Reflections of a Math Teacher

Google vs. WolframAlpha

Tina — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:02:06 +0000

I found this page in LiveJournal, claiming that Fermat’s Last Theorem is false. Wait a sec, Andrew Wiles spent 10 years trying to prove it, that can’t be right. So I did a little check using my dear old friend, WolframAlpha.

According to Google:

(7 706 288^20) + (7 937 911^20) – (8 114 575^20) = 0

But according to WolframAlpha:

(7706288^20) + (7937911^20) – (8114575^20)
= -527601188217067653783789971407748001551858809706200140816163…
…12814496451245102847590968160489012839789723084835696729248

And what do you know, here is a list of near-misses for Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Lesson learned: Don’t rely on Google too much. Haha.

List of Party List Candidates

Tina — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:54:42 +0000

After giving you the list of senatorial candidates, here is a list of all candidates for the party list. I’ll have to split this list into four parts, for there are 187 party list groups running, and you only have to choose ONE from this list.

Now why did I type the names one-by-one instead of just scanning the document and embedding it via Scribd? I have to admit, I enjoyed typing this list because it made me look at the names of the parties one by one. Some made an effort to make their names start with A or 1 so that they will be on the upper part of the list. (109 of of the names start with either 1 or A.) It took me a while to find the party list I am going to vote for, because the names are arranged according to the full name of the party list, not by the abbreviation.

Another thing that I noticed from the list is the fact that I don’t know the marginalized sector being represented by half of those in the list. They do have catchy names and acronyms, though. My friends and I had a blast in trying to guess the marginalized sector that some of the groups represent.

Just like in the previous entry, I will update this list when I find the websites of these party list groups. Ready? Here goes…

1-Aangat Pilipino (1-AK)
1-Aani (1-AANI)
1-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA)
1 Guardians Nationalist of the Philippines, Inc. (1GANAP/GUARDIANS)
1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy (1-CARE)
1st Kabalikat ng Bayan Ginhawang Sangkatauhan (1ST KABAGIS)
1-United Transport Koalisyon (1-UTAK)
A Blessed Federation of Farmers and Fishermen International, Inc. (A BLESSED PARTY LIST)
A Convergence for Mindanao Agenda, Inc. (ACMA)
Aabante Emmanuel Civic Association (EMMANUEL)
Aangat Tayo (AT)
Abakada Guro (ABAKADA)
Abang Lingkod, Inc. (ABANG LINGKOD)
Abante Bicol Oragon Inc. (ABO)
Abante Ilonggo (ABA ILONGGO)
Abante Katutubo, Inc. (ABANTE KA)
Abante Mindanao, Inc. (ABAMIN)
Abante Tribung Makabansa (ATM)
Abono (ABONO)
Abot Tanaw (ABOT TANAW)
Act Teachers (ACT TEACHERS)
Action Brotherhood for Active Dreamers, Inc. (ABROAD)
Action for Democracy and Development for the Tribal People (ADD-TRIBAL)
Action for Dynamic Development, Inc. (ADD)
Action League of Indigenous Masses (ALIM)
Adhikain at Kilusan ng Ordinaryong Tao Para sa Lupa, Hanapbuhay at Kaunlaran (AKO BAHAY)
Adhikain ng mga Dakilang Anak Maharlika (ADAM)
Adhikaing Alay ng Marino sa Sambayanan, Inc. (ALON)
Adhikaing Tinataguyod ng Kooperatiba (ATING KOOP)
Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms (A TEACHER)
Advocates for Penology Enhancement and Legal Assistance (APELA)
Advocates for Special Children and Handicapped Movement (ASAHAN MO)
Agapay ng Indigenous Peoples Rights Alliance, Inc. (A-IPRA)
Agbiag! Timpuyog Ilocano, Inc. (AGBIAG)
Agila ng Katutubong Pilipino, Inc. (AGILA)
Agrarian Development Association (ADA)
Agri-Agra na Reporma Para sa mga Magsasaka ng Pilipinas Movement (AGRI)

(next…)

