Philip Sarreal (Monosomic ’76) is a freelance IT network consultant based in Portland, Oregon. He finished his BS Agriculture degree in 1978 and was the Grand Varron of the Aggie Chapter in 1977-78.<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Philip\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Portrait-3.jpg?resize=120%2C120&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip\\"")
Philip<\/p><\/div>\n
Philip had the following conversation with Roberto “Bert” Alaban Jr. He recruited Bert to join the UP Varrons and he served as Bert’s freshman block monitor and agronomy instructor at UP Los Ba\u00f1os.<\/h4>\n
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Can you tell us about your UPLB life (as student and professional) during the last millennium?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI was an energetic, idealistic kid in a lot of ways, typical I suppose of a UP student. I was very aware of the privileges of being in the campus, and therefore made the best of it. Academic life at UPLB was probably the most fertile the country had to offer in the 70\u2019s. However life outside the classroom, especially with the Varrons, made an indelible mark on my growth as a person, as it provided the social base upon which I developed more character (since we all came from diverse backgrounds), leadership abilities with all the attendant responsibilities, and acute social and political awareness. Teaching at my department after graduation was very rewarding, but a lot more work than I wanted since I was giving priority to teaching, versus spending more time to research and writing proposals where some financial returns could be more rewarding in the long term.<\/p>\nWhy did you take flight to the US, a country much maligned in your time and now, by UP students?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nPrimarily I wanted to have some kind of provision for my parents, who were just simple, hardworking farmers. As I cited teaching at UPLB had been very gratifying, but looking back at my parents\u2019 situations then I gathered early on I won\u2019t be able to provide them with any comfortable life with their advancing age. My Mother had earlier gone to the US to join our Ilocano relatives, and my Father left a few months after I did to join his own relatives. They are both gone now, but my greatest satisfaction was being able to take them with me at times as I traveled all over California to look at my field trials when I was a research plant breeder, and showing them California\u2019s farm lands – the sheer vastness in size, the state-of-the-art farming, the bountiful harvests and professional agribusiness companies, even those family-owned. I also sent them letters and postcards from all over the world later in my career; my Mom had kept those letters for a while in an album and proudly showed them to everyone.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Family.jpg?resize=280%2C316&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip")
Philip with family<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cMuch maligned\u201d is indeed accurate to an extent, but now that I had lived here in the US awhile (longer than I had in the PI) I can delineate between the US ruling politicians and the American people (remember the tyranny of democracy? 49.9% of Americans voted against Bush, and the remaining 50.1 % prevailed). The people and the government are two different entities \u2013 in an ideal world, government should be of, for and by the people, but this is reality. Almost half of the populace here are against Bush and his policies, and the dissent is there every generation, every term, no matter where you are in this political world. Even as a student I was acutely aware of dissent for dissent\u2019s sake, and tried not to fall in that trap. While I admired greatly those who were steadfast in their political beliefs, a lot of them had the luxury of having an economic advantage over me since I came from a very humble background; I had to consider my family first.<\/p>\n
Even as a kid my childhood was peppered by visits from US relatives on both my parents\u2019 side, and was deeply intrigued by their life and perceived opportunities. Eventually I did indeed learn the US is a very pluralistic society, a real melting pot of the world where just about every culture is represented. You are rewarded for hard work and perseverance, free to express yourself, and get an honest day\u2019s work and pay, no matter what color of skin you have or whatever other political or religious beliefs you have. What most people see from the outside is what is represented by Hollywood images especially in movies, which has little to do with the real American values of equality in opportunities, multiculturalism and tolerance for differences. I had developed to be my own person in this setting \u2013 merging my old culture with the new one \u2013 synergistically becoming a unique self. In a lot of ways I am better off than your average Joe Blow since I don\u2019t take anything for granted and could easily appreciate every little thing I have, counting all my blessings along the way.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us about your life in the US as a genetics expert (that is, before you re-germinated as an IT professional)?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI was a research scientist\/product evaluation manager\/team player\/marketing analyst\/breeder-geneticist for a large multinational corporate private biotech company. This is the very anti-thesis of my political inclinations as an undergrad, being totally opposed to capitalism and corporate greed. Would I do the same things all over again if given the chance? You bet! The experiences of working in an international corporate setup helped me grow as an individual since I was exposed to all the cultures of the world, having the opportunity to cater to clients here in the US, Latin America, Europe, Australia and the rest of the world.<\/p>\nAs a professional I was fully cognizant of all the brilliant scientific minds around and the genetic engineering technology available in my field. I can speak my own mind freely on anything, and in my field with authority, and was aware as a team player of everybody\u2019s contribution in achieving goals and objectives. As such the myopic existent self merges with the rest in your team and you have a great contribution as an individual, but selflessness emerges, and it is liberating to be such. No ego tripping gets in the way. As the pioneering team in our company we were empowered by the management to make full marketing and research decisions, a pilot structure that led to the re-alignment of all projects in the company in such fashion.<\/p>\n
To survive and flourish in the corporate world entails for you to be very well-rounded. You develop your full potential this way and you can be assertive in your beliefs and technical expertise, and yet be socially savvy to deal with clients and customers from diverse backgrounds. The company also used to have annual Leadership and Management Training to bleed the most productivity out of you. We once spent a full day and a half on \u201cTime Management\u201d \u2013 talk about oxymoronic! We must really have been utterly productive when we went back to work after that.<\/p>\n
Advanced communication skills to share ideas with a varied audience are also paramount. Having said this \u2013 I had the rare privilege of moving about in the world as my backyard, whether looking at field trials in summery Alaska, checking out research production in Australia, promoting products in Spain, France, Guatemala or Mexico, or conversing with kids in Madrid or Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Ryan-Hugo-France-1996.jpg?resize=280%2C184&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip")
Philip with Ryan (left) and Hugo in France, 1996.<\/p><\/div>\n
On a more particular level I was working for a length of time for a French-owned company. Little did I know at the start that the company was actually owned by a group of French farmers belonging to a cooperative. France might seem like a semi-socialist country but the system works for them. The French government has a policy of protecting and maintaining the agrarian lifestyle, versus the unstoppable urbanization evident here in the US and elsewhere. As such the farmers are well-supported and protected, and are the ones with the final say on what will work for them. When I met the group of said farmer-owners on their trip to the US, since they did not speak English I gave the presentation in French. I\u2019ve never seen a bunch of more grateful and appreciative audience. The fact that I told them my parents were also farmers made them even more endearing.<\/p>\n
Spain also has a similar cooperative system, but the farmers are more independent of the government. Either way the smaller growers or farmers survive, since they have a network of support to bank on. Mexico and the rest of Latin America and emerging economies of the world fall into the same feudal pattern \u2013 the rich and powerful elite minority rule the politics and economy of the poor agrarian sector. Such was my view as a plant geneticist and political being.<\/p>\n
Growing big by being small, so to speak. Besides, when government accepts responsibility for people oftentimes people no longer take responsibility for themselves. But you\u2019ve just pulled out the first big surprise in this interview, that you do have learned to speak the language of those who say \u201cle weekend\u201d and \u201cle burger.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nQuelle horreur! If the Parisians hear those words you\u2019ll be vanished from Paris. While French in general love their language and would recoil in horror hearing \u201cle weekend\u201d and \u201cle burger,\u201d Parisians truly love to keep the purity of the language. As a matter of fact Paris suburbanites have their own accent, and could be really snobbish about it. Even my French friends from the north get snobbed when visiting at Paris since they have a regional accent, so can you imagine the average tourist (American or not) visiting there? But it\u2019s all how you behave and respect the local culture. I get nothing but warm reception because \u201cJe suis de l\u2019etranger\u201d who speaks their language, and they are very appreciative of that. But like anything else – for the younger crowd who wants to be hip \u2013 \u201cle fin de semaine\u201d is out and hanging out at MacDo for le burger \u2013 c\u2019est tres cool!<\/p>\nWhat made you jump seed and take up the keyboard?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThe events of the 9\/11 tragedies profoundly affected my decision to shift careers as it agitated the travel system here in the US and in the world. However it\u2019s a distillation of all other factors too – the relocation of our main research station, my Father\u2019s declining health, my increasing detestation of travel as I did both locally and internationally for management and research meetings, and the actual hassles at the airports regarding perceived or real security threats. Even with a full-time job I was doing part-time network consulting on the weekends back then, and it naturally flowed to that direction when I decided I had enough of working for other people and putting up with the travel hassles. It\u2019s not for the faint-hearted though to jump off-board, as we are all creatures of comfort and will put up with the monotony of everyday existence than confront everyday challenges. You got to have that fire in the belly so to speak and opportunities abound where the feisty individual seeks them.<\/p>\nI can agree. Knowledge is power but enthusiasm pulls the switch.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nAmen to that!<\/p>\nAlvin Tofler said that the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn. I guess this has applied to you (even if you have not read him which, I guess you have).<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThe classroom can be confining, literally, with its four walls. (By the way, Toffler\u2019s Future Shock was required reading at Soc Sci 2 in my time at UPLB). There\u2019s so much outside in the real world, and if you act as a dry sponge there\u2019s an unlimited spring of knowledge you can absorb. I still learn everyday (I do know a lot of things but I don\u2019t profess to know everything). I was very intellectual in my pursuits before, but when I got involved in physical pursuits with triathlons there\u2019s so much to learn with nutrition, physiology, training efficiently etc. This was for a single goal to test your endurance – to prevent bonking out or hitting the wall (when you just basically tire out and cannot take another stroke or stride or pedal). With limited time you have to train smartly; remember \u2013 even in your work \u2013 always work smarter not harder. Exact same thing applies in training, as I could get a good workout in 30 minutes versus 3 hours.<\/p>\nWhen I finally had the chance to discover scuba diving in Australia (after a couple of previous trips there) I discovered another world of existence. Bottom line \u2013 whatever you do you can learn and have fun at the same time. I had lived over the years with all different types of roommates of different nationalities (French, Irish, Scottish, local Americans white or black) and religious persuasions (Muslim or Jew or Catholic), and learned a lot from each and every one of them. Everyone has something to offer in this world, and if we have that attitude the world will definitely be better off.<\/p>\n
