HAHAHA. We're through.

Owen Pallett is pure love. :D

I simply can't get enough of his music.

Sample music in his myspace... enjoy! :)

I'd like to share this article with you guys... in line with my research (although hindi related technically hehehe).  Sana di ito tuluyang mangyari for all countries.

Internet-based telephony saves consumers money by bypassing traditional carriers—but new software lets the carriers block those pennies-per-minute calls

The convergence of telephony and the Internet is a great thing for consumers. It makes voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services, such as Vonage, Packet8, and Skype, possible.

In particular, Skype Technologies SA, in London, looms as a dagger poised to cut your phone costs—and your local phone company's profits. With its SkypeOut service, a call anywhere in the world costs about 3 US cents per minute. And when the recipient is also a Skype user, the call is absolutely free.

In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, regulations protect a phone company's revenues, prohibiting customers from saving money by making phone calls using any service other than the national carrier, Saudi Telecom, based in Riyadh. Skype users there have gleefully flouted those regulations, paying cheap local tariffs to access the Internet and use it for their calls, instead of directly using Saudi Telecom's expensive long-distance and international calling services.

Although these Skype calls travel along Saudi Telecom's network, the national carrier had been helpless to prevent the practice—VoIP phone calls were just ordinary data packets, indistinguishable from Web and e-mail traffic. Until now.

A seven-year-old Mountain View, Calif., company, Narus Inc., has devised a way for telephone companies to detect data packets belonging to VoIP applications and block the calls. For example, now when someone in Riyadh clicks on Skype's "call" button, Narus's software, installed on the carrier's network, swoops into action. It analyzes the packets flowing across the network, notices what protocols they adhere to, and flags the call as VoIP. In most cases, it can even identify the specific software being used, such as Skype's.

Narus's software can "secure, analyze, monitor, and mediate any traffic in an IP network," says Antonio Nucci, the company's chief technology officer. By "mediate" he means block, or otherwise interfere with, data packets as they travel through the network in real time.

Another of Narus's Skype-blocking customers is Giza Systems, a consulting company that specializes in information technologies. Giza, which is based in Cairo, Egypt, installed Narus's software on the network of a Middle Eastern carrier in the spring. Nucci wouldn't say which one, but presumably it is Telecom Egypt, the national phone company. Narus already has a close relationship with the carrier, having written the software for its billing system.

The desire to block or charge for VoIP phone calls extends far beyond the Middle East. According to Jay Thomas, Narus's vice president of product marketing, it can be found in South America, Asia, and Europe. International communications giant Vodafone recently announced a plan to block VoIP calls in Germany, Thomas says. A French wireless carrier, SFR, has announced a similar plan for France.

Nor is it just Skype that's at risk. Most international telephone calling cards also use VoIP technology.

In the United States and many other countries, a phone company's common carrier status prevents it from blocking potentially competitive services.

"But there's nothing that keeps a carrier in the United States from introducing jitter, so the quality of the conversation isn't good," Thomas says. "So the user will either pay for the carrier's voice-over-Internet application, which brings revenue to the carrier, or pay the carrier for a premium service that allows Skype use to continue. You can deteriorate the service, introduce latency [audible delays in hearing the other end of the line], and also offer a premium to improve it."

U.S. broadband-cable companies are considered information services, which by law gives them the right to block VoIP calls. Comcast Corp., in Philadelphia, the country's largest cable company, is already a Narus customer; Thomas declined to say whether Comcast uses the VoIP-blocking capabilities.

In August, a Federal Communications Commission ruling gave phone companies the same latitude for DSL.

Narus's software does far more than just frustrate Skype users. It can also diagnose, and react to, denial-of-service attacks and dangerous viruses and worms as they wiggle through a network. It makes possible digital wiretaps, a capability that carriers are required by law to have.

However, these positive applications for Narus's software may not be enough to make Internet users warm to its use. "Protecting its network is a legitimate thing for a carrier to do," says Alex Curtis, government affairs manager for Public Knowledge, a consumer-interest advocacy group in Washington, D.C. "But it's another thing for a Comcast to charge more if I use my own TiVo instead of the personal video recorder they provide, or for Time Warner, which owns CNN, to charge a premium if I want to watch Fox News on my computer."

Public Knowledge advocates a set of principles of "network neutrality." One is open attachment—the right to connect that TiVo, or any Internet-enabled hardware, to a network. Another is a right of openness to all application developers, such as Skype, and information providers. "Consumers have come to expect a lot from the Internet—to be able to get to any site, for example, or any service, like VoIP," Curtis says. "Without Net neutrality, that goes out the window."

