:: Absolute Insanity ::

UIC BSIT1A A.Y. 2006-2007

Well, what do we have here? Oh nothing… Really… It’s just something that I found while I was browsing my folder in my hard drives. If you are wondering what the image above is all about then let me share it to you.

Way back my first semester on UIC, on our theology class, I was tasked by our mentor Sister Julie to make a seat plan. So I did what she told me and I saved it on my hard drive. As you can see on it, most of the students on the seat plan are still on the school, some have departed their ways, shifted for another course and some maybe just got bored and decided to break out. Nostalgic as it seems, I kind of miss those times when I was like a stranger in the school, it was these people whom I first shared myself with. It was a memorable one because like we all were, we were just a bunch of newbies who barely know each other, yet time passed by and bonds started to take place.

For those who reminisce this class, kudos! Anyways, the BSIT Class A has now turned into a happier class with new moments to cherish! weeeh!

Manobo

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND CUSTOMS (summarized)

The traditional social structure consists of four classes: the bagani, the baylan, commoner, and slave. The bagani class, now gone, defended the community and went to battle. The baylan, who can still be found, is a male or female priest and healer. The commoners were farmers; and the slaves, who had been seized in raids, belonged to the ruler and were usually given away as part of the bridewealth. Village members could also become enslaved if they could not pay the penalty for a crime they had committed, such as thievery, destruction of property, adultery, or verbal offense. Slaves however could win their freedom through diligence in the fulfillment of their duties, faithfulness to their master, or payment of their debt through servitude. Slaves who were treated like members of the family although still in servitude are bilew, and it was considered an insult if they were referred to as slaves. One who did so was committing tempela, ridiculing someone for their low status physical handicap.

Intervillage relationship is based on upakat or reciprocity. Village members, usually belonging to kinship group or groups allied by marriage, expect assistance from each other in matters of subsistent labor, defense, and support in crises.

Marriage is traditionally by parental arrangement, which begins when each of two families chooses a spokesperson, preferably a datu or bai, who is known for eloquence and knowledge of custom law. Marriage is an alliance system in which reciprocity and mutual obligation between the groom’s and bride’s kinship groups are expected. It is, therefore, a means of maintaining peace and order, for the Manobo’s practice of retaliation does not extend to one’s kindred or allies. Incest taboo is strictly followed up to a common great-great-great grandparent on both the mother’s and father’s side.

Polygamy, although rarely practiced, was allowed. A datu might resort to it, usually for economic and political reasons. Several wives allowed for more fields that could be cultivated, since the Manobo women did all the work in the fields. Polygyny also multiplied one’s alliances and expanded them to several communities. However, the man could take another wife only if the first wife and her parents consented. The first wife remained the head wife.

Illness may be caused by the person’s gimukod (soul) wandering away from the body. Or, the gimukod of the sick person has been captured by the gimukod of the dead person and carried away to the latter’s new home.

Trivia: I made this just this morning as instructed by our mentor in Sociology =)

Reaction:

The Manobo culture has prominent differences compared to the Christians. Though they also have the concept of having classes in the society, we don’t have the slavery system. I was just wondering why their healers and priests are women and not men. It was also sad to say that they have lost the class of defenders, making them more vulnerable for attacks and invasions of foreign groups. Their slaves I think sometimes receive special treatments because they can become part of the family and get defended from mockeries. Their way of punishment for those who committed crimes is unusual for me because keeping them as slaves might give them a chance to murder you to their hearts content. Social relationship existing in their society is remarkable because they go hand in hand on their obligations and protect each other. That relationship could be established through arranged marriage which is also evident on the Maranao Muslims. They also have small scope when it comes to enemy and never avenge to those on the allies. Practicing polygamy as their culture for me is considered a practical way of civilization and industrialization. They also believe in superstitions which I found bizarre.

An Open Source Operating System has the same concepts to a proprietary OS when it comes to security and protection. Both have the components of cryptography, authentication and the like to provide efficient defense against possible threats & attacks. However, the process of developing security procedures is likely to be faster and more reliable in an open source. Since the source code is open to the public, more expert people can find/spot and fix security problems, which only means that the higher the number of the collaborating debuggers, the faster the process is and the higher the possibility of developing a more efficient defense against security breach. In terms of exposure to hackers, taking into account their population is small versus the enormous number of developers, threat is minimal while security and protection of the open source OS has higher chance of formulating the best solutions against vulnerabilities. Compared to a proprietary OS, it is opposite. Security problems takes much time to get resolved because of limited resources (the debuggers) and it costs much.

An alarming issue on rapid growth of juvenile delinquency is now striking our society. Youths of today are much influenced by the mass media. Cases of premarital case, unwanted pregnancy, & abortion are just some evidences. God has given us the power to fight any kind of temptation, the intellect. Through this, we can discern right and wrong. But because Satan is wise, he tempts us to do a thing by introducing it to us in very interesting, satisfying & hypnotizing. And as a result, we face grave consequences, physical, mental & spiritual prices to pay often for a lifetime, like heavy responsibilities, humiliation, diseases, bad memories, & unwanted pregnancies. Thus after committing those acts, we realize that having premarital sex or fornication, as what the dictionary says, is a sin, mocking God’s plan for a secure marriage, that we should not be easily tempted by what we see, what we hear, & what we feel.