Roger that. If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nAmen again.<\/p>\nWas your sea change partly influenced by the fact that you were a key player in the American agronomy-industrial complex that is foisting Frankenfood and sundry chimerical stuff on the American people and eventually the world?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nAs a scientist I was thrilled to do a lot of real-world testing for our genetically-engineered projects. We did a lot of our field experiments for our European counterparts in the US since they could never be tested on their grounds currently. However I was very aware of the environmental impact of what our GMO projects were, and had always taken precautions to comply with US Federal regulations for field testing.<\/p>\nI had given presentations on genetic engineering at Guatemala, Mexico and local conferences for non-scientists. This was actually the fun part: when I give a talk to laymen, organic growers, vegans, hippies, Greenpeace warriors, et al. Their main concern? Uncontrolled widespread distribution of Frankenfood and other organisms. But genetic engineers can only manipulate so much, since most alien gene introductions to a plant or animal physiology will get rejected by the organism or by the species. After the talks though, most people were very receptive of the benefits of GMO\u2019s, especially the aspect of reduced dependence to inorganic chemical pesticides in disease control, for example. I think more than anything the fear of the unknown turns off everyone, so it\u2019s more of an education of the masses that needs to be done regularly. I would caution though about what\u2019s printed and broadcast in the mass media \u2013 as they are only after sensationalism, and generally have very little scientific basis.<\/p>\n
That explains why genetic engineers successfully introduced a woodpecker gene into a carrier pigeon and created a bird that not only delivers messages to their destination but knocks on the door when it gets there. But it doesn\u2019t explain why soil bacterium in Frankencorn and daffodil in Frankenrice did not result to rejection, only proliferation.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThat\u2019s pretty funny with the pigeon-pecker. By the way- what do you get when you cross a parrot with a lion? I don’t know, but when it speaks you better listen. Anyway – the Bt gene is already existent in nature, and of course you know the natural proliferation of bacteria in this world, so there\u2019s really no \u201cforeign\u201d gene involved. May be it was an inter-species but no alien genes were created. Same thing with the golden rice \u2013 we are just increasing the beta carotene content, but the beta carotene genes already exist in nature. As such they would naturally proliferate on the right hosts.<\/p>\nYou seemed to have really liked it in the dark side of the Force (to use the language from the movie, ummm\u2026uhhh, Air Force One)?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nYou had been watching too many movies! I suppose I don\u2019t follow conventional thinking. I like challenges, and if it means joining the Dark Side \u2013 well I could explore that too. You\u2019ll never know until you try, right? I used to get seasick so severely when I was young whenever I would get on a boat, so what I did I bought a waterbed and used it for about 5 years when I was working in Fresno (CA). Eventually that\u2019s probably why I was so comfortable in the waters, and lived by the ocean later for 15 years. Heck now \u2013 I am half-fish, and if I spent any more inordinate time in the water you could visibly see the gills underneath my shirts. Maybe I am not always on the dark side, but in the deep side for sure.<\/p>\nIs one movie a week too many? My apology for the term \u201cdark side of the Force\u201d; I should have used the politically-correct term \u201cLand of full-cream milk and honey-cured bacon.\u201d We do have lots of half-fish humans in the Philippines, many of them undocumented Indians. They make a lucrative living in microfinance. And those are gills? I thought they were oversized nipples?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nWatch your language there! A lot of impressionable Varrons will be reading this.<\/p>\nWhat are you now called, and what kind of work is it that you exactly do?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Varrons-01.jpg?resize=320%2C240&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip")
Philip with some Varronettes when he visited Los Ba\u00f1os, Laguna in early 2007. From left: Melinda ‘Melin’ dela Pe\u00f1a-Bandalaria (FQS ’78), Flora ‘Pola’ Credo-de Guzman (Interaksyon ’75), Cristina ‘Cristy’ Madamba-Bajet (Octopus ’73), Filomena ‘Meklay’ Credo-Sta. Cruz (Repertory ’76), Marilyn ‘Len’ Palma-Monserrat (FQS ’78), Florencia ‘Aga’ Gonzaga-Palis (Humane Batch ’74).<\/p><\/div>\n
I am a network engineer but I\u2019ve been called a lot of things (not necessarily flattering and printable) by people whose networks had gone down! (even though we did not set them up and the mess is not our making). I went back to school for network engineering (the physical end of networks \u2013 such as routers, switches, firewalls), but the most common daily problems are in network server administration, such as slow or no email access, lost files, inaccessible shared files, printer problems, frozen computers, etc. I cater to small businesses and in network troubleshooting the biggest problems are right outside the computers and networks \u2013 it\u2019s the users! They surf the Internet endlessly and are generally not secure or are very vulnerable to what we call script kiddies, identity hijackers, and other baddies from the virtual world.<\/p>\n
You should learn a thing or two from the most longevous network engineers in the Philippines. Their networks are so indestructible, and the biggest problem, at least for the government, are also right outside the networks \u2013 the users themselves. Their technical name is \u201cjueteng lords.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThey are still around huh?<\/p>\nWhat is your typical day as an IT professional?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI work as a consultant, so there\u2019s no typical day. Generally when we are called it\u2019s to troubleshoot a downed network or unresponsive computer on a non-responsive user. We do provide general services as in setting up regular data backup, checking security settings, securing wireless access, optimizing network traffic and operating systems, etc. Otherwise we just surf the web mostly, reading technical stuff and re-connecting with fellow geeks, and waiting for networks to go down. Yeah \u2013 they generally ignore us when everything is working hunky-dory. When all else fails, check the power-on switch. Or in geek terms \u2013 Give it the three-fingered salute (Ctrl-Alt-Delete)<\/p>\nCan the kind of work you do, or at least part of it, be outsourced to developing countries to generate jobs? Americans now call Filipinos to guide them with such simple stuff as sequenced power-cycling of their system, and we don\u2019t have sing-song accents like you know who.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThere are seven layers to troubleshooting a network \u2013 on the lower 3 layers you almost physically have to be able to access the system. The upper 4 layers (especially the applications or softwares) can be outsourced \u2013 either for development or testing or troubleshooting. That\u2019s where outsourcing can come in, since writing those codes and softwares, and going through the layers of troubleshooting, all call for mental skills or exertion. Hardware research or development is a cost-prohibitive venture \u2013 whether it be the chips, routers, firewalls, etc. (which are often proprietary). Call centers are prevalent outside of the US because of affordable labor, and since Americans (or as my Latin American colleagues pointed out – North Americans) are the most pervasive users of computer technology those who can speak their language will have a better shot at it. While not a sole reason to learn English or promote it \u2013 English has actually become the lingua franca of the world, the one neutral language that the majority of the developed economies use. It is not a colonizing tool as some people my purport. When I travel outside the US with my Dutch, or Spanish, or Italian, or French colleagues English is the de-facto common bond.<\/p>\nHow can your field of work contribute to efforts to bring about world peace?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nHey \u2013 we can split the software development and call centers equally to all the merging economies of the world, resulting to redistributed wealth and thereby world peace. Simply put! Realistically if we can distribute and make available inexpensive computers to all household in the world, increase communications between cultures and understanding throughout the world then the world would be a more peaceful place to live.<\/p>\nalleviate poverty?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nSee preceding answer. Additionally use computers to educate, not entertain. American kids in general belong to the latter, and end up adept to twitching, reflexive actions of their motor senses, but have absolutely minimally developed analytical skills. Elementary school teachers these days have a tough job teaching, as they have to compete with the limited attention span of kids so used to video games, computers and television. Some teachers are reduced to just using Powerpoint presentations to \u201cenhance\u201d their teaching, which obviously is not working since American kids rank near the bottom on general standard skills tests. In developing economies throughout the world education is still the main exit door out of poverty.<\/p>\ncombat pre-mature baldness?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nSorry but hardware and software use can in reality, hasten or worsen premature baldness (it\u2019s also called stress, especially when you cannot access your email or the internet is down and you cannot watch Youtube videos!). As for the genetics side of it \u2013 blame your maternal grandfather for passing it on to you, then get a hair transplant to get even! My Lolo must be spinning in his grave, bless his soul.<\/p>\nIn the science of branding, \u201cMicrosoft\u201d is a bad choice of corporate name (\u201cmicro\u201d na, \u201csoft\u201d pa). Why do you think it is such a giga-success? Are you a fan of Bill Gates?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nWhat\u2019s in a name? The name Microsoft is obviously working for them. Bill Gates and his cohorts had re-engineered the 20th and 21st centuries histories for mankind; whether they copied or developed on other people\u2019s ideas is immaterial. Was Japan all original in their car industry in the 70s\u2019 and 80\u2019s? There\u2019s a lot of efficiency and productivity associated with using computers in the business world, but the opposite could be said for personal productivity. In a capitalistic society computers filled in a large void, but probably at a great social expense of isolation and impersonality. Bill is a typical rugged American individualist, and could easily be your-next-door neighbor. I saw his recent interview side-by-side with Warren Buffett (2nd only to Bill in wealth) and both were seemingly unpretentious. But Bill is most impressive in his visions. He had actually become the world\u2019s richest philanthropist. Yeah \u2013 I\u2019ll be a fan if he gives me one of his billions.<\/p>\nDo you admire him more than Steve Jobs?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nBill and Steve are both in the same level for me \u2013 up there – brilliant individualists who do not fit in the molds of mediocrity. They would go against the grain of many Asian and European countries that shun individuality. Were they born in another country outside of the US they would be trampled early on with their ideas and personalities. Never had any contact with Bill (save indirectly for his recurrent Windows releases), but at least I used to see Steve at the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival in the 80\u2019s. But none of his wealth can cure his advanced premature baldness (hah – there\u2019s justice in this world!). I am not much into idol worship, but Bill holds an edge over Steve for me.