Such concerns used to be largely academic, because carriers had no way of restricting the activities of their customers anyway. Software such as Narus's, with its ability to do what the company euphemistically calls "content-based billing," puts the issue front and center.

-------------------------

the first thing that came to mind is edu manzano's campaign of blocking illegal downloading of copyrighted materials.  Hehe. sad.

SUBJECT: Paying It Back for Mang Meliton a.k.a "Mang Milton"

Meet Meliton Zamora, a retired University of the Philippines janitor and my
hero.

For forty-five years, he swept floors, cleaned up trash, watered plants and
did odd jobs at the University.

I met him when I was active with the UP Repertory Company, a theater group
based (then) at the third floor lobby of the Arts & Sciences (AS) building.
He would sweep and mop the hallway floors in silence, venturing only a nod
and a smile whenever I passed him.

Back then, for me he was just one of those characters whom you got
acquainted with and left behind as soon as you earned your degree and left
the university for some big job in the real world. Someone whose name would
probably ring a bell but whose face you'd have a hard time picturing. But
for many UP students like me who were hard up and had a difficult time
paying their tuition fees, Mang Mel was a hero who gave them the opportunity
to finish university and get a big job in the real world.

The year was 1993 and I was on my last semester as a Clothing Technology
student. My parents had been down on their luck and were struggling to pay
for my tuition fee. I had been categorized as Bracket 9 in the recently
implemented Socialized Tuiton and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP). My
father had lost his job and to supplement my allowance, I worked part time
as a Guest Relations Officer at Sam's Diner (back when the term GRO didn't
have shady undertones) and took some odd jobs as a Production Assistant,
movie extra and wardrobe mistress.

To be eligible for graduation, I had to enroll in my last three courses and
pay my tuition fee. Since my parents didn't have enough money for my
matriculation, I applied for a student loan hoping that my one of my Home
Economics (HE) professors would take pity on me and sign on as a guarantor
for the student loan. But those whom I approached either refused or were not
eligible as guarantors. After two unsuccessful weeks of looking for a
guarantor, my prospects looked dim, my future dark. And so, there I was, a
downtrodden twenty year old with a foggy future, crying in the AS lobby. I
only had twenty four hours left to look for a guarantor.

Mang Mel, with a mop in hand, approached me and asked me why I was crying. I
told him I had no guarantor for my student loan and will probably not be
able to enroll this semester. I had no hopes that he would be able to help
me. After all, he was just a janitor. He borrowed my loan application papers
and said softly, "Puwede ako pumirma. Empleyado ako ng UP." He borrowed my
pen and signed his name. With his simple act of faith, Mang Mel not only
saved my day, he also saved my future.

I paid my student loan the summer after that fateful day with Mang Milton
and it has been 15 years since then. I am not filthy rich but I do have a
good job in the real world that allows me to support my family and eat three
meals a day. A few weeks ago, a friend and UP Professor, Daki, told me that
Mang Mel recently recorded an album which he sells to supplement his meager
retirement pay, I asked another friend, Blaise, who's taking his Master's
degree at UP to find out how we could contact Mang Mel. My gesture of
gratitude for Mang Mel's altruism has been long overdue. As fate would have
it, my friend saw Mang Mel coming out of the shrubbery from behind the UP
library, carrying firewood. He got Mang Mel's address and promised him that
we would come over to buy his album.

Together with Blaise and my husband Augie, I went to pay Mang Mel a visit
last Sunday. Unfortunately, he was out doing a little sideline gardening for
a UP professor in Tandang Sora. We were welcomed into their home by his
daughter Kit. As she pointed out to a laminated photo of Mang Mel on the
wall, she proudly told us that her father did retire with recognition from
the University. However, she sadly related to us that many of the students
whose loans Mang Mel guaranteed neglected to settle their student loans.
After forty-five years of service to the University, Mang Mel was only
attributed 171 days of work for his retirement pay because all the unpaid
student loans were deducted from his full retirement pay of about 675 days.
This seems to me a cruel repayment for his kindness.

This is a cybercall to anyone who did not get to pay their student loans
that were guaranteed by Mang Mel. Anytime would be a good time to show Mang
Mel your gratitude.

Mang Mel is not asking for a dole out, though I know he will be thankful for
any assistance you can give. So I ask those of you who also benefited from
Mang Meliton's goodness or for those who simply wish to share your
blessings, please do visit Mang Mel and buy his CD (P350 only) at No. 16-A,
Block 1, Pook Ricarte, U.P. Campus, Diliman, Quezon City (behind UP
International House) or contact his daughter Kit V. Zamora at 09164058104.

------------------------------------------------- EOF ---------------------------------------------------
Sa mga taong gumamit kay Mang Milton, mahiya naman kayo.  'Wag niyong hayaang masunog kayo sa impiyerno!!!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’ve never done before?

