Random Musings: Blog Naming

Don’t you just hate it when you come up with a smart, unique blog name and when you type it on a search engine to know if the URL’s available, you find out that it’s already in use? 

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Like, seriously, is your imagination that underdeveloped that what you thought to be original, someone’s already thought of earlier?

And worse, you find out that the blog only has 1-2 posts in it! Dude, you’re wasting this catchy blog URL! L

Pet Peeve #1: Inconsiderate Use of Phone’s Speaker

Yesterday, I went to the dentist to have my braces adjusted. In the past I always made sure to visit in the morning but I had to go somewhere, and I couldn’t put it off til Monday because I would be quite busy, so I decided to fit it in on a Sunday afternoon. I called the clinic first to find out what time it closes and I was informed by the receptionist/dental assistant that it’s until 5:30PM. I requested to be scheduled for 4PM but she said they no longer accept over-the-phone appointment reservations for that day because there were a lot of patients and only two dentists. She assured me, though, that I could still be accommodated as long as I was willing to wait so I agreed and off I went to Quezon Ave.

I arrived at the clinic five minutes before 4PM and there were, indeed, many patients on queue. I was second to the last on the patient list so I found a seat near the door and tried to read a Sherlock ebook on my phone. However, I couldn’t concentrate because there was this very familiar music that’s filling the air even louder than The Buzz being shown on the TV screen in the reception area.  It was the music from the android game, Pou, specifically from the mini-game Jump Cliff.  I remember it quite clearly because Patrick’s cousin used to borrow my phone just to play that game and I always told him to put the phone on silent because the music, catchy as it is, can be very annoying when you hear it over and over again. Here, let me share the agony:

I have to admit, the music is fun. But try to listen to that for over an hour, over and over again, on full volume. It overpowered even the noise of a room-full of people, the sound from the TV, and the whirring of the AC and the dental equipment.

I remember another instance when a similar behavior bothered me. It was when I went to a job interview a few months ago. The recruitment lobby had a very serene ambience that compelled people to maintain silence or at least speak in hushed voices when they must do so. There was a flat-screen TV playing Hansel and Gretel but the sound was too low it was pretty much just there as gray noise. Then in came a guy who's obviously applying for tech support: casual attire of jeans and huge, branded hoodie - check; huge headphones - check; real maangas swag - check. This guy proceeds to wait in one corner of the lobby and listened to blaring music which I could still hear faintly three feet away from him through his headphones. Worse, he was tapping his feet along with the music on the tiled floor! That time I didn't bother controlling myself and told him to quit the tapping because it's distracting. I did it with as much control and courtesy as I could, though, so he stopped and even apologized. Peace restored. :)

I guess what I'm trying to point out here is that people should always be mindful of the things they do, no matter how petty it may seem. The littlest things such as music on loud speaker can be distracting to others and the same goes with phone calls. As a rule, NEVER PUT ANYTHING ON SPEAKER IN PUBLIC. Not everyone enjoys the music you listen to no matter how awesome it is, and certainly, nobody gives a rat's ass whomever you're talking to. Phone calls are meant to be private; keep it that way.

Facebook Feature Promotiong Inaccurate News Reporting in Social Media

This morning I saw this article on Facebook on my news feed. I was intrigued but thought twice before clicking on it. The title looked like one of those spam links that will spam all your contacts or might install malware/spyware on your device but then again, the source clearly indicated it was from the credible news network GMA so I clicked on it. It led me to this news article on GMA Network’s website headlined “Jinggoy arrives at Sandiganbayan for bail hearing”. It reports about PH Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s hearing for the corruption charge against him. There’s no mention of anything even remotely related to anime.

This is the second time this has happened. Just last week, another news article titled “Overflowing STD virus from Kris Aquino causes a stink at NAIA-1” had gone viral, but the real reason behind the “stink” is an overflowing septic tank. 

            GMA Network has already issued a response to the issue and said that it was neither a spam link nor a hacking attempt on their website. Apparently, Facebook has a feature that enabled users to edit not just the title, but also the snippet—the few short lines of article under the title that gives an overview of what it is about—of any article they share on Facebook.

FACEBOOK SHOULD REALLY REMOVE THIS FEATURE. I don’t see the purpose of enabling this anyway. If users would like to personalize the articles they share or add something to it, isn’t that what the “Write something” box is for? Why give just about anybody the power to edit an article—no matter if it’s just the headline and snippet—that aren’t even theirs? These parts of an article are actually the most important because of the overview they provide and modifying them totally changes everything. If I saved those title and snippet on the screenshot above, would the link make any sense? No, right? Of the thousands of posts on Facebook and any website, the title is the first thing that people look at as they browse a web page and most people don’t even read everything they see. This Facebook feature don’t just pose a potential threat on the reputation of the people and networks involved but also misinforms people and totally defeats the purpose of news reporting and information dissemination. 