<\/p>\nWhich IT-world figure do you most identify with?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nMost IT people are too geeky to brandish in the mass media, as they severely lack social graces. Does anybody remember Paul Allen, Bill\u2019s buddy in Microsoft\u2019s early days? Hey \u2013 computer geeks can work in cave-like rooms, no windows nor light, no social contact or conversation of any sort, with only their internet connection to the world, and be perfectly happy (OK- I wasn\u2019t trying to attack you readers personally). While not necessarily an IT figure one guy stood out from the rest for me \u2013 Scott Adams, a cartoonist who is the creator of Dilbert (see http:\/\/www.dilbert.com\/). He made fun of white-collar workers in large corporations, people working basically on computers, following strictly hierarchical and boring daily existence (he called them the cubicle people \u2013 which I used for the folks at our executive office \u2013 but my boss didn\u2019t think that was funny). I saw him talk at a computer conference in San Francisco in early 90\u2019s and immediately floored me as the funniest man on earth (this was before he hit big time). Boy – can I relate to his cartoons and his satire of geekdom and corporate world! Gary Larson (of The Far Side Fame) is another hilarious cartoonist \u2013 but his humorous realm is in biology, not the corporate world.<\/p>\nDang! Now I know what to ask you for Christmas \u2013 \u201cNight of the Crash-Test Dummies\u201d \u2013 the one missing in my Tales from the Far Side collection. But what about Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (originator of the www), or Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI had the whole series of the Far Side collection before, but had given them away after all the multiple moves. As for those two – there are a lot of unheralded geeks out there, but so are a lot of unrecognized scientists. I think their low profile speaks volumes, since most people just want to do their jobs and contribute something, but do not want the concomitant attention that fame brings.<\/p>\nWhat do you think is the reason why internet commerce (buying and selling) did not flourish in the Philippines?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nE-banking infra-structure is an integral part of any commerce. Any weakness on this (whether security or availability) and the e-line commerce is naturally flawed. It is also related to the level of consumerism, which is related to the level of disposable income. The latter two are very high in the US, contributing to crass materialism (look at what is being sold at eBay, and what people are paying for them). I think a fine balance of consumption, while maintaining the survival of small businesses, could work for the Philippines. The supply and demand chain, of course, has to synch up with inventory and distribution, so you in the agri-business side have a lot of challenges (I am assuming here that PI is still highly agrarian). Only few industries can thrive well on e-commerce, since highly perishable and bulky goods can be really costly to ship overnight or urgently. My 2-cents worth anyway (learned it from hanging around eBay too long, waiting for my bids!).<\/p>\nFilipinos want to see and pinch the merchandise before parting with their money, something they can\u2019t do over the internet. And they are not comfortable revealing their credit card number over the net. Not only that, majority of Filipinos do not have enough disposable income to afford a credit card. Ooppss, am I answering my own question?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nLooks like it. Online security is still the biggest issue, not just on new emerging networks but where credit cards are ubiquitous there\u2019s higher occurrence of cyber crimes, especially identity theft.<\/p>\nAs a business strategy, computer-security vendors also make and spread viruses and worms and such other nasty bits. Possible?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nPossible yes, but improbable. The biggest sources of hacking are the script kiddies out there \u2013 the young generation of users who had been exposed to computers since infancy and have such fluency with computer language and hardware configurations. Hacking is not necessarily used for malice, but for the thrill-seeking part of it (Hey! I was able to look at Bill Clinton\u2019s emails to Monica!). Or do some identity theft (let me see \u2013 how many gazillions should I transfer from Bill Gates\u2019 bank account to mine?). And lets\u2019s see if we can do a DOS (Denial of Service) on Dubya\u2019s computer!<\/p>\nI\u2019m blown. Did he enjoy it? (I mean, doing the platonic, uh, job of exchanging emails)
\nProbably \u2013 but he definitely did not enjoy the wrecking of his election. That reminds me \u2013 the only US President I\u2019ve met (so far) is Bill Clinton. He came over to Monterey one time and since I lived about a mile away from the airport I paid a quick visit. He was supposed to make a quick exit upon arrival, but detoured towards the crowd where I was standing. I was so stymied and could only mutter \u201cHello Mr. President\u201d while shaking his hand. Anyway that was exactly the week when he was messing around!<\/p>\n
Do you think computers can be programmed to write haiku?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nSure \u2013 if you can quantify emotions, artistic insights and rhyme into digital bits. But short of calling them hackers, I\u2019d call them hai-kers. Hai! Those haikus in the Varrons forum? Considering the deluge of haiku posted recently I bet you those guys just programmed their computers to randomly sort out dictionary words every 5 minutes (OK \u2013 nobody out there better believe this!)<\/p>\nWrong. That\u2019s kinda slow. It\u2019s actually 5 seconds. And Quentin Tarantino said you can\u2019t write poetry in a computer.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI knew that, but I wanted to give those haiku writers the benefit of the doubt that they are not churning them out that fast. And who is this Tarantino guy? He\u2019s one of those Hollywood types glorifying gore and violence in movies. I seriously doubt his literary credits.<\/p>\nWill computers eventually rule the world? I mean, in the sense that urban societies will now ground to a halt without computers, in that sense they kind of \u201crule\u201d us already.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nAre you kidding? We already rule the world! Who do you think is writing these responses? I am not at a liberty to disclose who programmed me. (Hint: I am not human). And would the Varrons be able to re-connect virtually without us computers? Morever can you imagine a bunch of Varrons without computers and email? They\u2019d be nervously pacing up and down the hallways and having withdrawal symptoms in 5 minutes or less. It\u2019s job security for network engineers till the 22nd century (OK – I intend to be around a while). Silicon chips rock and rule!<\/p>\nDo you think that explains why every time the traffic light turns green, it automatically turns on the horn of the car behind you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nOr for us humans to find it irresistible to open mails regarding our inheritance of millions from some relatives in Nigeria. Computers are smarter than us in that sense, and would just delete those mails. Knee-jerk reaction to changing lights is so human.<\/p>\nWhich computer movie do you like most?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI like those newer James Bond movies that use computers to program cloning humans, control self-sustaining communities in outer space, stop nuclear proliferation and explosion, reverse polar ice melts, destroy all the evil forces in the world, map human genes, do plastic surgery and cure cancer all in one trip to the clinic. Completely devoid or no pretense of any intelligence at all. Totally incredulous and incredibly hilarious for me! You gotta keep your sense of humor in this world. A weekly dose of movie humor is good for you.<\/p>\nWhat about \u201cHackers\u201d? It starred a teenage Angelina Jolie with a bob-cut hair so even for that it makes it worth watching again and again.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nNever seen it, and never was a fan of Jolie. She\u2019s way too skinny for me, and is such a media manipulator, typical of Hollywood megalomania junk. I\u2019d much rather look at French and Spanish actresses (Emmanuelle B\u00e9art, Audrey Tautou, Juliette Binoche, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, and company) \u2013 beautiful women who can actually talk the talk and walk the walk. You can watch them over and over (not that I did!).<\/p>\nWhat about The Net, with Sandra Bullock? I hope you have nothing against Sandra Bullock. And don\u2019t forget Irene Jacob in your list of Frenchies.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nSaw clips from that Bullock movie from one of our classes in network security, but like everything else in Hollywood it\u2019s only a movie with very little credence to it (like those James Bond movies). Irene Jacob? Ooh la la! But she doesn\u2019t have a lot of movies (I only have one, as contrasted with the others). And I don\u2019t think she\u2019s French – possibly Swiss.<\/p>\nLet me check wiki\u2026 born in France\u2026 moved to Geneva as an infant\u2026 starred in US Marshalls opposite Wesley Snipes\u2026ok, let\u2019s say she\u2019s a \u201cSwiss franc.\u201d Anyway, my favorite keyboard key is Enter. What\u2019s yours?<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt\u2019s Delete. I can program it to delete all the evil forces in this world. It\u2019s also the one that gives us job security (computer users mistakenly use it to delete a lot of very important files – like pictures of their dog, hamsters and Humvees \u2013 which we have to recover).<\/p>\nWhat about Control. My impression is you like your life to be so organized. Are you a control-freak? And your work is really all about situation control.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI am pretty organized, but not so anal about it (BTW – your questions need to be re-numbered and grouped by categories!). Control is what people do when they cannot do it themselves, especially for those who are confronted with deeply-seated insecurities (like not being able to compose a haiku, or identify their out-of \u2013wedlock children in a crowd). At work computers have to perform what is expected of them, and they are just machines so easily programmed and configured. Controlling people is another matter and best left to the shrinks (or your spouse, or both).<\/p>\nYes they are grouped\u2014from the civil to the scandalous. Do you think Space is a good choice? It\u2019s hard these days to find solitude and peace and quiet except when sitting in the john.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nDid you try MySpace.com? In this day and age that\u2019s where everybody goes. When we\u2019re scuba diving you cannot even get peace and quiet in the john \u2013 it\u2019s right next to the revved-up boat engine! It\u2019s only underwater in the tropics that you truly are at peace. There\u2019s a big joke amongst divers about using the bathroom underwater: if you ask divers (men and women) if they pee in their wetsuit 2\/3 will say yes (the rests are just big liars!). So it\u2019s wise to give the diver next to you some space.<\/p>\nDo you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI do not want to answer that on grounds that it might incriminate against me. But the answer is no (yeah right!).<\/p>\nWhat got you hooked on diving?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Dive-to-Survive-Grand-Cayman-2007-b.jpg?resize=320%2C240&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip")
Dive to Survive. Philip with his diving buddies in Grand Cayman, 2007.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
It\u2019s the high you get \u2013 called narcosis. Seriously it\u2019s the realm that us landlubbers don\u2019t see often – the beautiful underwater specimens, incredibly colorful flora and fauna. For most divers it\u2019s a social thing too. When I moved to San Diego I joined two very active dive clubs (Dive Animals, Seaducers – and there\u2019s also the informal Bottom Dwellers). In the summer we (about 30-35 of us divers) made regular monthly trips to the south of the border at Mexico, staying at the most basic and meager facility (it\u2019s called camping), eating at $1 taco shops, and having the most fun weekends diving at incredibly beautiful sites for cheap! I think I made more friends in 5 years at San Diego than I did 15 years at Monterey. My Monterey dive buddies DTS (Dive to Survive) and I also started a yearly trip to the tropics 5 years ago and make regular dive trips to warm waters (about 35-36 divers had been joining us every year). So far we\u2019d been to Florida Keys, Cozumel (Mexico), Bonaire, Roatan (Honduras) and Grand Cayman. We get the lowest group rates at the resorts, get to pile high to a room with our stinking gears and have the most fun. Diving is also where you really have to exist with and trust somebody \u2013 your dive buddy. No 7-year itch here. The next air you breathe could be in his or her tank. As DTS\u2019 motto puts it \u2013 There are only two kinds of divers: those with air and those without.<\/p>\n