• Went out of the country ALONE
  
• Ilocos Trip with Teejay!
  
• First salon haircut. :D  Kalandian.
  
• If I were to answer this in detail, it would take forever.  Answering this meme, for instance, is a first-time experience.  I know I'm a doofus.
  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I forgot about my last new year's resolution but one thing is for sure, none was kept.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

If you consider house rats close.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

None!  God loves our family.  Thank you Lord for keeping us safe...  One of Teejay's relatives by the way.  But not really close.  Haven't even met the guy.

5. What countries did you visit?

Land of our ancestry, Malaysia.  Truly Asia.  Though mal- as a prefix denotes... nevermind.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Stability and focus in all aspects of human life, wherever applicable.  Enough said.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

The letter H.  Yuck corny.  I don't etch.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Two grades of 1.0 from the best professor I EVAR HAD within a semester.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Cramming my Thesis, as always.  But not at this point.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

ALWAYS!!!  This is the year when I realized I actually have asthma.  T_T

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My laptop, I think.  If it wasn't for my laptop, I don't think I would last this long in the academe.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Dean gev's!!!!  Everyone knows about this.  She's wonderful this year.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

MY GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BROTHER.

14. Where did most of your money go?

To evil credit card companies. <-- I retained someone else's answer.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Alex Waibel incident.  See previous posts.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

"SINGLE LADIES (PUTA RING ON IT)" FTMFW!!!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) happier b) fatter c) poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Anger management and controlling my tendency to spark evil thoughts in my head.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Bitching and cramming.

20. How did you spend your Christmas?

No Christmas celebration in our family, unfortunately.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Like I always do.

22. How many one-night stands?

1/Infinity

23. What was your favorite TV program?

FRINGE and THE BIG BANG THEORY.  Fringe sucked in the middle and TBBT is starting to suck.  I'm expecting more.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yes.  But not really hate-hate.  More like, I want you to change for the better.

25. What was the best book you read?

Speech Coding and Transmission books unfortunately.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I dunno.  The Script?  Maybe that's my best answer.

27. What did you want and get?

Trip somewhere.

28. What did you want and not get?

More trips.  Haha.  Honestly, peace of mind and freedom from the paranoia of illnesses.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

Definitely Zohan.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 22 last May 14.  I did not do anything.  I'm kind of a loser.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Acceptance and assurance.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Hahahaha.  My usual shorts and polo shirts.

33. What kept you sane?

BB. Mom.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Angelina Jolie.  No need for further explanations.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Politics in EEE hahahaha.

36. Who did you miss?

DSPeeps.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

A.W.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Living a life doesn't mean you have to make sense for the people around you, rather, they have to make sense for you and your lifelong goals.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.


"[ . . . ]

I've been groggy everyday,
I've been counting sleepless nights
I've been working for no pay
I just want to do what's right

[ . . . ]

But I know, deep within, there's might
I should not give up the fight
If I work starting tonight
I can do at speed of light
Night and day, day and night

If I worked really hard today
And not stop, even once, to play
Find the pin deep within the hay
No regrets, I'll stand for all and say
Day and night, night and day!!!"

- from "Day and Night, Night and Day" from Big G:The Musical

And so, I went on with the plan of spending time at a coffee shop in order to work on my thesis.  While riding the bus, I've been trying to read my reference book and kept on thinking if the trip was going to be a squander.  Haha.  Well, I didn't think what happened was wasted effort.  I was able to finish some scripts.  Anyway, I'd like to talk about my experience during my small escapade.

I actually left the house early!  I arrived 30 minutes earlier than the actual opening of TriNoma.  And so, I waited and rather faced the balustrade overlooking the parking area.  I don't want anyone familiar seeing me waiting for the mall to open.  Talk about cheap.  Hahaha.  Just kidding.

Anyway, once I got in, I immediately thought about looking for Sennheiser headphones, as I will be using some of my thesis grant money for those wonderful piece of technology (I'm referring to them collectively as I equally adore them).  Anyway, they cost about 3000-5000 pesos but they are really high-end in terms of capabilities: natural sound production, noise damping and even real-time cancellation for those at the more expensive brackets!  Anyway, I asked for quotations but this certain cheap store can't provide any.  It's the one at the center of this electronics strip on the 2nd floor (same area as Data Blitz and CD-R King).  I intentionally forgot the name because I hate them.  Good thing Automatic Centre (no matter how cheap their name is, I on't forget them) was kind enough to provide me with a quotation.  The bad news is that they only have two Sennheiser headphone models and only one that I fancy.

