Encoding data is hard work. Even if you are using software created to make your life easier. I do not like doing this. I dislike doing tasks that are repetitive and boring but needing utmost focus. Not that I dislike titrating; maybe doing it 20 times would be boring but at least the thrill of finding the end point would support me, in encoding you just have to copy and type, copy and type. I know its part of the job of a researcher and I should try to get used to it now before I become one. Still getting used to something does not prevent you from disliking it.

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We were able to hone our microscopy skills this week. I particularly liked the challenged offered by the TB-positive sputum smear, wherein we need to find these tiny specks of pink in a huge sea of yellow and every time you move the slide it becomes slightly out of focus. I think I just got a bit lucky when I found the TB bacillus. Still, it did took me more than 10 minutes of back-breaking searching. Hopefully, there is a much easier way of determining if a sputum smear is positive for TB or not. Well, I think there is, I just do not know about it.
Speaking of microscopes, we used them in our biochem class just this morning. It was fun; I was finding stuff that are not related to what I was really looking for. Heh! The instructor was actually laughing at the things I was able to find. Still, I managed to find another tiny object in a sea of white and bigger particles.

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Another bomb threat. Another prank. This time, it was our college's main building(aka Lara Hall) that was the victim. It's weird. Nobody took it seriously. We just evacuated the building but no one was seriously expecting a bomb to go off. Why? Because, we couldn't think of a possible motive. Why would someone even want to destroy that building? You wouldn't be able to kill many people. Very few is inside at any time. Of course, I feared for the very old books, the very old microscopes and the live microorganisms inside the building. Blowing it up would not cause too much damage to UPM, infrastructure-wise, not unlike if you blow up the college of pharmacy or the college of arts and sciences buildings. They do store very volatile, very flammable and/or very toxic chemicals in there. Good thing though was our class just finished when the evacuation was started.

Nakabili na ako ng notebook. Hah! May notebook of everything na ako! Gusto ko sana nang magaganda-gandang notebook pero wala na akong makita. Hindi iyong itsura sa labas. Lumalayo pa nga ako kapag nakakakita ako ng kung anu-anong design eh. Hanap ko ay plain na color o kaya pattern o kung may design man ay hindi dapat related sa kung anu mang cartoon. Pero ang hanap ko talaga ay magandang papel. Mayroon namang mga notebook dyan na maganda ang papel tulad ng Green Apple at Cattleya pero mahal ang mga iyon kaya hindi ko binibili. Ang aking gamit last sem ay Avanti! na notebook. Matino na ang papel at mura pa.

Iyon ang hinanap ko sa National pero wala silang plain na Avanti. Nakakagulat nga kasi sa dami ng notebook na tinda nila ay wala akong mapili. Mamaya-maya may napansin akong isang Starnotes notebook na may picture ng Panda. Sabi ko pwede na siguro ito kung wala talaga akong makitang may solid color na cover pero nang siniyasat ko na ay nakita ko na pangit ang papel. Medyo manipis at hindi ata maganda ang ganito lalo na't madiin ako magsulat at mahilig ako sa matintang mga ballpen. Ibababa ko na sana ang notebook at aalis na ako nang napansin ko na parang baligtad ata ang cover. Aba! Left-handed notebook pala ito! At kung sisiyasatin mo ang mga katabi niya ay malalaman mong iyon lang ang left-handed notebook. Destiny na ata ito(kunwari naniniwala ako sa destiny) kaya binili ko na!

Hindi naman ako nagsisisi sa aking binili kasi mura naman siya at pang-left-handed nga! Hindi pa ako nakakagamit ng ganitong notebook. Tutal wala rin naman gaanong epekto dahil ang ginagawa ko ay maraming subjects sa isang notebook at nagsisimula ako magsulat sa parehas na dulo. Kapag nakuhanan ko na nang picture i-po-post ko dito.