Senatorial Candidates for 2010 Elections

Tina — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:05:01 +0000

This year, I am going to participate in the elections via Overseas Absentee Voting. While I’ve already decided on my president, vice president and party list, I still have to think about my senatorial lineup. Here is the complete list provided by COMELEC:

Acosta, Jr. Nereus O. (NERIC) – Liberal Party
Albani, Shariff Ibrahim H. (SHARIFF) – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Alonto, Zafrullah M. (NOLDY) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Bautista, J.V. Larion (J.V. BAUTISTA) – Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party
Bautista, Martin D. (DR. BALIKBAYAN) – Liberal Party
Bello, Silvestre III H. (BEBOT) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Biazon, Rozzano Rufino B. (RUFFY) – Liberal Party
Bong Revilla, Ramon, Jr. B. (KAP) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Caunan, Henry B. (HENRY) – PDP-Laban Party
Cayetano, Pilar Juliana S. (PIA) – Nacionalista Party
David, Rizalito Y. (LITO) – Ang Kapatiran Party
De Venecia, Jose III P. (JOEY) – Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party
Defensor Santiago, Miriam P. (MIRIAM) – People’s Reform Party
Drilon, Franklin M. (FRANK) – Liberal Party
Espinosa, Nanette M. (ATE NANETTE) – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Enrile, Juan Ponce (JPE) – Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party
Estrada, Jinggoy E. (JINGGOY) – Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party
Guico, Ramon Jr. (GETS KO) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Guingona, Teofisto III D. (TG) – Liberal Party
Hontiveros-Baraquel, Ana Theresia H. (RISA H.) – Liberal Party
Imbong, Jo Aurea M. (ATE JO) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Inocencio, Ma. Katherine Luningning R. (KATA) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Lacson, Alexander L. (PINOY) – Liberal Party
Lambino, Raul L. (RAUL) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Langit, Rey M. (REY LANGIT) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Lao, Yasmin B. (YAS) – Liberal Party
Lapid, Manuel M. (LITO) – Lakas-Kampi CMD
Lim, Danilo (GENERAL DANNY) – Independent
Lood, Alma A. (ALMA) – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Lozada, Jose Apolinario Jr. R. (JUN) – Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party
Maambong, Regalado E. – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. R. (BONGBONG) – Nacionalista Party
Maza, Liza L. (LIZA MAZA NG GABRIELA) – Independent
Mitra, Ramon B. (MON-MON) – Nacionalista Party
Nikabulin, Adz G. (COUNT HABIS) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Ocampo, Ramoncito P. (MONCHING) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Ocampo, Saturnino C. (SATUR) – Bayan Muna Party
Ople, Susan V. (TOOTS) – Nacionalista Party
Osmena, Emilio Mario R. (PROMDI) – Abag Promdi
Osmena, Sergio III D. (SERGE) – Independent
Palparan, Jovito Jr. S. (JOVI) – Independent
Papin, Imelda A. (IMELDA PAPIN) – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Paredes, Zosimo Jesus II M. (JESS) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Pimentel, Gwendolyn D. (GWEN) – PDP-Laban Party
Plaza, Rodolfo Rodrigo G. (OMPONG) – Nacionalist People’s Coalition Party
Princesa, Reynaldo R. (PRINCE) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Querubin, Ariel O. (MARINES) – Nacionalista Party
Recto, Ralph S. (RALPH) – Liberal Party
Remulla, Gilbert Cesar C. (GILBERT) – Nacionalista Party
Rinozo-Plazo, Maria Gracia DV. (GRACE) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Roco, Sonia M. (SON) – Liberal Party
Sison, Adrian O. (ADRIAN) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Sotto, Vicente III C. (TITO) – Nacionalist People’s Coalition Party
Tamano, Adel A. (ADEL) – Nacionalista Party
Tamayo, Reginald B. (REGIE) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Tarrazona, Hector M. (TARZAN) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Tatad, Francisco S. (KIT) – Grand Alliance for Democracy / GABAYBAYAN
Tinsay, Alexander B. (ALEX TINSAY) – Bangon Pilipinas Party
Valdehuesa, Manuel Jr. E. (MANNY) – Ang Kapatiran Party
Villanueva, Hector L. (KA HECTOR) – Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party
Virgines, Israel N. (DR. ISRAEL) – Bangon Pilipinas Party

So out of these 61 candidates, I have to choose twelve. I’ve been out of the country for more than a year, and I don’t get to see their ads in Facebook or on television. A lot of these names are new to me. A little help, please?