Moving on, I realized it was time to work and I actually opened CBTL.  Wow.  The best part is, I think the barista was still groggy at that time that she accidentally stamped the wrong box, panicked, stamped the right box, thought about how to remove the first stamp, but eventually gave up and gave me both stamps.  Yey!  2 stamps at the price of one.  Talk about giving me a head start!  And like I said, I was able to finish a script, although I wasn't able to make it function correctly.  Even until I left the place.  The good thing, however, is that I realized I can actually work in an environment where there is music.  Before, I thought I can only work in complete silence.  Now I realized it's just this blabbermouth in DSP whom I can't stand.  Oh no, evil senses tingling.  Change for a bit, will you?

And then, of course, in a wheel -- there is a good position and a bad position.  I was craving for grilled salmon during lunch but the only place I know where there is CHEAP grilled salmon is Oki Oki.  But several months ago, I actually pledged that I won't be eating there again after realizing that it's not an authentic Japanese restaurant.  The culprit?  Their comic characters.  hahaha.  I'm such a dumb loser.  But with pride still intact, I went for the next best thing -- Teriyaki Boy...  boy, was I wrong in choosing that f*cking store at that time.  Aside from the fact that they didn't have grilled salmon, they made me wait for 30 minutes or so before taking my order.  And then another 15-30 minutes for the food.  And the worst part, more than 30 minutes of waiting for my bill and my change.  F*ck those dumbasses.  Sorry for the words but I'm just in a state of recollection.  But during the whole time, I smiled and talked to them like everything is perfectly well.  But at the back of my head I've been preparing lots of sarcastic comments... in english.  But I'm usually too shy or okay, I admit, I'm a chicken.

Anyway, after my piece of hell.  I'm supposed to go back to CBTL and wait for Teejay.  But since Teejay had other matters to attend, I decided to go home instead.  But not until I satiate my craving for Crazy Crepes!  Aside from their delicious crepes, I'm actually eyeing one of their crews HAHAHAHAHA.  :P  No comment.

It was really the right decision -- going home that early because there are gazillions of people waiting for the buses outside.  Being the aggressive squeezing predator that I am, I was able to get a seat and watched other people stand in the aisle while I rationalize that I need not offer my seat since there will be more buses in the next few hours.  But of course, If an old lady will be standing in front of me, showcasing her weak posture as she drinks Anlene and even spill some on my bag -- by all means grandma, sit here where my butt once was.  I don't want other people thinking I've been faking my sleep even if I was actually praying in my seat.  Thank God for everything I've accomplished so far.

And with that, MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone who actually celebrates this annual event. :D  I don't.  And don't think I'm evil, I just have a different opinion regarding Christmas.

Sino ang mga sumusunod sa DSP???

1. Chokoleit
2. Alessandra
3. Lola
4. Chloe (aka Halle Meow)
5. Ginger
6. Becky
7. Kiki
8. Hannah Montana
9. Kokey
10. Aling "Free Will"
11. Mother Goose
12. Maggi Savor
13. Enerva
14. Lovi Poe
15. Manay
16. Barbie Dull
17. Pepper
18. Lawlaw
19. Malaking Patatas
20. Mayor Doma

...I got hit by a speeding motorcycle.  Grabe, uso ata ang collision ngayon.  Anyway, more about this later.

Two days ago, DSPasko DSParty hahaha.  So I'm calling it (DSP)^2.  Ang saya.  Unfortunately, hindi ata maganda nangyari sa wallet ni Johanne.  But I'd like to congratulate the probationary members for a job well done.  Grabe.  Ultimate talent show of the year!  Super talented and musically inclined ang mga probies this year.  Kaya nga sana talaga matuloy na ang DSP Album especially now that there are two recording rooms saka mas knowledgeable na ang mga tao sa paggamit ng audio recording equipment.  Of course, still featuring the single, "Bait ayun a lang" by O-i Al-asid.  Same artist who sang "Ba-ay U-bo".  Tapos track 2 ay from Dean Montet and Company - "Ibong Pipit" chorale version.  Panalo yung album na yan, sigurado multi-platinum.

Anyway, nung kinagabihan, I invited Teejay to watch Awitan with me sa SM.  Haha.  Grabe lang.  Nakapangliliit.  Pero ok lang.  Go lang ng go ika nga ni Riley.  Grabe ang IE Club, wala akong masabi.  Ang sarap sa tenga.  They weren't the perfect choir, but they sure stood out kasi 98% malinis ang kanilang songs.  As for the other orgs, better luck next time.  Actually, CIEM and Cursor as 2nd and 3rd placers was the optimal decision for that night.  Yung tatlong orgs lang talaga yung naging OK para sa akin.  'Di ko napansin kung si Seruh ay nasa IE Club team nun pero I'm sure si Katokz andun so congrats Katokz and other Cursor friends.