Does spitting on the inside of your goggles, spreading your spit around and quickly rinsing your spread-around spit prevent fogging?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nYes \u2013 spit does help against fogging. But in the same vein that peeing on your stubbed toes might alleviate the pain \u2013 I rarely use it in public. I have 2-3 bottles of commercial defoggers in my dive bag. Did you know it\u2019s a crime to spit in public in Singapore? I once dove with a bunch of Singaporeans at the Great Barrier Reef, and they were a most well-behaved group, willingly sharing their food (how could I refuse?) and even letting me use their latest toys – super high-tech gigapixel underwater cameras (in their early days). This is in stark contrast with the white-trash American girl in the boat (but that\u2019s another story).<\/p>\nBottled human spit. Interesting. But I will not be caught bringing one into Singapore.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nEeeeww!<\/p>\nHave you tried it with your sunglasses?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nNope \u2013 I got 3-4 bottles of cheap Costco lens cleaners in my car (I am very particular about keeping lenses clean \u2013 cameras, sunglasses, dive masks, computer monitors, etc). I am a photographer (especially underwater) so there\u2019s a legitimate reason. Can you imagine going through all troubles to arrange a dive trip somewhere, do your dive, then cannot take pictures because your lenses are messed up with your lunch or breakfast crumbs? Not good! Also I just want to keep a perfect 20\/20 vision till I\u2019m 80. (There\u2019s your dreamer, and an obsessed one at that!)<\/p>\nMy favorite sea creature is fighting fish. What\u2019s yours?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nCuttlefish \u2013 it can communicate behavioral changes in nanoseconds. It\u2019s constantly changing colors to indicate its mood. Very fascinating to watch underwater in natural environments. I rarely see them though \u2013 only at Aussie\u2019s Great Barrier Reef so far. I followed one for about 15-20 minutes; almost lost my boat in the process (may be that was its intentions). I wish human communication skills are as effective (especially for the fairer sex \u2013 there\u2019s a time bomb waiting for me). There\u2019s also a bunch of cuttlefish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium \u2013 and when I took my friends\u2019 kids there or my kids from the Big Brothers program (not the reality TV show) – I introduced them as cuddle-fish and gave them a big bear hug. They still remember that to this day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/upvarrons.org\/Images\/Philip-Big-and-Lil-Brods-Sean-and-Ryan-1995.jpg?resize=280%2C182&ssl=1\" "\\"Philip")
Philip with Sean (left) and Ryan in one of Big and Little Brothers gatherings in 1995 in California.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
Fighting fish abounded in UPLB dorms during our time. But cuttlefish is good. I especially like the Ligo species, which usually comes in soy sauce.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nYou are going to get yourself in trouble for admitting that (never saw that fighting fish species myself \u2013 hah!). Do you remember the Ligo\/Portola cans in the Philippines way back \u2013 big red tall tin cans? There\u2019s a huge painting of it right by the entrance to Monterey Bay Aquarium, since that\u2019s where they were processed (Cannery Row).<\/p>\nI have Cannery Row, paperback. You are into swimming, endurance biking, and you are a decathlete. Are you not trying out diving through the sky? Are you more afraid to dive without water than with?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nTriathlete you mean (as in swim- bike-run)? Decathlon is all done in dry land when you have to run, jump through hurdles, throw shot put, javelin, discus and your coach, then do a ballet dance in Lycra tights and tutus at the tenth event. I only did the Olympic size as a tri-geek:1 mi swim, then 26 mile bike ride, then 10-Km run (no way for the Ironman size of 2.4 mi swim, 112-mi bike, then 26-mi run \u2013 training for it is called \u2018having no social life\u2019). BTW – forget about the fitness and social life aspect \u2013 I only went through the grueling training for 15 years so I can eat whatever I want (Are you going to finish that plate? What\u2019s for dessert? And where do we go for the next meal?). Fellow divers I travel with know that when I say I am hungry they better find a restaurant with the next half-hour (they had been forewarned!), otherwise hypoglycemic crankiness sets in.<\/p>\nI did try bungee jumping once (when it was brand-new in New Zealand in 1990). But I do not want to be in any sport where I go upside down, become facially contorted and lose feelings to the lower part of my body \u2013 as in from the neck down! Hey – when I jump into the ocean water for scuba diving, go down and forget something I can always surface up and swim back to the boat. If I skydive and left my parachute behind or forgot to open it – I might not be able to make it back to the plane \u2013 won\u2019t I?<\/p>\n
You actually can, but in pieces. What do you consider your greatest achievement?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nAchievement I think is validating your existence through other people\u2019s criteria and applauses. I don\u2019t exist in this world that way. I live life in layers, enjoy each day and hope that my next day can be as good as or better than the previous one according to my goals. If there\u2019s anything – it\u2019s that I made a difference in other people\u2019s lives by being a citizen of the world \u2013 I can relate to most people in the world because I can speak their language, appreciate their culture and offer some knowledge and a warm caring heart. Probably my volunteer work for the Big Brothers program for about 15 years was a validation, as I became a part of several kids\u2019 lives. (BTW — Big Brothers\/Big Sisters is a volunteer program that promotes the development of children through one-to-one friendships between adults and children. The program matches children ages 6 through 18 with mentors in professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Generally the adult male mentor gets matched up with boys growing up without fathers in the family, or similar for girls growing up without mothers for single-parent families, which is about 2\/3 of the population).<\/p>\nIf you really want to push it \u2013 then I can call myself a true global citizen, very globally aware, and can recognize that I am just a speck of dust in the human highway. There\u2019s virtue in humility, after all. A sales rep in Argentina once told me that he had a client (a company president) who visited our office once at California (we used to get visitors from all over the world during the August summer trials). Apparently he enjoyed his visit tremendously and had blown up a huge picture with me shaking hands with him during his visit and had it posted at the lobby of the company headquarters for posterity. I never saw the picture, but do remember the fellow and talking with him in his language; I was just doing my job.<\/p>\n
French, then Argentinian Spanish. Vos sabes, I\u2019ll be floored if you say you have taught yourself to speak Esperanto too.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nActually Argentineans (like Chileans) still speak Spanish, with slight Portuguese lilt in some words (I could tell). Esperanto is another world. It\u2019s tough enough to learn 3 or 4 common languages, but to learn a language that\u2019s hardly used like Esperanto \u2013 it\u2019s insane. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s even officially recognized.<\/p>\nWhat is your most treasured possession?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nMaterial possessions? Probably because I like music – my CD collection of Bach and Mozart: sublime evidence of man\u2019s artistic creativity. I also kept with me and lugged around through the years old pictures of family and friends, especially those of my parents and UPLB mementos.<\/p>\nI get my Mozarts from my cellphone ring tones. What is your greatest extravagance?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI can do away with all the material things in this world, if you are referring to that. Because I had traveled extensively all over the world I indulge myself with mental travel anywhere and anytime, and do it cheaply. That\u2019s the luxury of imagination and I pamper myself in that a lot. I can just sit or lie down and re-live every city in the world I\u2019ve been to, for each trip with its people and events. Of course, having the pictures or actually re-visiting a city is not bad either. I once arrived on a business trip to Paris famished, but too early for lunch. I charmed and talked my way to the lady owner (in her language) to open her restaurant, and got served a very sumptuous meal. Not cheap, but filling in every way. She had a great conversation and listening ears for company, and I got my fill. I plead guilty to a little hedonism.<\/p>\nWhat is your greatest regret?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nThat I could never be a funny cartoonist \u2013 because I am too serious (you can wipe the smirk off your face now) and I cannot draw. Double whammy! Levity aside \u2013 one should just pick up and go and learn from every hurdle one encounters. I don\u2019t have the luxury to mope around and be a poster boy for manic-depression so common in US society (especially in Oregon winter). Time is too precious for that. I look back at yesterday, but I live for today and tomorrow. Life moves only forward for me.<\/p>\nWhat are some of the tracks in your iPod?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nA lot of French and Spanish music (collected from various trips \u2013 Helene Segara, Francis Cabrel, Florent Pagny, Chayanne, Christian Castro, Luis Miguel, etc) for mental exercise. (I always translate things and events I see and hear in at least 4 languages, just for the heck of it). For physical workout at the gym (3-4x a week in winter) I listen to techno\/dance music (Hed Kandi, Buddha Bar, Renaissance, etc) to keep the juices flowing (pump it up baby!)<\/p>\nI had fun doing this interview. Did you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI tried \u2013 but ask me again when I am 80 \u2013 you\u2019d get better answers since I\u2019d be older, bitter and crankier!<\/p>\nI better. If you still have the same viewpoints at 80 you will have wasted 31 years of your life. Months from now you will be saying goodbye to your fourth decade and has remained a free spirit. Do you have plans of reformatting and possibly contribute to efforts to stem the graying of the American population? (I hope you won\u2019t ask me to re-phrase my question.)<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nYes I do have plans \u2013 I just won\u2019t grow up! Either that or die young and stay pretty! What the heck is this question? We will all get old \u2013 repeat after me \u2013 We will all grow old. No amount of plastic surgery or Botox treatments or hair transplants or tummy tucks will work. Unless you eat properly, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol and drugs, listen to your Mother or spouse, not get stressed out by work, give up your children for adoption, etc \u2013 we cannot reverse nature\u2019s reminders (but then again us geneticists – we\u2019ll have gene therapy to cure all our worries!).<\/p>\nI have to rephrase. Actually, the question is, when are you going to get married and make babies?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nWell, quit beating around the bush! Been there, done that. I was married before, then got smarter. It was simply a case of her having champagne taste, and me with a beer budget. After dealing with the kids and teenagers at the Big Brother\u2019s program for a while it was untenable for me to think of raising kids here. I suppose it could be rewarding, but could also be traumatic. But you never know.<\/p>\nYes, raising kids can be part joy, part guerilla warfare. Oh, before I forget, is there a mouse for the left-handed?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nYes there was in the pre-historic days of computers (1990\u2019s). However – as a matter-of-fact – I am left-handed with the mouse. I trained my left hand for the mouse in the early days of PC\u2019s (1984) since I use my right for typing. Pretty neat! Now when everybody asks me if I am left-handed, I always just reply that I am ambidextrous. Most clients will just look at me and shake their head. Like one time one diver asked – what do you call those words that read the same forward and backward? I said palindrome without batting an eyelash, then walked away. They were still shaking their heads when I looked back a few minutes later. (Don\u2019t even get me started on numbers and dates!)<\/p>\n
