Classroom Science Initiatives

Last entry for March. And I’ll be in total geek mode for today, just like I was at the start of the term.

Tonight I’m going to present my computer program to my theory of programming languages class.

It’s an extension of the Brain Screw (name changed for general patronage).

The program already has eight commands, two for moving up and down an “endless” one-dimensional array, two for incrementing or decrementing the value of that pointed array element, one to read from keyboard and another to write to screen.

There is also a loop command that may or may not run endlessly; it’s up to the user to make sure that the exit condition (that the array element pointed to) is set.

To this I have added eight new commands; well, technically just two multi symbol constructs.

The first is an if-then-else structure. Just like with the loop, which will stop when the array element pointed to is zero, here it checks the array element.

If it is not zero, it will run the “then” condition, otherwise, if it is provided, it will run the “else” condition.

So for this one there are three new symbols added: one for if, another for end-if, and a third, optional one for else.

The next set of commands concerns calling a procedure outside of the main program and also outside of the structure of a loop. For this, there has to be a call procedure symbol.

Besides that, there has to be a define procedure symbol, and an end-define procedure symbol.

And since there are now sets of codes that are not to be executed automatically, that means that there has to now be a set of symbols for the beginning and the ending of the main code to be executed, and for simplicity this will have to be set at the start of the code, with all procedures called given after.

There is also a concern for nested loop statements and nested if-then-else statements which was addressed.

If I want to put this up for perusal on the net, I will have to come up with an alternative site for the file as well as the sample inputs, instead of putting it all up here.

It’s a brand new week. What’s the brand? It may be brought to us by HMR (a sponsor of the band fest), who, according to their new billboard, that I passed by earlier, is now offering beach products (such as umbrellas, chairs) at a premium.

@@ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in the song “The Boxer” say, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest”. This is about people who only pay attention to the words that they know is acceptable to their point of view.

If ever they are told something that doesn’t conform to what they want, they ignore it.

What’s worse is if these persons involve others in their having horse blinders on.

And by others, I mean attributing to some all-powerful entity having told them what to do.

After all, usually the psychotic killers say that it was the voice of their God that told them to slay sinners.

As Anthony Pangilinan said in his talk last week, asking for “signs” is not something to be taken lightly.

There is an instinctual component to realizing when your prayer for guidance has been answered.

If you tell ten people about your troubles and eight of them advise you to do something you don’t want to do, then that’s God speaking to you, not the two who only said what you wanted to hear.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 28: Employ whatever God has entrusted you with, in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree… - John Wesley

@@ March 29: Many little things are of greater value than big things. Could a cup of water exist without each drop?

* This is very true. Little acts of laziness by several people end up as being a culture of slacking across the appearance of the entire student body.

On the other hand, having the people being generally respectful and kind is what gets noticed also, as well as being unconsciously passed on to the rest of the community.

@@ March 30: The way is rough and the way is long, and the end is hid from view, but the one to say if you shall be strong is you! – Mac-Sim-Ology

Am not in school today, but looking at {http://tinyurl.com/newcsi}, the shortcut I made for the first home of this journal for the new year, I have to write today because otherwise, due to all the missed days, March will have the least number of posts so far this year, even less so than February with 28 days!

@@ Morning Commute Insight of the Day: not really something that happened today, but yesterday.

I was sleeping while waiting for the jeep to fill up. Just as we were about to pull out, one of the passengers, a woman, was arguing with the guy who collected the fares.

She was insisting that she gave him five hundred pesos, and that he had not given her change yet. He was answering that only one passenger gave five hundred pesos, and that he had already given that person the change. They were repeating these arguments several times, with the woman stomping her feet already in the jeep.

Some of the other passengers were already expressing their opinions: that the collector should be searched, that the woman should go down because she was holding up the ride.

Someone else said that she would have no allies is left there are the terminal.

Another said that the collector shouldn’t be filching cash so early in the morning.

It’s amazing how some people have already formed their conclusions as to a person’s guilt or innocence.

There would be those who would reason that the woman is innocent just because she would break down in tears, even though in my opinion it was her fault in the first place for carrying such a large amount so early in the morning.