Sunday, kahapon, Teejay and I watched "The Day The Earth Stood Still" at Trinoma.  Probably the best food trip we had.  Kasi, ang sarap pala ng burger sa Bun on the Run.  We tried the Chori Burger at 75php.  It tastes just like Shawarma, only more tender and in burger form.  Then we paired it with NYFD Fries with two of my most favorite dips, Pesto and Garlic Parmesan.  You should really try the Bun on the Run burgers.

About the movie... well, it's OK but not really amazing.  What's amazing is actually our dinner at Holy Cow.  WAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Food to die for!!! Medyo pricey but super sulit.  I tried their Grilled Salmon that's more than perfect while Teejay had boneless barbecue that is superb.  We really had a great, great, great time there.  TRY IT!!!!!  I'm not paid to do this advertisement I tell you.  Their food is delish.

And then this afternoon, sa Katipunan, while papuntang UP...  I was walking alongside UPIS (High School) until I reached the place where I can enter this small hole leading to the Zoology building.  While crossing, I didn't mind the vehicles coming from the left because they were all in a halt because of all the traffic in that area.  As in there really is traffic that's why I didn't mind.  That was my mistake because as I entered the other side where the vehicles are going to Katips, a speeding motorcycle suddenly pushed me from behind.  Nung una I thought I wouldn't fall kasi I was still able to keep my balance pero I was wrong, the full momentum was felt in the end.  Ayun... tumilapon ako sa kabilang side.  Akala ko it was the end for me (just kidding) pero buti na lang walang cars on the other side of the road.  Nagalusan lang naman ako sa palms at medyo feeling ko I have bruises on my right leg.  Pero yun lang.  The funny thing was that ako pa yung sorry ng sorry kasi nga nag register agad sa akin that it was really my fault because I didn't check if there were speeding vehicles even if there's traffic.  Lesson learned.

I'm blogging because this is kind of a special day for me... after almost a year, I'm finally able to stay overnight at the lab again haha. Pero yun lang.  I'm still busy eh.  SUPER.  No holidays for me.

Dear Diary,

The C MELPe program is kinda strange...

When I feed it an audio stream that is good for an exact number of frames (meaning, the total number of samples in the stream divided by the number of samples per frame yields an exact count), the total number of bits it produces is good for the exact number of frames for the audio stream samples plus one!  Why can't it just be the number of bit frames I expect?

The common scenario is that MELP is fed with an audio stream with the number of samples not enough to make an exact number of frames.  For the case of MELP for example, each frame should last for exactly 22.5 milliseconds.  Meaning, if you have a stream of data, feed it to MELP at a sampling rate of 16000 samples per second, you will need to have samples that is counted at multiples of 360, else MELP pads zeros to make it that way.  Actually, not really zeros but negligibly small random noise.

I'm guessing that MELP is always assuming that the data stream it processes is inexact in terms of filling an exact number of frames.  So even if the samples are already enough, it still pads values until this extension makes the sample count a multiple of 360.

Am I sure about this?  Oh yes I think I am.  I have done all sorts of things to see how MELP responds to different stimuli.  Like I tried processing a wave file twice and see if the bitstreams would be different for each case.  For the first case, I made MELP process an inexact data stream.  For the second case, the exact stream.  If you were able to follow what I said above, you would agree that the two cases would produce the same number of bits.  And so, I checked whether the bit frames, produced by the samples that would fill up an exact number of frames, are consistent.  And as it turns out, they are consistent!

Same file tells two different stories:

INEXACT CASE:
000101101110010100000011010001011110110011001111100000
011011101110000000100001111001000000111010100110001001
000011001100100000011011110011011010100110000100101001
.
.
.
011010000101000000000011011001010101101010101111100100
010010000001000000000011001001010111100010001111000011
110011001100000000100011111001010111100010000110101100
100100011010100111000101110001001001110011011011011110 <- here

and

EXACT CASE:
000101101110010100000011010001011110110011001111100000
011011101110000000100001111001000000111010100110001001
000011001100100000011011110011011010100110000100101001
.
.
.
011010000101000000000011011001010101101010101111100100
010010000001000000000011001001010111100010001111000011
110011001100000000100011111001010111100010000110101100
100001001000100000110001100001011000100100000011001011 <- here

The only solution now perhaps is to save the unfinished frame before feeding the data stream, retain the inexact samples, and simply discard the bitstream frame that doesn't make sense.  On the next batch though, I have to prepend the unfinished frame I saved and allow the next batch to adjust so as to accommodate the added stream.  And so on and so forth...