Philip<\/p><\/div>\n
Philip had the following conversation with Roberto “Bert” Alaban Jr. He recruited Bert to join the UP Varrons and he served as Bert’s freshman block monitor and agronomy instructor at UP Los Ba\u00f1os.<\/h4>\n
\n
Can you tell us about your UPLB life (as student and professional) during the last millennium?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Why did you take flight to the US, a country much maligned in your time and now, by UP students?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Philip with family<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cMuch maligned\u201d is indeed accurate to an extent, but now that I had lived here in the US awhile (longer than I had in the PI) I can delineate between the US ruling politicians and the American people (remember the tyranny of democracy? 49.9% of Americans voted against Bush, and the remaining 50.1 % prevailed). The people and the government are two different entities \u2013 in an ideal world, government should be of, for and by the people, but this is reality. Almost half of the populace here are against Bush and his policies, and the dissent is there every generation, every term, no matter where you are in this political world. Even as a student I was acutely aware of dissent for dissent\u2019s sake, and tried not to fall in that trap. While I admired greatly those who were steadfast in their political beliefs, a lot of them had the luxury of having an economic advantage over me since I came from a very humble background; I had to consider my family first.<\/p>\n Even as a kid my childhood was peppered by visits from US relatives on both my parents\u2019 side, and was deeply intrigued by their life and perceived opportunities. Eventually I did indeed learn the US is a very pluralistic society, a real melting pot of the world where just about every culture is represented. You are rewarded for hard work and perseverance, free to express yourself, and get an honest day\u2019s work and pay, no matter what color of skin you have or whatever other political or religious beliefs you have. What most people see from the outside is what is represented by Hollywood images especially in movies, which has little to do with the real American values of equality in opportunities, multiculturalism and tolerance for differences. I had developed to be my own person in this setting \u2013 merging my old culture with the new one \u2013 synergistically becoming a unique self. In a lot of ways I am better off than your average Joe Blow since I don\u2019t take anything for granted and could easily appreciate every little thing I have, counting all my blessings along the way.<\/p>\n Can you tell us about your life in the US as a genetics expert (that is, before you re-germinated as an IT professional)?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> As a professional I was fully cognizant of all the brilliant scientific minds around and the genetic engineering technology available in my field. I can speak my own mind freely on anything, and in my field with authority, and was aware as a team player of everybody\u2019s contribution in achieving goals and objectives. As such the myopic existent self merges with the rest in your team and you have a great contribution as an individual, but selflessness emerges, and it is liberating to be such. No ego tripping gets in the way. As the pioneering team in our company we were empowered by the management to make full marketing and research decisions, a pilot structure that led to the re-alignment of all projects in the company in such fashion.<\/p>\n To survive and flourish in the corporate world entails for you to be very well-rounded. You develop your full potential this way and you can be assertive in your beliefs and technical expertise, and yet be socially savvy to deal with clients and customers from diverse backgrounds. The company also used to have annual Leadership and Management Training to bleed the most productivity out of you. We once spent a full day and a half on \u201cTime Management\u201d \u2013 talk about oxymoronic! We must really have been utterly productive when we went back to work after that.<\/p>\n Advanced communication skills to share ideas with a varied audience are also paramount. Having said this \u2013 I had the rare privilege of moving about in the world as my backyard, whether looking at field trials in summery Alaska, checking out research production in Australia, promoting products in Spain, France, Guatemala or Mexico, or conversing with kids in Madrid or Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div> Philip with Ryan (left) and Hugo in France, 1996.<\/p><\/div>\n On a more particular level I was working for a length of time for a French-owned company. Little did I know at the start that the company was actually owned by a group of French farmers belonging to a cooperative. France might seem like a semi-socialist country but the system works for them. The French government has a policy of protecting and maintaining the agrarian lifestyle, versus the unstoppable urbanization evident here in the US and elsewhere. As such the farmers are well-supported and protected, and are the ones with the final say on what will work for them. When I met the group of said farmer-owners on their trip to the US, since they did not speak English I gave the presentation in French. I\u2019ve never seen a bunch of more grateful and appreciative audience. The fact that I told them my parents were also farmers made them even more endearing.<\/p>\n Spain also has a similar cooperative system, but the farmers are more independent of the government. Either way the smaller growers or farmers survive, since they have a network of support to bank on. Mexico and the rest of Latin America and emerging economies of the world fall into the same feudal pattern \u2013 the rich and powerful elite minority rule the politics and economy of the poor agrarian sector. Such was my view as a plant geneticist and political being.<\/p>\n Growing big by being small, so to speak. Besides, when government accepts responsibility for people oftentimes people no longer take responsibility for themselves. But you\u2019ve just pulled out the first big surprise in this interview, that you do have learned to speak the language of those who say \u201cle weekend\u201d and \u201cle burger.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What made you jump seed and take up the keyboard?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I can agree. Knowledge is power but enthusiasm pulls the switch.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Alvin Tofler said that the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn. I guess this has applied to you (even if you have not read him which, I guess you have).<\/strong><\/em><\/span> When I finally had the chance to discover scuba diving in Australia (after a couple of previous trips there) I discovered another world of existence. Bottom line \u2013 whatever you do you can learn and have fun at the same time. I had lived over the years with all different types of roommates of different nationalities (French, Irish, Scottish, local Americans white or black) and religious persuasions (Muslim or Jew or Catholic), and learned a lot from each and every one of them. Everyone has something to offer in this world, and if we have that attitude the world will definitely be better off.<\/p>\n Roger that. If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Was your sea change partly influenced by the fact that you were a key player in the American agronomy-industrial complex that is foisting Frankenfood and sundry chimerical stuff on the American people and eventually the world?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I had given presentations on genetic engineering at Guatemala, Mexico and local conferences for non-scientists. This was actually the fun part: when I give a talk to laymen, organic growers, vegans, hippies, Greenpeace warriors, et al. Their main concern? Uncontrolled widespread distribution of Frankenfood and other organisms. But genetic engineers can only manipulate so much, since most alien gene introductions to a plant or animal physiology will get rejected by the organism or by the species. After the talks though, most people were very receptive of the benefits of GMO\u2019s, especially the aspect of reduced dependence to inorganic chemical pesticides in disease control, for example. I think more than anything the fear of the unknown turns off everyone, so it\u2019s more of an education of the masses that needs to be done regularly. I would caution though about what\u2019s printed and broadcast in the mass media \u2013 as they are only after sensationalism, and generally have very little scientific basis.<\/p>\n That explains why genetic engineers successfully introduced a woodpecker gene into a carrier pigeon and created a bird that not only delivers messages to their destination but knocks on the door when it gets there. But it doesn\u2019t explain why soil bacterium in Frankencorn and daffodil in Frankenrice did not result to rejection, only proliferation.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> You seemed to have really liked it in the dark side of the Force (to use the language from the movie, ummm\u2026uhhh, Air Force One)?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Is one movie a week too many? My apology for the term \u201cdark side of the Force\u201d; I should have used the politically-correct term \u201cLand of full-cream milk and honey-cured bacon.\u201d We do have lots of half-fish humans in the Philippines, many of them undocumented Indians. They make a lucrative living in microfinance. And those are gills? I thought they were oversized nipples?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What are you now called, and what kind of work is it that you exactly do?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> Philip with some Varronettes when he visited Los Ba\u00f1os, Laguna in early 2007. From left: Melinda ‘Melin’ dela Pe\u00f1a-Bandalaria (FQS ’78), Flora ‘Pola’ Credo-de Guzman (Interaksyon ’75), Cristina ‘Cristy’ Madamba-Bajet (Octopus ’73), Filomena ‘Meklay’ Credo-Sta. Cruz (Repertory ’76), Marilyn ‘Len’ Palma-Monserrat (FQS ’78), Florencia ‘Aga’ Gonzaga-Palis (Humane Batch ’74).<\/p><\/div>\n I am a network engineer but I\u2019ve been called a lot of things (not necessarily flattering and printable) by people whose networks had gone down! (even though we did not set them up and the mess is not our making). I went back to school for network engineering (the physical end of networks \u2013 such as routers, switches, firewalls), but the most common daily problems are in network server administration, such as slow or no email access, lost files, inaccessible shared files, printer problems, frozen computers, etc. I cater to small businesses and in network troubleshooting the biggest problems are right outside the computers and networks \u2013 it\u2019s the users! They surf the Internet endlessly and are generally not secure or are very vulnerable to what we call script kiddies, identity hijackers, and other baddies from the virtual world.<\/p>\n You should learn a thing or two from the most longevous network engineers in the Philippines. Their networks are so indestructible, and the biggest problem, at least for the government, are also right outside the networks \u2013 the users themselves. Their technical name is \u201cjueteng lords.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What is your typical day as an IT professional?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Can the kind of work you do, or at least part of it, be outsourced to developing countries to generate jobs? Americans now call Filipinos to guide them with such simple stuff as sequenced power-cycling of their system, and we don\u2019t have sing-song accents like you know who.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> How can your field of work contribute to efforts to bring about world peace?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> alleviate poverty?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> combat pre-mature baldness?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> In the science of branding, \u201cMicrosoft\u201d is a bad choice of corporate name (\u201cmicro\u201d na, \u201csoft\u201d pa). Why do you think it is such a giga-success? Are you a fan of Bill Gates?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Do you admire him more than Steve Jobs?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Which IT-world figure do you most identify with?