problems when they are around. I just printed a lot of screen shots so I can show them how their service sucks. The problem I think is their infrastructure, so I don’t want to call them anymore just to get angry, frustrated and shout at the pity call center agent.

It was pretty funny one time we even consider just having an allowance for ChowKing or  some coffee shops here with good internet connection so I can update the servers and execute some long running processes.

Btw FYI, Bayantel had several city-wide downtime in previous months. Yes city-wide! You cannot send remittance money in LBC or Cebuana. You cannot even buy plane ticket at Cebu-Pacific ticketing offices in several malls!

Very very unreliable service really! Not for long, we’ll just set this crappy provider aside as backup line. Soon Bayantel, you’ll just be a pity back-up line. In years I would not be surprise if you became a wire-less landline phone leader LOL. Soon…