Oh, If you actually knew MELP then I'm sorry if you got confused about the 360 samples per frame instead of just 180.  I just didn't want to bring up the fact that MELP eats a decimated-by-2 version of the data stream...  Anyway, that's not the focus of this discussion.

Love,
Fed

MELP is acting strange...

When I feed it an audio stream that is good for an exact number of frames (meaning, the total number of samples in the stream divided by the number of samples per frame yields an exact count), the total number of bits it produces is good for the exact number of frames for the audio stream samples plus one!

The common scenario is that MELP is fed with an audio stream with the number of samples not enough to make an exact number of frames.  For the case of MELP for example, each frame should last for exactly 22.5 millseconds.  Meaning, if you have a stream of data, feed it to MELP at a sampling rate of 16000 samples per second, you will need to have samples that is counted at multiples of 360, else MELP pads zeros to make it that way.

I'm guessing that MELP is always assuming that the data stream it processes is always inexact in terms of making the total number of frames exact.  So even if the samples are already enough, it still pads zeros until a new frame is created.

Am I sure about this?  Oh yes I am.  I have done all sorts of things to see how MELP responds to different stimuli.  The only solution now perhaps is to save the unfinished frame before feeding the data stream, retain the inexact samples (meaning, don't cut it to be exact -- because my code counts the total number of frames and it has to get the ceiling of the inexact division by 360), and finally discard the bitstream frame that doesn't make sense.  On the next batch though, I have to prepend the unfinished frame I saved and allow the next batch to adjust so as to accommodate the added stream.  And so on and so forth...

Oh, I'm sorry if you got confused about the 360 samples per frame instead of just 180.  I just didn't want to bring up the fact that MELP eats a decimated-by-2 version of the data stream...  Anyway, that's not the focus of this discussion.

Despite my efforts not to continue with the application, I was still scheduled for an interview in Toshiba tomorrow. 

I NEED TIPS!!!  Especially from those who got to Japan! HAHAHAHA.

And what did you bring pala? :)

THANKS A BUNCH!

As usual, lots of things going on inside my head right now.  I'm actually kinda sleepy already, but I just felt the need to write about stuffs so I can tell myself afterwards how I spent the evening (well, morning technically) writing and recalling completely what happened during the past few days -- something that would make me feel satisfied about the need to accomplish things.  Writing has always been a daily requirement for me (a self-imposed one), and when I say writing i'm not merely referring to the manual labor of prodding a pen on paper but also the thinking that comes with it.  It helps me a lot, especially during those times when I had to suddenly write down a mile-long thesis proposal in a week.  Of course that is an exaggeration.

Anyway, on with the show.  I've been wanting to write my thoughts about the conference I attended last Tuesday with Kel and Liz.  Liz was actually a presenter in that conference and so I thought why not accompany her in representing the laboratory, not to mention the more obvious reasons of moral support and defense against whatever slime bomb the "Green Archers" have prepared for the project that we'll be presenting.  No, I don't hate the University, it's just that I think that it's necessary to uplift the spirits of the people in our lab, most especially when misunderstandings in seeing projects from other schools are actually better.  I'm not saying they're better, it's just that they publicize their projects with flamboyant representations that are often misconstrued as actually good.  But I digress, the conference is the 5th National Natural Language Processing Conference that is being held annually by these people, the La Salle Natural Language Processing (NLP) Group as they call themselves.

Last time, I've been trying to reconcile something in my mind.  Something about the La Salle NLP Group being the pioneers in doing NLP research in the country.  Now, after attending the seminar, I was able to give it some thought and I finally came up with the decision of giving it to them.  I mean, what they're saying is partly true given the fact that they've been giving so much effort in furthering their knowledge on NLP and that continued research on the topic is really giving them their prestige on the field.  UP on the other hand, DSP in particular, has only been "nitpicking" topics on NLP and is not really focusing on furthering research on the field.  I mean, DSP has a goal -- and that goal is to be able to realize a working Speech Recognition + Speech Synthesis System.  Unfortunately, our research has been treading on an incredibly sinusoidal path with noise that is unfortunately NOT independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.).

The point is that I don't really need to argue with these people because if our research topics were in two different sets, the intersection of these sets is actually very small.  They haven't even started with speech processing yet.  They don't know a thing about speech signal processing.  So there's no point really in overreacting on their projects.  I'm telling these things to myself and next time, I won't give in to my abrupt personal angst.  I have to remind myself that.  Hopefully, in the near future, I can start focusing my research on conversational agents ran by A.I. technology.  I have been telling Teejay earlier when we paid a visit to our favorite oreo-cheesecake-serving cafe that 2009 is really an unpredictable yet exciting year for me.  I'm excited but at the same time totally worried on the outcomes of my life as an academic.  I'm leaving everything to God.