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Dang! Now I know what to ask you for Christmas \u2013 \u201cNight of the Crash-Test Dummies\u201d \u2013 the one missing in my Tales from the Far Side collection. But what about Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (originator of the www), or Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What do you think is the reason why internet commerce (buying and selling) did not flourish in the Philippines?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Filipinos want to see and pinch the merchandise before parting with their money, something they can\u2019t do over the internet. And they are not comfortable revealing their credit card number over the net. Not only that, majority of Filipinos do not have enough disposable income to afford a credit card. Ooppss, am I answering my own question?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> As a business strategy, computer-security vendors also make and spread viruses and worms and such other nasty bits. Possible?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I\u2019m blown. Did he enjoy it? (I mean, doing the platonic, uh, job of exchanging emails) Do you think computers can be programmed to write haiku?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Wrong. That\u2019s kinda slow. It\u2019s actually 5 seconds. And Quentin Tarantino said you can\u2019t write poetry in a computer.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Will computers eventually rule the world? I mean, in the sense that urban societies will now ground to a halt without computers, in that sense they kind of \u201crule\u201d us already.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Do you think that explains why every time the traffic light turns green, it automatically turns on the horn of the car behind you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Which computer movie do you like most?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What about \u201cHackers\u201d? It starred a teenage Angelina Jolie with a bob-cut hair so even for that it makes it worth watching again and again.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What about The Net, with Sandra Bullock? I hope you have nothing against Sandra Bullock. And don\u2019t forget Irene Jacob in your list of Frenchies.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Let me check wiki\u2026 born in France\u2026 moved to Geneva as an infant\u2026 starred in US Marshalls opposite Wesley Snipes\u2026ok, let\u2019s say she\u2019s a \u201cSwiss franc.\u201d Anyway, my favorite keyboard key is Enter. What\u2019s yours?<\/strong><\/span> What about Control. My impression is you like your life to be so organized. Are you a control-freak? And your work is really all about situation control.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Yes they are grouped\u2014from the civil to the scandalous. Do you think Space is a good choice? It\u2019s hard these days to find solitude and peace and quiet except when sitting in the john.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Do you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What got you hooked on diving?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Dive to Survive. Philip with his diving buddies in Grand Cayman, 2007.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n It\u2019s the high you get \u2013 called narcosis. Seriously it\u2019s the realm that us landlubbers don\u2019t see often – the beautiful underwater specimens, incredibly colorful flora and fauna. For most divers it\u2019s a social thing too. When I moved to San Diego I joined two very active dive clubs (Dive Animals, Seaducers – and there\u2019s also the informal Bottom Dwellers). In the summer we (about 30-35 of us divers) made regular monthly trips to the south of the border at Mexico, staying at the most basic and meager facility (it\u2019s called camping), eating at $1 taco shops, and having the most fun weekends diving at incredibly beautiful sites for cheap! I think I made more friends in 5 years at San Diego than I did 15 years at Monterey. My Monterey dive buddies DTS (Dive to Survive) and I also started a yearly trip to the tropics 5 years ago and make regular dive trips to warm waters (about 35-36 divers had been joining us every year). So far we\u2019d been to Florida Keys, Cozumel (Mexico), Bonaire, Roatan (Honduras) and Grand Cayman. We get the lowest group rates at the resorts, get to pile high to a room with our stinking gears and have the most fun. Diving is also where you really have to exist with and trust somebody \u2013 your dive buddy. No 7-year itch here. The next air you breathe could be in his or her tank. As DTS\u2019 motto puts it \u2013 There are only two kinds of divers: those with air and those without.<\/p>\n Does spitting on the inside of your goggles, spreading your spit around and quickly rinsing your spread-around spit prevent fogging?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Bottled human spit. Interesting. But I will not be caught bringing one into Singapore.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Have you tried it with your sunglasses?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> My favorite sea creature is fighting fish. What\u2019s yours?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Philip with Sean (left) and Ryan in one of Big and Little Brothers gatherings in 1995 in California.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Fighting fish abounded in UPLB dorms during our time. But cuttlefish is good. I especially like the Ligo species, which usually comes in soy sauce.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I have Cannery Row, paperback. You are into swimming, endurance biking, and you are a decathlete. Are you not trying out diving through the sky? Are you more afraid to dive without water than with?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I did try bungee jumping once (when it was brand-new in New Zealand in 1990). But I do not want to be in any sport where I go upside down, become facially contorted and lose feelings to the lower part of my body \u2013 as in from the neck down! Hey – when I jump into the ocean water for scuba diving, go down and forget something I can always surface up and swim back to the boat. If I skydive and left my parachute behind or forgot to open it – I might not be able to make it back to the plane \u2013 won\u2019t I?<\/p>\n You actually can, but in pieces. What do you consider your greatest achievement?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> If you really want to push it \u2013 then I can call myself a true global citizen, very globally aware, and can recognize that I am just a speck of dust in the human highway. There\u2019s virtue in humility, after all. A sales rep in Argentina once told me that he had a client (a company president) who visited our office once at California (we used to get visitors from all over the world during the August summer trials). Apparently he enjoyed his visit tremendously and had blown up a huge picture with me shaking hands with him during his visit and had it posted at the lobby of the company headquarters for posterity. I never saw the picture, but do remember the fellow and talking with him in his language; I was just doing my job.<\/p>\n French, then Argentinian Spanish. Vos sabes, I\u2019ll be floored if you say you have taught yourself to speak Esperanto too.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What is your most treasured possession?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I get my Mozarts from my cellphone ring tones. What is your greatest extravagance?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What is your greatest regret?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> What are some of the tracks in your iPod?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I had fun doing this interview. Did you?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I better. If you still have the same viewpoints at 80 you will have wasted 31 years of your life. Months from now you will be saying goodbye to your fourth decade and has remained a free spirit. Do you have plans of reformatting and possibly contribute to efforts to stem the graying of the American population? (I hope you won\u2019t ask me to re-phrase my question.)<\/strong><\/em><\/span> I have to rephrase. Actually, the question is, when are you going to get married and make babies?<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Yes, raising kids can be part joy, part guerilla warfare. Oh, before I forget, is there a mouse for the left-handed?<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nI was an energetic, idealistic kid in a lot of ways, typical I suppose of a UP student. I was very aware of the privileges of being in the campus, and therefore made the best of it. Academic life at UPLB was probably the most fertile the country had to offer in the 70\u2019s. However life outside the classroom, especially with the Varrons, made an indelible mark on my growth as a person, as it provided the social base upon which I developed more character (since we all came from diverse backgrounds), leadership abilities with all the attendant responsibilities, and acute social and political awareness. Teaching at my department after graduation was very rewarding, but a lot more work than I wanted since I was giving priority to teaching, versus spending more time to research and writing proposals where some financial returns could be more rewarding in the long term.<\/p>\n
\nPrimarily I wanted to have some kind of provision for my parents, who were just simple, hardworking farmers. As I cited teaching at UPLB had been very gratifying, but looking back at my parents\u2019 situations then I gathered early on I won\u2019t be able to provide them with any comfortable life with their advancing age. My Mother had earlier gone to the US to join our Ilocano relatives, and my Father left a few months after I did to join his own relatives. They are both gone now, but my greatest satisfaction was being able to take them with me at times as I traveled all over California to look at my field trials when I was a research plant breeder, and showing them California\u2019s farm lands – the sheer vastness in size, the state-of-the-art farming, the bountiful harvests and professional agribusiness companies, even those family-owned. I also sent them letters and postcards from all over the world later in my career; my Mom had kept those letters for a while in an album and proudly showed them to everyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\nI was a research scientist\/product evaluation manager\/team player\/marketing analyst\/breeder-geneticist for a large multinational corporate private biotech company. This is the very anti-thesis of my political inclinations as an undergrad, being totally opposed to capitalism and corporate greed. Would I do the same things all over again if given the chance? You bet! The experiences of working in an international corporate setup helped me grow as an individual since I was exposed to all the cultures of the world, having the opportunity to cater to clients here in the US, Latin America, Europe, Australia and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\nQuelle horreur! If the Parisians hear those words you\u2019ll be vanished from Paris. While French in general love their language and would recoil in horror hearing \u201cle weekend\u201d and \u201cle burger,\u201d Parisians truly love to keep the purity of the language. As a matter of fact Paris suburbanites have their own accent, and could be really snobbish about it. Even my French friends from the north get snobbed when visiting at Paris since they have a regional accent, so can you imagine the average tourist (American or not) visiting there? But it\u2019s all how you behave and respect the local culture. I get nothing but warm reception because \u201cJe suis de l\u2019etranger\u201d who speaks their language, and they are very appreciative of that. But like anything else – for the younger crowd who wants to be hip \u2013 \u201cle fin de semaine\u201d is out and hanging out at MacDo for le burger \u2013 c\u2019est tres cool!<\/p>\n
\nThe events of the 9\/11 tragedies profoundly affected my decision to shift careers as it agitated the travel system here in the US and in the world. However it\u2019s a distillation of all other factors too – the relocation of our main research station, my Father\u2019s declining health, my increasing detestation of travel as I did both locally and internationally for management and research meetings, and the actual hassles at the airports regarding perceived or real security threats. Even with a full-time job I was doing part-time network consulting on the weekends back then, and it naturally flowed to that direction when I decided I had enough of working for other people and putting up with the travel hassles. It\u2019s not for the faint-hearted though to jump off-board, as we are all creatures of comfort and will put up with the monotony of everyday existence than confront everyday challenges. You got to have that fire in the belly so to speak and opportunities abound where the feisty individual seeks them.<\/p>\n