She will learn now to always have small change (maybe even exact amounts) with her when she rides.

After all, there have been such tales going around in email and in text messages; although some of them I believe are exaggerated with the bus conductors even having accomplices among the passengers being witnesses to the side of the conductor as to how much or little the victimized passenger paid.

@@ No Daily Leadership Lesson today, because I am not in the office with access to that “calendar”.

There was no post yesterday because I wasn’t in school, for my health.

This is somewhat ironic because I had to be early today for the annual physical examination, which is also early this year compared to the previous years, due to a new provider.

@@ Speaking of irony, the truism “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it” is, for lack of a better term, true. Wish for a reason not to attend a certain meeting, and you get it, even if it means because you’re already in a casket.

@@ Not everyone has the same level of observation. Some are extremely insensitive; others are just this side of being too sensitive. And then there are those who are so close to the center of being just the right amount of sensitivity that when their small area of blindness is exposed, it’s heartbreaking.

@@ If something is too good to be true, it usually is. If it fell in your lap and you didn’t work hard for it, don’t expect to enjoy it for very long, but with a grain of salt.

@@ As the song goes, “I’d rather have bad times with you than good times with someone else.”

It’s a nice sentiment, and I agree, but for me, too wordy to be a song that just hits the right spot.

Contrast this with: “Everything I know is nothing till I give it to you!” delivered with just the right amount of intonation and volume; strikes to the very core.

Another example is the line, “With you there’s a heaven, so Earth ain’t so bad.”

There are several, but these are the only two I could think of right now; maybe next time.

And in case it isn’t clear, yes the previous topic does segue into this one, at least in my head.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 26: Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, nothing can be done without hope and confidence. – Helen Keller

@@ March 27: “Do it NOW” is more than a motto; it’s a way of life.

@@ Here’s to hoping that I do get to post tomorrow, even if it means going out of my way. At least now I know that my wireless troubles aren’t isolated.

Short subjects today, as several different concerns fly past my doorpost of attention.

@@ Anthony Pangilinan today in his talk about Self Confidence and Success talked about disturbing the system, either of a person, or a school or a government.

That’s all well and good, but sometimes it really is best to examine the motivations of the disturber, if there’s a hidden personal agenda for more glory and honor, or if it’s really for the greater good of all, or even just the students.

These can very easily be seen if the people questioning existing policies have a habit themselves of arbitrarily changing the rules to suit their own purposes.

The problem with this is that they may be able to do it without people complaining for a while, but eventually, it will be found out and the history will be questioned.

@@ It’s only recently that I heard of the term “happy problem”, labeling such concerns as having too small a venue for the Guidance Office led talks.

It’s a problem, yes, but it’s a better problem to have than to have a nearly empty venue, it seems.

@@ He also said in the talk that if the people you hang out with just tell you the things you want to hear, then they are not your friends. I’d call them your self-delusion circle.

Again this goes back to the child pornography ring I used as an analogy before.

Of course these other perverts will tell you that what you are doing is alright.

Another saying goes that “People will do as a group what they think individually is stupid”, going directly against the so called “wisdom of crowds” in the net.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 25: Set your goals. Without goals you can’t measure your progress. Bot don’t become frustrated if the victories don’t come quickly or easily. Remind yourself that striving can be more important than arriving. – Marvin J. Ashton

* The last sentence here seems to be similar to “It’s not the destination; it’s the journey”, which I wholly subscribe to. The achievement is only most worth it if obtained through hardships, and especially if no shortcuts were taken.

I think it was the last day of regular classes for the Integrated School last Friday.

I know it was the recognition rites for the lower grades on that same day, held at the auditorium that caused the elevator to be crowded for several trips all through that time this afternoon.

A public school scholar also asked me to sign this shirt for him that was like their remembrance for each other. I recall doing something like that when I was studying, which was rendered pointless a few months later, when we saw each other again one grade level higher; it wasn’t graduation after all.

The central lobby doors have also been closed as the stage for the IS graduation will be at the steps itself facing the building, opposite of how it has been for the college the past two years, facing the founder’s statue back towards the building.

