Sunday, March 28, 2010

The 30-minute Earth Hour

On March 27, the Philippines joined the entire world in a strive to save mother Earth. Earth Hour is a global effort to minimize global warming. How? Everyone can contribute simply by turning off all of their lights for an entire hour.

However, in the Philippines, especially in the city of Zamboanga, whose been experiencing power crisis for a few months now, the "hour" however was minimized to half. Why? A lot of citizens were furious when they saw tarpaulins promoting the "earth hour". We're not really against the idea, however, the entire city is already experiencing rotational brownouts which lasts for 2 hours (atleast) and this sums up to 6 or 8 hours of brownouts for a day. Isn't that already an effort of saving mother Earth from global warming? It's more than an hour, even!

The rotational brownouts is a result of the "El Niño" phenomenon. Water levels from the Hydro-Electric power plant in Agusan, which provides most of the electricity in the Zamboanga-Peninsula, have dropped.

So, why do we have to participate in Earth Hour? We're already doing our part (compulsorily)!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

D.A. and their Cloud-seeding Project conjured a tropical storm!


The city of Zamboanga have been experiencing drought for almost 5 months now. No rain, not even a single drop. It turned out to be a natural phenomenon called the "El Niño Phenomenon" It is not only being experienced in Zamboanga, but in the entire Philippine Archipelago as well. Hydro-electric power plants in the region have experienced drops of water level which causes the current rotational "brownouts". Water supply have also been rationed in majority of the major cities here.

But, through the efforts of the Department of Agriculture, together with the local government of Zamboanga, a "cloud-seeding project" was initialized,with hopes of bringing back rain.

Then on Sunday, March 21, 2010, it rained hard (miraculously). Well, ofcourse, the D.A. claimed that it was through their effort of cloud-seeding which brought the rain. Well, so they thought.

At around midnight 'til dawn, of March 22, 2010, it rained so hard again, and with thunderstorms this time.

Well, ofcourse, everyone was so happy after months of drought, it finally came.

But, then again, my curious bone tingled. Could the cloud-seeding project really have worked?

Upon turning on the TV last night (March 23, 2010), I happened to switch the channel to Kuya Kim's weather report. And to my surprise, a Tropical storm is approaching the Philippine Archipelago.

Could this be the result of D.A.'s effort of cloud-seeding?

Although, it was reported by PAGASA that the tropical storm will not affect the Philippines, still it comes to mind whether or not the storm was conjured by the cloud-seeding efforts.

Anyway, let's just hope that this storm does not cause such trouble to our city.
And let's continue to hope and pray that there will no longer be such a phenomenon as this, the El Niño.

I rest my case.



Jonathan Paul C. Solis
Curious-weather-guy

Sunday, March 21, 2010

STI Student's 2nd Semestral Project Presentation

Today marks the 2nd day of the 2-day Project Presentation. The intention of coming up with this presentation is to showcase all IT student's talents and initiatives through their respective subject's projects.

Subjects raging from Office Productivity Tools, to Computer Programming, Hardware, Networking, Database Systems, Software Engineering, etc.

Students will be presenting using powerpoint presentations, to spreadsheets, programming languages, such as java, vb, to database software such as access, and sql.

You'll really be surprised as to what these students can do... enjoy the pictures!










Thursday, March 4, 2010

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax... together in one stage!


I've been a very big fan of MetallicA since I was 10 years old... Master of Puppets was the very first album I had of the band, which I acquired through a friend of mine who sold it to me for P50.00... I got addicted right there and then! So the search for all MetallicA tapes (cassette tapes) began... It wasn't until about a year or two when I read about Megadeth and the feud between the two bands... that got me into listening to MegadetH and that's also when I started comparing the two bands... I ended up liking both bands, though... I love MetallicA cause the lyrics, the voice and the harmonies are great! I love MegadetH because of the guitar solos... anyway... I was also introduced to a tape which had bodies of people flowing in a lava-like formation in hell... that was when I first listened to Slayer... the lightning fast drumming got me addicted to the band instantly! The screaming vocals and fast guitar solos (sometimes nauseating...) got me jumping in my bedroom... I haven't got the chance to listen to any Anthrax songs, but it didn't really matter...