\nAmen to that!<\/p>\n
\nThe classroom can be confining, literally, with its four walls. (By the way, Toffler\u2019s Future Shock was required reading at Soc Sci 2 in my time at UPLB). There\u2019s so much outside in the real world, and if you act as a dry sponge there\u2019s an unlimited spring of knowledge you can absorb. I still learn everyday (I do know a lot of things but I don\u2019t profess to know everything). I was very intellectual in my pursuits before, but when I got involved in physical pursuits with triathlons there\u2019s so much to learn with nutrition, physiology, training efficiently etc. This was for a single goal to test your endurance – to prevent bonking out or hitting the wall (when you just basically tire out and cannot take another stroke or stride or pedal). With limited time you have to train smartly; remember \u2013 even in your work \u2013 always work smarter not harder. Exact same thing applies in training, as I could get a good workout in 30 minutes versus 3 hours.<\/p>\n
\nAmen again.<\/p>\n
\nAs a scientist I was thrilled to do a lot of real-world testing for our genetically-engineered projects. We did a lot of our field experiments for our European counterparts in the US since they could never be tested on their grounds currently. However I was very aware of the environmental impact of what our GMO projects were, and had always taken precautions to comply with US Federal regulations for field testing.<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s pretty funny with the pigeon-pecker. By the way- what do you get when you cross a parrot with a lion? I don’t know, but when it speaks you better listen. Anyway – the Bt gene is already existent in nature, and of course you know the natural proliferation of bacteria in this world, so there\u2019s really no \u201cforeign\u201d gene involved. May be it was an inter-species but no alien genes were created. Same thing with the golden rice \u2013 we are just increasing the beta carotene content, but the beta carotene genes already exist in nature. As such they would naturally proliferate on the right hosts.<\/p>\n
\nYou had been watching too many movies! I suppose I don\u2019t follow conventional thinking. I like challenges, and if it means joining the Dark Side \u2013 well I could explore that too. You\u2019ll never know until you try, right? I used to get seasick so severely when I was young whenever I would get on a boat, so what I did I bought a waterbed and used it for about 5 years when I was working in Fresno (CA). Eventually that\u2019s probably why I was so comfortable in the waters, and lived by the ocean later for 15 years. Heck now \u2013 I am half-fish, and if I spent any more inordinate time in the water you could visibly see the gills underneath my shirts. Maybe I am not always on the dark side, but in the deep side for sure.<\/p>\n
\nWatch your language there! A lot of impressionable Varrons will be reading this.<\/p>\n
\nThey are still around huh?<\/p>\n
\nI work as a consultant, so there\u2019s no typical day. Generally when we are called it\u2019s to troubleshoot a downed network or unresponsive computer on a non-responsive user. We do provide general services as in setting up regular data backup, checking security settings, securing wireless access, optimizing network traffic and operating systems, etc. Otherwise we just surf the web mostly, reading technical stuff and re-connecting with fellow geeks, and waiting for networks to go down. Yeah \u2013 they generally ignore us when everything is working hunky-dory. When all else fails, check the power-on switch. Or in geek terms \u2013 Give it the three-fingered salute (Ctrl-Alt-Delete)<\/p>\n
\nThere are seven layers to troubleshooting a network \u2013 on the lower 3 layers you almost physically have to be able to access the system. The upper 4 layers (especially the applications or softwares) can be outsourced \u2013 either for development or testing or troubleshooting. That\u2019s where outsourcing can come in, since writing those codes and softwares, and going through the layers of troubleshooting, all call for mental skills or exertion. Hardware research or development is a cost-prohibitive venture \u2013 whether it be the chips, routers, firewalls, etc. (which are often proprietary). Call centers are prevalent outside of the US because of affordable labor, and since Americans (or as my Latin American colleagues pointed out – North Americans) are the most pervasive users of computer technology those who can speak their language will have a better shot at it. While not a sole reason to learn English or promote it \u2013 English has actually become the lingua franca of the world, the one neutral language that the majority of the developed economies use. It is not a colonizing tool as some people my purport. When I travel outside the US with my Dutch, or Spanish, or Italian, or French colleagues English is the de-facto common bond.<\/p>\n
\nHey \u2013 we can split the software development and call centers equally to all the merging economies of the world, resulting to redistributed wealth and thereby world peace. Simply put! Realistically if we can distribute and make available inexpensive computers to all household in the world, increase communications between cultures and understanding throughout the world then the world would be a more peaceful place to live.<\/p>\n
\nSee preceding answer. Additionally use computers to educate, not entertain. American kids in general belong to the latter, and end up adept to twitching, reflexive actions of their motor senses, but have absolutely minimally developed analytical skills. Elementary school teachers these days have a tough job teaching, as they have to compete with the limited attention span of kids so used to video games, computers and television. Some teachers are reduced to just using Powerpoint presentations to \u201cenhance\u201d their teaching, which obviously is not working since American kids rank near the bottom on general standard skills tests. In developing economies throughout the world education is still the main exit door out of poverty.<\/p>\n
\nSorry but hardware and software use can in reality, hasten or worsen premature baldness (it\u2019s also called stress, especially when you cannot access your email or the internet is down and you cannot watch Youtube videos!). As for the genetics side of it \u2013 blame your maternal grandfather for passing it on to you, then get a hair transplant to get even! My Lolo must be spinning in his grave, bless his soul.<\/p>\n
\nWhat\u2019s in a name? The name Microsoft is obviously working for them. Bill Gates and his cohorts had re-engineered the 20th and 21st centuries histories for mankind; whether they copied or developed on other people\u2019s ideas is immaterial. Was Japan all original in their car industry in the 70s\u2019 and 80\u2019s? There\u2019s a lot of efficiency and productivity associated with using computers in the business world, but the opposite could be said for personal productivity. In a capitalistic society computers filled in a large void, but probably at a great social expense of isolation and impersonality. Bill is a typical rugged American individualist, and could easily be your-next-door neighbor. I saw his recent interview side-by-side with Warren Buffett (2nd only to Bill in wealth) and both were seemingly unpretentious. But Bill is most impressive in his visions. He had actually become the world\u2019s richest philanthropist. Yeah \u2013 I\u2019ll be a fan if he gives me one of his billions.<\/p>\n
\nBill and Steve are both in the same level for me \u2013 up there – brilliant individualists who do not fit in the molds of mediocrity. They would go against the grain of many Asian and European countries that shun individuality. Were they born in another country outside of the US they would be trampled early on with their ideas and personalities. Never had any contact with Bill (save indirectly for his recurrent Windows releases), but at least I used to see Steve at the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival in the 80\u2019s. But none of his wealth can cure his advanced premature baldness (hah – there\u2019s justice in this world!). I am not much into idol worship, but Bill holds an edge over Steve for me.<\/p>\n
\nMost IT people are too geeky to brandish in the mass media, as they severely lack social graces. Does anybody remember Paul Allen, Bill\u2019s buddy in Microsoft\u2019s early days? Hey \u2013 computer geeks can work in cave-like rooms, no windows nor light, no social contact or conversation of any sort, with only their internet connection to the world, and be perfectly happy (OK- I wasn\u2019t trying to attack you readers personally). While not necessarily an IT figure one guy stood out from the rest for me \u2013 Scott Adams, a cartoonist who is the creator of Dilbert (see http:\/\/www.dilbert.com\/). He made fun of white-collar workers in large corporations, people working basically on computers, following strictly hierarchical and boring daily existence (he called them the cubicle people \u2013 which I used for the folks at our executive office \u2013 but my boss didn\u2019t think that was funny). I saw him talk at a computer conference in San Francisco in early 90\u2019s and immediately floored me as the funniest man on earth (this was before he hit big time). Boy – can I relate to his cartoons and his satire of geekdom and corporate world! Gary Larson (of The Far Side Fame) is another hilarious cartoonist \u2013 but his humorous realm is in biology, not the corporate world.<\/p>\n
\nI had the whole series of the Far Side collection before, but had given them away after all the multiple moves. As for those two – there are a lot of unheralded geeks out there, but so are a lot of unrecognized scientists. I think their low profile speaks volumes, since most people just want to do their jobs and contribute something, but do not want the concomitant attention that fame brings.<\/p>\n
\nE-banking infra-structure is an integral part of any commerce. Any weakness on this (whether security or availability) and the e-line commerce is naturally flawed. It is also related to the level of consumerism, which is related to the level of disposable income. The latter two are very high in the US, contributing to crass materialism (look at what is being sold at eBay, and what people are paying for them). I think a fine balance of consumption, while maintaining the survival of small businesses, could work for the Philippines. The supply and demand chain, of course, has to synch up with inventory and distribution, so you in the agri-business side have a lot of challenges (I am assuming here that PI is still highly agrarian). Only few industries can thrive well on e-commerce, since highly perishable and bulky goods can be really costly to ship overnight or urgently. My 2-cents worth anyway (learned it from hanging around eBay too long, waiting for my bids!).<\/p>\n
\nLooks like it. Online security is still the biggest issue, not just on new emerging networks but where credit cards are ubiquitous there\u2019s higher occurrence of cyber crimes, especially identity theft.<\/p>\n
\nPossible yes, but improbable. The biggest sources of hacking are the script kiddies out there \u2013 the young generation of users who had been exposed to computers since infancy and have such fluency with computer language and hardware configurations. Hacking is not necessarily used for malice, but for the thrill-seeking part of it (Hey! I was able to look at Bill Clinton\u2019s emails to Monica!). Or do some identity theft (let me see \u2013 how many gazillions should I transfer from Bill Gates\u2019 bank account to mine?). And lets\u2019s see if we can do a DOS (Denial of Service) on Dubya\u2019s computer!<\/p>\n
\nProbably \u2013 but he definitely did not enjoy the wrecking of his election. That reminds me \u2013 the only US President I\u2019ve met (so far) is Bill Clinton. He came over to Monterey one time and since I lived about a mile away from the airport I paid a quick visit. He was supposed to make a quick exit upon arrival, but detoured towards the crowd where I was standing. I was so stymied and could only mutter \u201cHello Mr. President\u201d while shaking his hand. Anyway that was exactly the week when he was messing around!<\/p>\n
\nSure \u2013 if you can quantify emotions, artistic insights and rhyme into digital bits. But short of calling them hackers, I\u2019d call them hai-kers. Hai! Those haikus in the Varrons forum? Considering the deluge of haiku posted recently I bet you those guys just programmed their computers to randomly sort out dictionary words every 5 minutes (OK \u2013 nobody out there better believe this!)<\/p>\n