Anyway, bottom line seems to be that for the next month, the building will be all to the college.

I don’t know therefore if the other cafeteria will be open; most likely not. But never fear, the days of the cafeteria in the main building are numbered, as a new concessionaire has been chosen from those that applied.

The question is: will the present servers go out with a bang or a whimper? And if it’s a bang, will it be a good bang or a bad bang? Will the go all out and show everybody what they will be missing, or will their service get worse as their indifference of the consequences of their cooking grows approaching the last days?

If they try to make everyone regret not continuing on by offering great food, they would be mistaken in thinking that people will say, “Let them stay.” What will most likely happen is that those buying food will instead say, “If they knew how to cook food this appetizing, why was it not demonstrated all the time?”

Again, maybe it stems from the “this haphazard last minute work will do” attitude pervading the whole school, and only most evident in the submissions of the students.

If it is infectious, then maybe it’s not all stemming from the kids.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson: March 22: All the courage and integrity you have today is the sum of the small acts you have performed in the past. – Christopher Hoenig

@@ March 24: The result of prayer in private will be a life of boldness and courage in public. – Edwin Louis Cole

To compensate for there having been no posts the past two days, I was going to post yesterday, even though Sunday is usually reserved as a day off for writing, just like with other almost daily regular student requirements, so it won’t look like a habit.

Besides, I was expecting to have had more than eight posts after a thousand by this time, and this gets me at least one step closer to that short-term goal.

Maybe I’ll go back to postdating my entries, just so as not to skip days again, after all, that’s also something that I would like students to emulate if not having enough time for submitting requirements, either online or offline (in person).

Sadly, it was again because I was only in school for a few hours last Friday (1 – 5pm), where I didn’t have time to type an entry, although I did spend some time in front of the computer.

Yesterday I wasn’t even in school at all, although I was in the boarding house of the board exam reviewers, who are on their last weekend before the exam itself.

I won’t tell them good luck, because it doesn’t come down to that, but to ability.

What was surprising was how much traffic there was in Manila for a Saturday, with being forced to take the LRT on the way home, due to the congestion of most major thoroughfares.

It was what made what was supposed to be a three hour commute into five hours.

The irksome part is that I did try uploading my writing on Friday and Saturday night, but for some reason, the wireless broadband (prepaid) couldn’t connect fast enough for the journal pages to load properly.

And when I tried posting yesterday, the same thing happened, with the freaking body of the post, the text box where I’m supposed to paste what I had written, not working despite several reloads.

@@ I watched “Nacho Libre” again last night, part of an incentive being given to employees who have reached their quota of daily business (not technically sales).

The funny parts were still funny with some surprisingly adult humor despite being a Nickelodeon film.

What surprises me now, reading the trivia portion on imdb.com, is that it was inspired by a real-life Mexican priest who wrestled to raise money for his parish, although presumably not with the inspiration of his own Sister Encarnacion.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 20: We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. – Jimmy Carter

@@ March 21: Choose your goals; Work toward them! Direct your thoughts; Control you emotion; Get into action and you ordain your destiny.

@@ March 23: Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better. – Pat Riley

Morning Shuttle Insight of the Day: we passed by a part of the road where policemen were pulling over vehicles, particularly – it seemed – school service vans that did not have the proper permits or licenses to operate.

We were able to pass that part without incident, but all along the road afterwards, our driver would roll down his window and tell the vans we would meet about the location of the cops. It was up to them to find a way around the checkpoint.

What’s with this mentality? “We are helping each other out against the oppressors”?

On a side note, it’s strange how when these public servants are enforcing the law, that there are people who just see them and their work as inconveniences when they are caught, and then bewail the inefficiency of the system when they’re victimized.

@@ Another insight is how those in power are now positioning themselves for the 2010 electoral race.

It has become a habit that public officials would put out streamers and tarpaulins greeting the townspeople Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and even Happy Fiesta, but some are now abusing the practice, plastering large portraits of theirs (sometimes even unattractive whole body poses) saying “Happy Valentine’s Day” and now, “Congratulations to all the Graduates”.