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Hindi na ako gumawa ng ipapasa ko para sa Public Herald. Hindi ko maayos ang aking mga iniisip. Parang kapag ginagawa sa utak ang isusulat ko ay humahaba ng humahaba at napapalayo ako sa topic. Tsaka parang ang daming isyu bigla na naisip ko tungkol sa UP at epektibo nga ba ang UP na ipasok sa utak ng mga Isko at Iska ang magandang paraan ng pagkatuto o ang aking mga sariling karanasan, labas sa kolehiyo, ang tumutulong sa aking matututo kung paano mag-aral at matuto. Tsaka parang nagiging hambog ako at nagiging masyadong makasarili bigla ang nagagawa ko. Medyo hambog nga ako pero hindi na dapat lumabas iyon sa aking ipapasa. Tapos iyong ibang parte parang nagiging lecture na imbes na pagkwekwento ng mga karanasan. Siguro sa isang taon na lang at nagiging toxic na rin naman ang buhay hindi ko na muna siguro dadagdagan.

Masyado na ata ako natutuwa sa mga Friday. Para kasing isang malaking bato palagi ang natatanggal kapag Friday na. Buti na lang at hindi (pa) toxic ang mga subjects ko kapag Friday. Medyo natutuwa na rin ako dahil dadalawa lang ang mga subjects ko bawat araw kasi kahit pagod na ako pagdating sa bahay ay nagagawa ko pa rin makapaghanda ng kakaunti para sa mga subject ko sa kinabukasan.

Nagkakagalit na naman ata kami ng Chem. Hindi ko alam kung bakit bigla na lang ako inaantok kapag binabasa ko ang Biochem book. Siguro medyo saturated pa rin ng Chem31 ang aking utak o pangit lang talaga ang pagkakagawa ng libro kong binabasa. Sana naman matuwa ako sa Biochem dahil gusto ko talaga matuto sa subject na ito lalo na't pinakaa-abangan ko pa naman ang susunod sa PH160 series, ang Nutrition. Sa wakas malalaman ko na rin ang mga nangyayari talaga sa loob ng tao kapag may kinain ka! Oo, alam ko na may cellular respiration at chu-chu na kung anu-ano pero may ilang bagay pa na malabo para sa akin. Sa totoo lang gusto ko rin sana na may Pharmacology kami pero sa Med school ko na lang siguro iyon matututunan.

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The purpose of a college education is to learn how to learn. However, it is not the only purpose of getting a college education. Along the way you need to learn a few things and acquire some skills that would be essential in your future job. Also, you need to fix a few things high school messed up in you, may it be in academics, personality or in philosophy/ies in life. For me, college and the atmosphere of UP has helped me realize who I am and what things do I really believe in. Additionally, all those exposures(be it good or bad) had led me to believe that I should really be in the field of Science and I should try to be more of a scientist(skeptical, critical, hard-working, ever curious).

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My college's official (undergraduate) publication is calling for new members. Coincidentally, the topic for the application essay is the thing one loves the most about college. My favorite thing about college is learning and learning how to learn properly(see previous post). A close second would be college allowed my to free myself from certain people who are hindering my progress. I haven't decided if I'd apply(I'm not also certain if I'm eligible and I have never joined a writing club). I should hurry since the deadline for the essay is tomorrow. But I guess, I could always just use this blog to "publish" my thoughts. Besides, my writing ability tends to come and go as it pleases and I believe my (non-scientific ie not lab reports)work is not yet ready to be printed.

What's the point of a college education?

I cannot say I totally agree with it but it does have a good point. No time to discuss, I have class later. My thoughts on it would be posted on Saturday or Sunday. Sorry! It did made me think though on the current college situation here in the Philippines.

Ang hirap ng walang inaaral lalo na kapag may mga bagay ka na ayaw mong isipin. Buti na lang simula na ng totoong pagtuturo at pag-aaral bukas sa CPH. Anat at Physio bukas(2 subjects bawat araw, 3-4 hours bawat isa). Napakagandang kombinasyon at dahil mas matindi ata ang kagustuhan ng mga taga CPH at CM na maging world-class ay nakahanda na ang schedules namin para sa buong sem at mayroon pa kaming kopya. Tutal meron rin niyon sa CAS pero hindi naman ata nila sinusunod. Problema ko lang bakit hindi ata coordinated ang Anat at Physio namin. Kumusta naman! Habang nag-aaral kami ng mga cells at epithelium sa Anat ay nag-aaral naman kami ng puso at circulation sa Physio. Kaya siguro kami pinag-aral ng BIO 22 at BIO 102, bwiset, kailangan ko ata muling buklatin si Hyman.