\nI knew that, but I wanted to give those haiku writers the benefit of the doubt that they are not churning them out that fast. And who is this Tarantino guy? He\u2019s one of those Hollywood types glorifying gore and violence in movies. I seriously doubt his literary credits.<\/p>\n
\nAre you kidding? We already rule the world! Who do you think is writing these responses? I am not at a liberty to disclose who programmed me. (Hint: I am not human). And would the Varrons be able to re-connect virtually without us computers? Morever can you imagine a bunch of Varrons without computers and email? They\u2019d be nervously pacing up and down the hallways and having withdrawal symptoms in 5 minutes or less. It\u2019s job security for network engineers till the 22nd century (OK – I intend to be around a while). Silicon chips rock and rule!<\/p>\n
\nOr for us humans to find it irresistible to open mails regarding our inheritance of millions from some relatives in Nigeria. Computers are smarter than us in that sense, and would just delete those mails. Knee-jerk reaction to changing lights is so human.<\/p>\n
\nI like those newer James Bond movies that use computers to program cloning humans, control self-sustaining communities in outer space, stop nuclear proliferation and explosion, reverse polar ice melts, destroy all the evil forces in the world, map human genes, do plastic surgery and cure cancer all in one trip to the clinic. Completely devoid or no pretense of any intelligence at all. Totally incredulous and incredibly hilarious for me! You gotta keep your sense of humor in this world. A weekly dose of movie humor is good for you.<\/p>\n
\nNever seen it, and never was a fan of Jolie. She\u2019s way too skinny for me, and is such a media manipulator, typical of Hollywood megalomania junk. I\u2019d much rather look at French and Spanish actresses (Emmanuelle B\u00e9art, Audrey Tautou, Juliette Binoche, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, and company) \u2013 beautiful women who can actually talk the talk and walk the walk. You can watch them over and over (not that I did!).<\/p>\n
\nSaw clips from that Bullock movie from one of our classes in network security, but like everything else in Hollywood it\u2019s only a movie with very little credence to it (like those James Bond movies). Irene Jacob? Ooh la la! But she doesn\u2019t have a lot of movies (I only have one, as contrasted with the others). And I don\u2019t think she\u2019s French – possibly Swiss.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s Delete. I can program it to delete all the evil forces in this world. It\u2019s also the one that gives us job security (computer users mistakenly use it to delete a lot of very important files – like pictures of their dog, hamsters and Humvees \u2013 which we have to recover).<\/p>\n
\nI am pretty organized, but not so anal about it (BTW – your questions need to be re-numbered and grouped by categories!). Control is what people do when they cannot do it themselves, especially for those who are confronted with deeply-seated insecurities (like not being able to compose a haiku, or identify their out-of \u2013wedlock children in a crowd). At work computers have to perform what is expected of them, and they are just machines so easily programmed and configured. Controlling people is another matter and best left to the shrinks (or your spouse, or both).<\/p>\n
\nDid you try MySpace.com? In this day and age that\u2019s where everybody goes. When we\u2019re scuba diving you cannot even get peace and quiet in the john \u2013 it\u2019s right next to the revved-up boat engine! It\u2019s only underwater in the tropics that you truly are at peace. There\u2019s a big joke amongst divers about using the bathroom underwater: if you ask divers (men and women) if they pee in their wetsuit 2\/3 will say yes (the rests are just big liars!). So it\u2019s wise to give the diver next to you some space.<\/p>\n
\nI do not want to answer that on grounds that it might incriminate against me. But the answer is no (yeah right!).<\/p>\n
\nYes \u2013 spit does help against fogging. But in the same vein that peeing on your stubbed toes might alleviate the pain \u2013 I rarely use it in public. I have 2-3 bottles of commercial defoggers in my dive bag. Did you know it\u2019s a crime to spit in public in Singapore? I once dove with a bunch of Singaporeans at the Great Barrier Reef, and they were a most well-behaved group, willingly sharing their food (how could I refuse?) and even letting me use their latest toys – super high-tech gigapixel underwater cameras (in their early days). This is in stark contrast with the white-trash American girl in the boat (but that\u2019s another story).<\/p>\n
\nEeeeww!<\/p>\n
\nNope \u2013 I got 3-4 bottles of cheap Costco lens cleaners in my car (I am very particular about keeping lenses clean \u2013 cameras, sunglasses, dive masks, computer monitors, etc). I am a photographer (especially underwater) so there\u2019s a legitimate reason. Can you imagine going through all troubles to arrange a dive trip somewhere, do your dive, then cannot take pictures because your lenses are messed up with your lunch or breakfast crumbs? Not good! Also I just want to keep a perfect 20\/20 vision till I\u2019m 80. (There\u2019s your dreamer, and an obsessed one at that!)<\/p>\n
\nCuttlefish \u2013 it can communicate behavioral changes in nanoseconds. It\u2019s constantly changing colors to indicate its mood. Very fascinating to watch underwater in natural environments. I rarely see them though \u2013 only at Aussie\u2019s Great Barrier Reef so far. I followed one for about 15-20 minutes; almost lost my boat in the process (may be that was its intentions). I wish human communication skills are as effective (especially for the fairer sex \u2013 there\u2019s a time bomb waiting for me). There\u2019s also a bunch of cuttlefish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium \u2013 and when I took my friends\u2019 kids there or my kids from the Big Brothers program (not the reality TV show) – I introduced them as cuddle-fish and gave them a big bear hug. They still remember that to this day.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\nYou are going to get yourself in trouble for admitting that (never saw that fighting fish species myself \u2013 hah!). Do you remember the Ligo\/Portola cans in the Philippines way back \u2013 big red tall tin cans? There\u2019s a huge painting of it right by the entrance to Monterey Bay Aquarium, since that\u2019s where they were processed (Cannery Row).<\/p>\n
\nTriathlete you mean (as in swim- bike-run)? Decathlon is all done in dry land when you have to run, jump through hurdles, throw shot put, javelin, discus and your coach, then do a ballet dance in Lycra tights and tutus at the tenth event. I only did the Olympic size as a tri-geek:1 mi swim, then 26 mile bike ride, then 10-Km run (no way for the Ironman size of 2.4 mi swim, 112-mi bike, then 26-mi run \u2013 training for it is called \u2018having no social life\u2019). BTW – forget about the fitness and social life aspect \u2013 I only went through the grueling training for 15 years so I can eat whatever I want (Are you going to finish that plate? What\u2019s for dessert? And where do we go for the next meal?). Fellow divers I travel with know that when I say I am hungry they better find a restaurant with the next half-hour (they had been forewarned!), otherwise hypoglycemic crankiness sets in.<\/p>\n
\nAchievement I think is validating your existence through other people\u2019s criteria and applauses. I don\u2019t exist in this world that way. I live life in layers, enjoy each day and hope that my next day can be as good as or better than the previous one according to my goals. If there\u2019s anything – it\u2019s that I made a difference in other people\u2019s lives by being a citizen of the world \u2013 I can relate to most people in the world because I can speak their language, appreciate their culture and offer some knowledge and a warm caring heart. Probably my volunteer work for the Big Brothers program for about 15 years was a validation, as I became a part of several kids\u2019 lives. (BTW — Big Brothers\/Big Sisters is a volunteer program that promotes the development of children through one-to-one friendships between adults and children. The program matches children ages 6 through 18 with mentors in professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Generally the adult male mentor gets matched up with boys growing up without fathers in the family, or similar for girls growing up without mothers for single-parent families, which is about 2\/3 of the population).<\/p>\n
\nActually Argentineans (like Chileans) still speak Spanish, with slight Portuguese lilt in some words (I could tell). Esperanto is another world. It\u2019s tough enough to learn 3 or 4 common languages, but to learn a language that\u2019s hardly used like Esperanto \u2013 it\u2019s insane. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s even officially recognized.<\/p>\n
\nMaterial possessions? Probably because I like music – my CD collection of Bach and Mozart: sublime evidence of man\u2019s artistic creativity. I also kept with me and lugged around through the years old pictures of family and friends, especially those of my parents and UPLB mementos.<\/p>\n
\nI can do away with all the material things in this world, if you are referring to that. Because I had traveled extensively all over the world I indulge myself with mental travel anywhere and anytime, and do it cheaply. That\u2019s the luxury of imagination and I pamper myself in that a lot. I can just sit or lie down and re-live every city in the world I\u2019ve been to, for each trip with its people and events. Of course, having the pictures or actually re-visiting a city is not bad either. I once arrived on a business trip to Paris famished, but too early for lunch. I charmed and talked my way to the lady owner (in her language) to open her restaurant, and got served a very sumptuous meal. Not cheap, but filling in every way. She had a great conversation and listening ears for company, and I got my fill. I plead guilty to a little hedonism.<\/p>\n
\nThat I could never be a funny cartoonist \u2013 because I am too serious (you can wipe the smirk off your face now) and I cannot draw. Double whammy! Levity aside \u2013 one should just pick up and go and learn from every hurdle one encounters. I don\u2019t have the luxury to mope around and be a poster boy for manic-depression so common in US society (especially in Oregon winter). Time is too precious for that. I look back at yesterday, but I live for today and tomorrow. Life moves only forward for me.<\/p>\n
\nA lot of French and Spanish music (collected from various trips \u2013 Helene Segara, Francis Cabrel, Florent Pagny, Chayanne, Christian Castro, Luis Miguel, etc) for mental exercise. (I always translate things and events I see and hear in at least 4 languages, just for the heck of it). For physical workout at the gym (3-4x a week in winter) I listen to techno\/dance music (Hed Kandi, Buddha Bar, Renaissance, etc) to keep the juices flowing (pump it up baby!)<\/p>\n
\nI tried \u2013 but ask me again when I am 80 \u2013 you\u2019d get better answers since I\u2019d be older, bitter and crankier!<\/p>\n
\nYes I do have plans \u2013 I just won\u2019t grow up! Either that or die young and stay pretty! What the heck is this question? We will all get old \u2013 repeat after me \u2013 We will all grow old. No amount of plastic surgery or Botox treatments or hair transplants or tummy tucks will work. Unless you eat properly, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol and drugs, listen to your Mother or spouse, not get stressed out by work, give up your children for adoption, etc \u2013 we cannot reverse nature\u2019s reminders (but then again us geneticists – we\u2019ll have gene therapy to cure all our worries!).<\/p>\n
\nWell, quit beating around the bush! Been there, done that. I was married before, then got smarter. It was simply a case of her having champagne taste, and me with a beer budget. After dealing with the kids and teenagers at the Big Brother\u2019s program for a while it was untenable for me to think of raising kids here. I suppose it could be rewarding, but could also be traumatic. But you never know.<\/p>\n
\nYes there was in the pre-historic days of computers (1990\u2019s). However – as a matter-of-fact – I am left-handed with the mouse. I trained my left hand for the mouse in the early days of PC\u2019s (1984) since I use my right for typing. Pretty neat! Now when everybody asks me if I am left-handed, I always just reply that I am ambidextrous. Most clients will just look at me and shake their head. Like one time one diver asked – what do you call those words that read the same forward and backward? I said palindrome without batting an eyelash, then walked away. They were still shaking their heads when I looked back a few minutes later. (Don\u2019t even get me started on numbers and dates!)<\/p>\n