Going back to the conference, well there were certainly lots of cuties in that small campus but what really caught our attention were these people who were speaking in absurd English!  I mean, I thought these people were well trained to speak the language. Gawd, my 4 year old niece could actually do better!  But then again, I cannot generalize.  But to think they're doing LANGUAGE PROCESSING?  And worse -- in English!  They better stick to processing than tackle the language itself.

I think that's enough text for now.  I really want to make good use of this time to rest and prepare for the long day ahead.  Hopefully, I get to accomplish things tomorrow, err... later.

If you're using the latest Adobe Reader (which is version 9), upon compilation of your LaTeX file, checking the output, going back to the editor, debugging or writing more, etc...and then recompiling without closing the previous output, the only possible thing that happens is that TeXnic Center will close the previous file but it won't reload the newly compiled output.  Well, the workaround is to insert:

[DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")][DocClose("%bm.pdf")]

in the "close before compilation" tag.

How Humans Write as Computers

This semester, I enrolled in this special computer science course -- CS 286: Natural Language Processing in preparation for my active involvement in the future of Filipino speech technology.  It's officially "Natural Language Understanding" but I don't think that course title would be enough to represent all related topics that can be learned in a semester.  And so, whenever I'm asked what subjects I am taking this semester, I say to them that it's this and that and Natural Language Processing that I think is more general.

In one of our activities last Thursday, we were asked to bring out a piece of paper where we write down the line "It is a dark and stormy night."  In order to evaluate how humans respond (with the stimulus being something that needs to be understood), we passed the paper around (there were only 7 of us) so each one can write the next line.  I figured it's kinda interesting to share what we came up with...

Version 1:

It is a dark and stormy night.  Lisa has been waiting from the window of her bedroom.  "Where is Tony," she asked herself.  How long is she going to wait -- another question in her mind.  "Should I still wait for him even though he won't come?" she asked.  She waited for a minute, then an hour.  Her mind wondered as she stared at the approaching figure.

Comments: The idea is supposed to be sensual.  But it ended a horror film.

Version 2:

It is a dark and stormy night.  Tony is frustrated since he can't go out.  He wanted to spend the night with his friends.  Suddenly, a friend called and invited him for dinner.  However, the rain outside is hard, so they canceled their meeting.  Tony began to feel lonely and bored.  He brought out his crayons and a pack of crackers.  But he munched on his crayons and drew with the crackers.

Comment: Psychological thriller.

Version 3:

It is a dark and stormy night.  This led me to believe that it's the end of the world.  But my mother knocked on the door.  "Hannah, baby, is there something wrong?"  "I am scared," she said.  "I saw something behind the door and I can't figure out what it is.  Waaaah!!!"  Hannah shouted.  "Don't worry, Hannah.  I'm here," her mother replied.

Comment: I guess the mother is the killer.

Version 4:

It is a dark and stormy night.  The rain is fallng hard.  Without an umbrella or a coat, I approached the jeep.  But the jeep fell off a bridge and my body was torn in half.  And luckily, I am still alive.  But minutes later, I found myself in another place... it's weird.  I feel overspiced in the heat... is this hell?

Comment: This is very interesting but I don't know the word overspiced.

Version 5:

It is a dark and stormy night.  It is raining hard outside.  I'm locked alone inside our house.  There is no electricity.  But with a pair of batteries, I had a wonderful idea.  I electrocuted my tongue by licking on the batteries.  It felt wonderful!  I must try it again.  So I tried licking them again and again.  Suddenly, I died.

Comment: Another psycho.

Version 6:

It is a dark and stormy night.  It is hard to sleep because of the loud thunder.  I tried reading books and magazines to kill time.  But still, there's nothing else to do.  There is no one to talk to.  So I decided to come up with someone to talk to.  I talked to God.  He didn't answer.  The storm stopped and I fell asleep.

Comment: It's trying to tell us how it wasted our time.

Version 7:

It is a dark and stormy night.  The wind is blowing violently.  I am alone inside the house without food and electricity.  I am dying.  "Food, food..." I kept calling.  I can feel my large interstine eating my small intestine.  It is gross.

Comment: You can tell we're bored in this class.

What substantial concept did we learn in this activity?  Hmm... I need a week to answer that.



Amazingly Real What-The-F*ck!? Animal from RPGs

This is one amazing animal that I saw in You Tube and I just can't get over it.  Have you seen anything like it?


It's the blue big-lipped smiley animal!!!  Just kidding, it's one of them "Birds of Paradise" that is amazingly cool!!!

So I shook madam president's hand, so what? hehehe.