I actually also got more interested in playing the drums and guitars because of these bands... though I'm not really into doing solos, I enjoy riffing to MetallicA and Slayer tunes with my black GenisiSeries guitar and my DOD Metal X distortion pedal... It was kinda hard playing MegadetH songs... but I really tried playing them...

Other bands came into the picture, the likes of Pantera, Sepultura, Rage Against the Machines, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Green day, Silverchair, Wolfgang, and others... these bands somehow also inspired me to play Rock Music with my guitar in my bedroom very loud! But I bet these other bands were influenced by the BIG FOUR!

I wish I could go and see these bands in concert together during the Sonisphere Festival! I'd love to see even just one show of either of these bands (though I'd prefer to be in a MetallicA concert more... whew...)

Is there somebody out there who can give me free tickets to see the Sonisphere Festival?

Anyway, click here to read more information about the BIG FOUR!

METAL UP YOUR ASS!!!

Long Live ROCK N' ROLL!!!

HEAVY METAL for LIFE!!!


-Jon-

What are the chances?

95%!!!

This is how much percent MANKIND is to be blamed on the issue of Global Warming.

The evidence that human activity is causing global warming is much stronger than previously stated and is found in all parts of the world, according to a study that attempts to refute claims from sceptics.

The “fingerprints” of human influence on the climate can be detected not only in rising temperatures but also in the saltiness of the oceans, rising humidity, changes in rainfall and the shrinking of Arctic Sea ice at the rate of 600,000 sq km a decade.

The study, by senior scientists from the Met Office Hadley Centre, Edinburgh University, Melbourne University and Victoria University in Canada, concluded that there was an “increasingly remote possibility” that the sceptics were right that human activities were having no discernible impact. There was a less than 5 per cent likelihood that natural variations in climate were responsible for the changes.


Click on this link for more information...

EARTHQUAKES EVERYWHERE!!!

Major earthquakes have been felt in some of the countries around the world in less than a few months! Some destructive, some not as much as the other. But, still it brings a kind of weariness to everyone. Where & when will the next one strike? Will it be in a place near you?

The first major destructive earthquake was in Haiti here countless lives have been lost.

The next was in Chile, where a tsunami scare was raised in the Pacific. It was also reported that it actually tilted the earth's axis.

Then a minor quake was felt in Tuguegarao City, Philippines which didn't really cause any major damage.

The latest was in Taiwan.

Are these simply coincidences? Earthquakes after earthquakes in some of the major places in the world? Could it be that the mayan prophecy be coming to reality? Could 2012 really be the end of humanity's existence?

Looking at the facts, the polar ice caps are melting due to the green house effect. And who is responsible for this change? It is us, the humans, who continually abuse mother nature's gifts.

Come to think of it, maybe mother nature is just giving us what we deserve. We are reaping what we sowed. Or maybe, the earth is dying and rotting, and we are just unlucky to be witnessing it's end.

Be weary though. And be ready for the next big one. It may not be in the form of earthquakes, tsunamis, or even killer asteroids or comets. It could be anything!

Please help save the earth. You know what you need to do.


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It's been awhile... It's been tough, though...

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since my last post. And I must say, life has been tough, as usual. There have been a lot of confrontations lately, both in the professional and personal levels.

But, I've been growing professionally, though. I've been learning and exploring new things in the IT field. I am currently handling a website project, and I am also handling short courses for computer animation.

I just can't keep up with some of the deadlines being imposed by our "higher superior." But what the hell, it's better late than never. Atleast I'm able to present something even at the very last moment.

But everything is "good" in every sense of it. Well, except for the never-ending blackouts that have been occurring in the city lately. It's a pain in the butt!!! whew...

This is it for now. I'll try to find some other things to share later.

Have a nice day!



Best regards,

Jonathan