How to Get CENOMAR at NSO East Avenue: Planning Fail

                When it came to travelling in Metro Manila, I only have one comfort zone—anywhere along EDSA where LRT 1 and MRT passed through. So when I found out that I needed a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) as a document I needed for my church a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t very much up to the task, especially when I found out that I had to go to the  main National Statistics Office in East Avenue.

I was like, “How the hell am I supposed to get there?”

I hate travelling, especially during the day. Working at the call center industry has made me a sun-and-traffic-hating brat. What I hate even more than that was travelling to a government office where long queues and even longer processing are to be expected so I put off the task until I realized that almost a month had gone by. I didn’t have anyone else who could request the documents for me because my family is in Laguna, and kuripot as I have always been, I didn’t want to pay P450 for the door-to-door delivery service of NSO when I could get it for only P195 if I personally process it, so amidst the scorching heat at just eight in the morning, I went on my way to meet up with Patrick who agreed to accompany me to East Avenue.

                When I was 18 years old, I got my NSO-certified birth certificate at Caloocan City Hall which is much closer to my apartment but when I called their office, I was told that they no longer had the NSO Serbilis Center there and I had to go to the main office in East Avenue. I searched online for ways on how to go there. I planned to take the MRT to Kamuning and take the buses there that, as I was told, would pass directly in front of NSO. However, Patrick said that there’s a jeepney terminal at SM North that could take us to QC Hall. Now THAT, I wasn’t aware of. Had I known that terminal, I wouldn’t have asked Patrick to accompany me anymore. Unfortunately, I am a geographic idiot and Quezon City is one of my weaknesses, so I didn’t want to risk it and Patrick was more than happy to go with me. That was my first mistake, though, ‘getting him to accompany me’, followed by ‘not knowing the easier route to my destination’.

We reached the Quezon City Hall and took a jeepney along East Avenue to go to the NSO Serbilis Center. When we got there at half past nine, it was already packed. I didn’t anticipate the volume of people. Third mistake: ‘not knowing what time government offices open and not getting there early’. The number I was given was 2541 and it wasn’t even 10 yet.

           

            The first step was filling out the forms. Near the entrance was a counter where a guy gave out forms that needed to be filled out: birth/death certificate, marriage, or CENOMAR request forms. Usually when I made reviews, I take photos but the place was buzzing with activity and I was with Patrick, so there was no time for “selfies”. I squeezed myself into one of the tables where I could fill out the form in comfort while Patrick scouted the area. He came back just before I completed the form and said that the number was still at 1000 and he didn’t want me to wait too long so he took the liberty of checking out the delivery service and said he would just pay for it. Like I said, getting him to accompany was my first mistake. He was impatient and didn’t like waiting too long and he’d just finished work then so he was a little bit cranky. I explained to him that I already knew about that and that’s why I wanted to process it myself because doing so was more economical. I told him he could just go home and leave me there and that I was willing to wait but he insisted. We argued a bit but in the end I succumbed. He wouldn’t leave without me and I didn’t want him to have to wait too long when he was already tired.

            I went to the delivery service counter—a much less crowded area—and I was led to a desk where I had to fill out a small piece of paper. I was told I would no longer need the CENOMAR request form I filled out earlier. The NSO employee made a call on his mobile then passed the phone over to me. It turned out to be the NSO helpdesk rep who would put in the info on their database. It took us about 15 minutes—all thanks to my overly-complicated and misspelled name. (I have two names but my birth certificate bears one without a space in between. I was actually not aware of that until my high school graduation when my adviser confirmed it while she was processing graduation requirements. Before the year 2000, it didn’t matter and I was able to get away with it by just providing  an affidavit for a misspelled name, but when I entered college and processed government documents, changing name was greater hassle so I just stuck with the one-word name. Up to this day, all my documents bear that name. As weird as it looks, I'm thankful for it come NBI clearance application time because I was certain not to have a “hit”.)

            After taking my info, I took down the reference number and I was led to the payment counter. Then that was it! Patrick and I were out and on our way home.

            If I took the online service, I would have saved a lot more for fare which was for two because I dragged Patrick along with me. I computed everything and all in all we spent P853 for fare and food. Wanting to save up, I ended up spending more. Tsk, tsk… Well, I’m just charging it to experience. At least I learned two things today:

1.     If there’s an online service for a government document you need, always—ALWAYS—take advantage of it. You will save time and energy, and in my case, money.

2.       ALWAYS plan ahead to avoid unnecessary hassle.

      As a bonus, I now know how to go to the Quezon City Hall and NSO. Yay to me! Haha. 

            Welcome to the mosh pit that is my mind.

            I have so many ideas that I want to write about. A lot of them have already been put into writing while others are still wrestling around up there, waiting for someone to knock them over into paper (or in this case, online). I have tried my luck keeping a blog since college and I have created multiple ones, on multiple platforms, and on multiple occasions, but life always get in the way and keep me from maintaining them decently.  Hopefully, this will be my thoughts’ permanent resting place. J