I've always hated combinatorial analytics.  Most especially in solving special cases of permutations, combinations, and the like.  I'm always stuck at analyzing the problem and end up not getting it.  Up to now, there are still problems that bug me.  Here are just some of them:

1. Assuming you are in a children's pool of balls and there are 4 different colored balls in the pool.  How many ways can you pick 6 balls?  How about if there are n different colored balls and you have to pick r balls?

2. How many 2 letter combinations can you make from the word DADDY?  How about MISSISSIPPI?  How about SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS?  I made this last one up.  Haha.

3. How many different arrangements of 3 red beads and 3 blue beads can you make from a bracelet?  How about x red beads and y blue beads?

You're an addict if you can nail one of these problems. :P

For more than 5 years, I've been traveling back and forth for approximately 14 kilometers (according to wikimapia) from hell to UP and back, spending a bit less than 80 bucks everyday just so I can slack the day off playing my role as the most cruel (to Regi) and currently the oldest non-working, non-teaching affiliate of DSP (the criteria were well thought of so no appeals please).  Anyway, living in a compound, there's just no telling what your neighbors (for our case, our neighbors are also our relatives) are actually installing right in front of your doorstep or just before you leave the garage you're suddenly surprised at the sight of a new guard dog wanting to make your ears bleed with her nerve-racking bark.  You see, we have this askal (adopted street dog for you my non-Filipino speaking friends) who is so dumb, she can't even remember the scent or the looks of her masters.  Whenever I arrive home, either so sleepy or so tired, she just relentlessly barks and feels threatened, crazily pulling her chains which never fails to give me goosebumps because I don't want to end up with that effing dog's rabies.

To make the story short, I recently learned from wikipedia that Macadamia nuts is actually toxic to dogs.  *Evil laugh*  And Teejay just gave me a box full of chocolate coated macadamia nuts hahaha.  Vets say that the chocolate amplifies the effect, hahaha.

Here's an excerpt from this blog

Clinical Signs Seen with Ingestion

Clinical signs are usually seen within 12 hours of ingestion often much sooner. The following signs have been seen in dogs: ataxia (walking wobbly), depression, vomiting, muscle tremors, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), weakness, and an elevated heart rate. Dogs can show one or more of these clinical signs. The toxic dose to dogs ranges from 2.4-62.4 grams per kilogram of body weight. This is a very large range and can mean that some dogs will get ill with just a small amount of nuts ingested, while other dogs need to each a lot of nuts to show signs. The clinical signs can be markedly increased if chocolate is ingested along with the nuts, as seen in cases where the dog ate the box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Chocolate will also cause the similar signs, thus the combination of the two ingredients can cause exacerbated clinical signs, along with possible kidney failure.

I'm just kidding, I won't waste my uber delicious macadamia nuts for that trashy dog. ;-)

We had our semi-annual DSPaglilinis Cleaning Session yesterday after our 9 AM Genmit and as usual, I was late.  The punishment is traditionally an ice cream treat for the lab.  Luckily, every session, there are more than one latecomer and load is usually lessened.

Anyway, in my opinion, this is one of the most successful cleaning sessions I've participated in.  There are lots of factors: (1) Lots of OC people, (2) New PCs that do not really require much cleaning, (3) We were able to free extra storage because we strategically planned where to place items, (4) Attendance reached higher than quota :)  (5) MIKE IS INSPIRED *evil laugh* just kidding Mike!

I just want to make an announcement especially to those people who are still using some of the lockers and drawers in DSP.  We need your cooperation!  We can't open the damn lockers because you took off without leaving the keys for them.  We are not, in any way, affiliated to some "storage space for rent" company.  Just kidding.  We just want the keys back so we can 100% use all the lockers for the 198ers and those who are doing each of their own thesis, like me.  Thanks.

Teejay and I then went to the elitist realm of Makati that is The Fort at around 9 PM to see +/- live at the magnet:cafe in Serendra.  Of course, me being anti-elite (or at least those who are not part of the scientific intelligentsia), I surely loathed the place and its people.  Anyway, new experience at the bar... err, cafe.  The ticket is expensive but Cholle (thank you very much!) is generous enough to spare one of us one free space for her personal guest list (read: free entrance).  Nice, small place but the ambiance is definitely superb.  I saw Mitch Dulce in her popular (I don't know if its signature) couture.  I was soooo eagerly waiting to hear James Baluyut sing (but at least I saw him in person along with Patrick Ramos and Chris Deaner) but Teejay and my tolerance levels for loud music and intimidation were already buffered from our initial decision of leaving at 11 PM.  A premature retreat, some might call it *laughs*.  Anyway, we admit it, we are not party animals but we did enjoy that new experience.  Call us boring, it won't actually change a thing.  We did have coke with rum(?) though.  My innocence just keeps on embarrassing me.

Pictures to follow.