Is Christian sex education the answer to these? Well, according to the columnist, “We believe that a good Christian sex education should be bible-based and Qu’ran-based for the Muslims.” I agree w/ him. The dep-ed should give emphasis on the proper execution of this operation because a wrong information or misunderstanding may result into confusion which may lead into a grave problem, particularly sexual immorality.

I do believe that a person’s future is handed at him in his teens, during the times that he has the knowledge & wisdom that comes from experience to guide him in his choices and decisions. A youth is entrusted w/ care, not just physically but also with development of his character and personality. And as he goes on, he will seek the counsel of parents, friends, and especially the teachings that a teacher can give. And to fulfill the goal(to fight this struggle), like anyone else, we must have the stamina to stay with the battle we are facing and wrestle with the tides of life. Through the department of education, this can be attained. I suggest that they should consider the way the teenagers would respond and make a remedy for it in order to stay in the guide & avoid them to put their minds in the uncertain way. It should be planned, well-organized, and properly prepared so that everything would go on smoothly, harmoniously, and effectively. They should bring with them the bible and the moral teaching about sex, of what God meant on “sex as his given gift,” the law of chastity, and the fruit that they will bear whatever prohibited acts made so that they will have a deeper & better understanding about this issue, to surpass & overcome satanic attacks or whatever act that may bring them into patterns of destroying health & character.

The issue also tackles about committing adultery. In the commandments of

God. It is clearly stated that “Thou shall not commit adultery(6th),” and

“Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife(9th).” Monogamy or having married only once is endorsed by god. It is therefore a sin to commit adultery & covet a neighbor’s wife. During the holy matrimony also, the words “for better & worse, ‘till death do us part & etc…” are faithfully spoken inside the church & in front the altar. By then, where is the essence of marriage there if you disobey the said commandments? Most of the results of those said acts are divorce/ marriage annulment, breaking of families, troubles & etc… Therefore, this case is graver than juvenile delinquency in the way that it is more complex and many aspects can be affected. Thus Christian sex education, marriage & it’s responsibilities should be thought more vividly & firmly to the couples.

And lastly, to do those plans well & successful, the department of education should be accompanied by the church for such purpose that it could fulfill the role they play as mentors of mental & spiritual dimensions.

Trivia: I made this essay as a term paper on my Theology Class in the University of the Immaculate Conception.

In a distributed System, it consist collection of independent computers (each with respective operating systems) that appears to be a single coherent system in the user’s view. Distributed OS looks to user like ordinary centralized OS, but runs on multiple, independent CPUs (through networking). File replication in this kind of system is possible and any updates should be reflected on the replicas (since it is distributed) trough different schemes. The memory in this system has a wider span, thus it has wider resource and definitely employs vast amount of memory. Centralized system on the other hand is a type of system on which communication within the system is routed into a single machine. Data replication maybe possible in a centralized system, but whenever changes are made in a single file, it automatically reflects to its replica (since it is centralized). The system memory is in contrary with the previous one because its resource is limited and may have greater computing power. Both systems employ security measures but differ on implementation. Also in a distributed system, components will still function if one fails, while on the centralized system it is in divergent.

According to a site that I found during my research, there is only one way to increase the capacity of a hard disk. It stated that “The main way to decrease access time is to increase rotational speed, while the main way to increase throughput and storage capacity is to increase areal density.”

Areal density is defined as “the amount of data that can be stored in a given amount of hard disk platter “real estate”. Since disk platters surfaces are of course two-dimensional, areal density is a measure of the number of bits that can be stored in a unit of area. It is usually expressed in bits per square inch (BPSI).” It was also stated that there are two ways to increase areal density

a. increasing the linear density by packing the bits on each track closer together so that each track holds more data; or

b. Increase the track density so that each platter holds more tracks.

In the case given, a 120 GB single platter hard disk’s capacity can be increased by following the mentioned method. Certain calculation may be applied in order to attain the desired percentage of capacity increase (in the case given, an additional of 18GB is expected to be added). The output of the graph should show that for every increase in areal density, there is an increase in the hard disk’s total capacity manifested.

In virtual memory systems, according to what I have read, “the page table stores entries that map page numbers to page frames. A page table contains an entry for each of a process’s virtual pages.” In my conclusion, the page table contains the virtual address of a process (represented by bits), not data or a job. The page table also includes process ID information which is necessary in order for the virtual memory management system to determine what pages are associated into the right process. In cases where the virtual memory management system fails to determine the association of the processes and pages, it is the time that it initiates the procedure of handling page faults (from finding the page to refreshing the instructions).

Thus, the virtual address of a process that the table holds is reference to the actual process. Maybe, the data or job is located in the physical memory, not in the virtual memory.

According to what I have read, you can only directly access the files stored in a tape if you have loaded the tape in your system and mounted it. The tape should be virtually mounted before you can access its files. In the accessing process, the files are accessible through the virtual mount (meaning it has been loaded into its respective directory and the operating system can recognize and look/search for it). Its mount provides efficient storing and organizing process of its files for easier and faster access.