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Natuwa naman ako sa mahiwagang baul ng aking mga kamag-anak dahil hindi ko na ngayon kailangan pa bumili ng mga libro. Oo medyo luma na at siguro may mga kulang at maling impormasyon doon. Oo, may kakaibang amoy na ang iba(pero gusto ko talaga ang amoy ng lumang libro). Oo, kailangan ko siguro bumili ng bagong libro para naman may magamit ako sa med school at sa grad school pero maghihintay muna ako at napansin ko kasi nagiging tamad na ako mag-notes dahil nasa libro na nga. Kung alam kong hindi ko mapagkakatiwalaan ng todo ang aking mga libro ay mapipilitan akong makinig at mag-notes. Ang magiging problema ko lang siguro kapag walang kwenta ang lectures pero sa tingin ko hindi naman mangyayari iyon. Mas mataas naman ata ang quality ng mga prof sa CPH kung ikukumpara sa CAS(pero matino na rin naman ang mga tao sa CAS at parang DPSM ata ang pinagbabasehan ko ng aking mga sinasabi) kung pagbabasehan ang kanilang kaalaman at karanasan sa kanilang itinuturo.

I was attending Mass and the homily was boring, if not non-insightful so I just let my thoughts wander. To keep up with the religious theme, I decided to think about God. I decided to think about the existence of God. True, Kant said that logic shouldn't be used in tackling God's existence and one should rely on faith and belief alone but I decided why not. Turns out, he was right because if you used logic you'd reach an atheist conclusion(There is no God) or to the very least realize that God just doesn't care what you do in the living world, bleak but logical. Of course, I discounted those so called "miracles" and relied only on what I think could be measurable and quantifiable events.

Logic says that if all the things we believe about God is true we'd be experiencing Him or Her every time we ask for help since God did promise to extend his/her hand to us at our time of need but I do not think that happens... no wait, that does not happen at all. Ultimately, our problems are solved by our own hands and actions. Some would say God guided them and what not but you cannot prove that. You cannot conduct a mental or physical experiment to test that claim. In the end, you just have to believe that God did guide you and everyone else in the world(God is omnipotent and omniscient). And if God is indeed all good, logically, murder would not exist. Tests of faith are fine but allowing murder is taking it too far; what about the person that was killed what happens to his test for entry to heaven? I do not believe all those murdered are good people. And all those children who die everyday? What about them? They can't all be innocent. If God does care, he would stop that person in mid-action and zap him straight to hell.
But, if you do believe that God does care, you can. I would like to remind that faith should not be proven and questioned using logic and rationality(religion is another matter), I was just pondering on that impossibility.

During the part where those attending Mass recite the Apostle's Creed, I didn't open my mouth. I cannot force myself to lie. I do not think Christ rose again after death or there are saints in heaven. I do believe in the God the Creator(the Creator of what? the natural laws? the one who triggered the Big Bang? certainly not the direct creator of us humans, we are just an accident). I do think that the many of the teachings of Jesus are sound and could be used as a guide on how to live the life of a good human being. But all those other things that the Catholic religion(not faith) require me to believe in is just too far. Many people would hate me but I trust in Science and Logic more than what religion(as in the dogma) is saying to me. Science and Logic do have limitations, I do not think we'll ever really prove conclusively the existence of the Big Bang or prove that the current theory of the Death of the Universe due to Expansion(solar systems drift apart, soon planets fly off then atoms decompose into subatomic particles and all things would move away from each other never meeting each other again). We cannot create a Universe in the lab but I think the newly developed accelerators are nearing that goal and we won't be here when the Universe is dying.

Yes, confusing, unorganized, characteristic of ramblings. What I'm just saying is that one shouldn't try to prove his or her faith using logic. Say I believe in God or God is dead. Just say it and no more. God's existence is beyond the living person's capability to prove and understand(if it was only one religion would exist). Maybe he or she does exist or maybe not or maybe he or she did exist once and is now dead, we just won't know all we'll ever know is that we live in a world that is functioning apparently without any help from God.