Besides this, another practice seems to be to include one’s entire family in the picture, as if it were a greeting card, especially if the would-be perpetual candidate has good-looking daughters or otherwise sons who also have budding political aspirations.

@@ Still on ambition: there are those who will do anything to get what they want.

There are those who draw the line somewhere; good if it’s an internal moral fence.

But there are those who don’t want to be seen as the manipulators of the system, and therefore they use other people for their own ends, letting these innocent and idealistic young ones do their dirty work for them, equipped with lies (sometimes very flimsy ones) to mask their true intentions.

But come on, even nationwide “masterminds” of under the table deals get exposed, what more something that only happens with a handful of student leaders in campus?

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 19: The goal of a leader is to leave a “legacy” that would improve the lives of people and see them engaged in a cause that counts.

There’s an art exhibit at the main lobby! It’s been there since Monday, but I only got around to posting about it now. Apologies for that; good thing this isn’t a news site.

It’s really great to see the sustained efforts of the students displayed like that for everyone to be proud of.

@@ Appointments to vacant positions in the Student Council were a last resort during the previous years’ elections because there were more titles than students who were mandated by the voters to represent them and lead them.

The problem with this system is that much like anything else, it can be abused.

Now we see people who don’t want to test their popularity by running for a particular seat, where they have to convince dozens if not hundreds of people to vote for them.

So they would rather just talk to those running for president and convince at least those two people (and maybe even the rest of those elected) to appoint them to that position.

The same appears to be true with those who did run but may have lost, their safety net is that they will be appointed to those positions if no one else worthy is found.

Elections are supposed to be about risk; that you are willing to stick your neck out that the voters will find you as the better person to act as their voice. If you lose, there is no consolation prize. It’s one of the lessons in life you have to take.

Therefore it’s not a last resort option anymore, but something that some students actually look forward to just so that they can claim to have this or that title.

In that case, it’s not fulfilling its purpose anymore, and maybe, since we cannot fill a list of candidates for the umpteenth year in a row, that maybe the problem isn’t student participation, but that there are too many positions that are wrongly thought to be able to sustain this size of student population.

So for this year, there will be no more appointments to vacant Student Council positions.

Instead there will be a pool of volunteers (that the losing candidates will be encouraged to join) who will be tapped for all the work that the current officers will not be able to handle.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 18: You have never tested God’s resources until you have attempted the impossible. - Anonymous

Avoidance by association: as the saying goes, tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are. It’s the people you hang out with that makes others pre-judge you before they even get to know you. So if you want some of your peers to like you but they don’t seem to want to hang around with you, then check out who they might have seen you with that they don’t like, and consider which the more important relationship is for you.

If it’s the ones you haven’t gotten to know yet, compared to “old” friend whose bad traits you are starting to realize are what are drawing the others away (such as always saying negative things about other people who “oppose” them), then by all means, get a new set of friends like a change of clothes.

@@ It’s a fact that there are all kinds of people in this world. And this includes the measure of how adaptable humans are. There are those who can adjust quickly to any situation, but there are also those who stubbornly cling to their pride or are afraid that the slightest bend in decision for them will be seen as an incredible amount of weakness that they dare not reverse any edict given despite all the evidence presented that it is not the wisest choice.

What’s ironic about these of immovable opinions is that they usually get into conflicts with those around them, and they expect those people to be the ones who will change easily for them, forgetting old altercations and bending principles for them.

So much for “do unto others what you want others to do unto you”, 2000 years later still the best indicator if you are doing right by those you come in contact with, that is, if you even care about how others see you and your foibles.

It’s really astounding just how blind some individuals are to the needs of their comrades.

Bottom line: just because you belatedly gave an inch on a request you previously wouldn’t even consult the rest of the people you share positions with to consider doesn’t mean that everything is quits or back to scratch between you and the other party.

They will remember, and think twice about returning to you for help in the future, so you don’t need to threaten them with withdrawing support as if they are so desperate and you are so giving, which makes your office moot and aimless in the first place.

@@ Daily Leadership Lesson March 15: Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. – Hannah Moore

@@ March 17: Only the curious will learn and only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. – Proverbs 20:5, 18 NIV