UPDATE: And you are an... AGNOSTIC. Or at least I'm becoming one. I do not think I meet all the categories yet(heck I'm a believer). Not that it is such a bad thing. And I do not think I will be that person Mitch Albom is describing in Tuesday's With Morrie(the one where he points out the difference in the deaths of an agnostic and an atheist, so false...)

Mahirap ang palaging nag-aantay. Hindi ito romantic ek-ek noh! Hindi ang nag-aantay ng pag-ibig o kung anu man, hello! ang pag-ibig ay hindi inaantay kundi hinahanap. Anyway, mahirap talaga ang nag-aantay ng mga tao. Lalo na kapag sinabihan mo na sila dalawang linggo na ang nakaraan na may usapan kayong magkikita. Mahirap lalo kung noong gabing iyon ay tinext mo silang lahat para magmakaawa na dumating sila ng maaga. Mas mahirap lalo kung mainit at wala kang upuan. At sobrang hirap lalo na't ang dami mong planong gawin nang araw na iyon; mga gawaing sobrang importante. At sobra-sobra sa hirap kapag hinahanap mo sila(text, tawag, abtp) ngunit walang pumapansin sa iyo. Ikaw na nga ang nagsasakripisyo ng load para matawagan sila, ikaw na nga ang nauna, ikaw na nga ang nagpakababa kahit sila naman talaga ang mali pero hindi ka pa rin pinapansin. Idagdag mo pa na alam mo namang may utak ang mga taong ito ngunit hindi man lang maisip na hindi lang sila ang tao sa mundo at hindi dapat binabawi nang walang sabi-sabi ang kanilang mga binitawang salita. Parang ang sarap-sarap tumigil at bayaan na sila ngunit iyon nga iyon eh ang dali-dali lang sumuko pero mas marami ka namang makukuha kapag nagtyaga ka. Hindi ko naman sila pinagalitan o pinahirapan nang dumating na nga sila; mahina talaga ako. Pasalamat na lang sila dahil ang dami ko nang naisip na mga pagpapahirap habang nag-aantay ako sa kanila.

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Rant on a certain Steve(I couldn't reply to him since the last comment was 2 months ago):

There's so many misguided people in the world. Why would you attack vaccines? Why would you ever consider not having your children vaccinated? Do you really think that this would cause so many unproven disfigurations and disorders? Do you really think a compound long ago removed from vaccines cause autism? Do you really think that this treatment which probably have removed all the heavy metals it can could help in the development of your child? Why would you believe that a miracle cure exist for autism? People still prefer to hold unto their wrong beliefs despite overwhelming counter-evidence. People reject guidance and pleas to stop their "stupidity." People are attacking scientists, doctors, health professionals and public health workers, believing all of them are trying to prevent their child's success but all they're trying to do is prevent YOU from harming YOUR CHILD. Why? Why? Why must you be like the people who believe Extra-virgin coconut oil can cure all their diseases? I must ask you to try this: stop giving your child all treatments except chelation and other biomedical hoo-hah for about 5 years and see what happens. I must insist all kinds of treatment like guidance and speech therapy from professionals and from you. See what happens, then after that do the opposite and see what happens. Of course, you wouldn't do it seeing as that procedure would probably harm your child but since you have great faith on those treatments why not give it a shot.

Link(see comments): Stupid steve

What would you want to become? A cyborg or a genetically-enhanced human being?
Cyborgs would be born humans and then have machine implants to gain superhuman abilities while genetically-enhanced human beings would be as the name states genetically enhanced to achieve superhuman abilities. Two methods, same ends. For me, I'd rather be a genetically-enhanced human being rather than a cyborg as I really like full control and feel of my body rather than partial control. I doubt that we'd ever develop technology that could mimic the sense of touch and fine control. Of course, cyborgs would probably have a better chance at immortality than g-e hb's but who said you can't become both?

Info on how scientists are tackling the "Coordinator"(Gundam Seed) plan to human improvement? Read this.

I haven't found an article related to cyborgs but I have seen in National Geographic a show about the first human cyborg. No not the Terminator looking one, he just has this optical fiber implanted in to his arm and a chip I think which enables him to control computers from far far away.