I’ll update this entry as I find their respective websites. If you know the websites of some of the candidates, leave a link on the comments. No Wikipedia entries, please. Spam won’t be tolerated either. (Akismet would probably block those links anyway.)

Election Countdown

Tina — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:19:45 +0000

So near, yet so far. With only a few days left before the elections, I fear for our country’s future.

Noynoy lost his credibility in my eyes with his ridiculous ads. Seriously, when will you stop using the names of your mother, father and sister and start doing something concrete?

Gibo lost his credibility with his stand on health issues. Cash incentives for those practicing natural family planning? You have got to be kidding me.

Manny Villar lost his credibility a long time ago with the C5 issue. Face it like a man, damn it. It will continue to haunt you if ever you win as President, and hinder any good thing that you will do. And please, get that freaking song out of my head. What it says is not true. “Si Manny Villar ang magtatapos ng aming kahirapan.” Bleh. Lies and deceit.

Erap. Seriously?

These are the people who are currently leading the race. The rest have no chance of winning, unless a miracle occurs.

And I have to choose from this lot? *facepalm*

Letters From My Past Self

Tina — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:21:21 +0000

I encountered FutureMe.org at a time when I am lost and confused with my life. You have the option to make the email private, or you can also make it public but anonymous. You set the date when you want to receive your email, and the site will do the rest for you. I was intrigued while I was reading the public emails in the site, so I gave it a try. I wrote two letters to myself a year ago, while I was passing time alone in Paris.

I almost forgot about those letters until I started receiving those letters a few days ago. Part of me laughed, while another part of me wanted to wring the neck of my past self as I read the emo-ish letters. But it was a good exercise just the same, and I was reminded of the things I promised to myself. I think this is better than simply making New Year’s Resolutions at the beginning of the year.

Time to write another letter to my future self. Later.

My 2009

Tina — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:12:49 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates, I’ve been pretty busy lately. I no longer have the luxury of sitting down and collecting my thoughts to write a blog entry. I had to force myself to look back and evaluate my 2009.

As most of you probably know by now, I am back in the Philippines for the holidays. I got to see the new house, something that we could finally call our own. I gave up a big chunk of my savings for this, so I am quite happy when I first laid eyes on the house. It will be financially rough for us for the next five years, but I am hopeful that things would turn out all right.

It is a lot quieter this year, considering that it is already 7:30 in the evening and there are no fireworks in the neighborhood. But considering what has happened for the past few months, with the storms that hit the country hard and with Mayon volcano threatening to erupt any minute now, it is a miracle that people can still celebrate the holidays. After all, surviving all the disasters that happened is enough reason to celebrate.

Personally, it’s been a year of sorting out all of my issues. Living alone in a foreign land gave me more than enough time to look at things from different perspectives. It was rough, and God knows that it took me a long time to finally come to terms with my current situation. I’ve sorted my priorities and realized where my heart truly belongs. All that I have to do now is to stand by the decisions I’ve made this year.

I will forever associate 2009 with A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Battling demons for the first half of the year and worrying about friends and family during the second half, it was terrible. But this story had a happy ending for me, and I certainly did not regret spending a lot for a plane ticket back home. Spending Christmas season with friends and loved ones certainly beats a trip to Prague and a New Year’s countdown in Berlin. (Yes, Manjo and Gino: I am looking at you guys.)

Happy New Year!

A Filipino Scholar’s Plight

Tina — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:40:47 +0000

This article should have appeared a long time ago, but I was not able to fix it because I was busy with graduate work for the past few weeks. Alex already created a post in this topic. Here’s my response.

When I first read this article, I can’t help but burst out laughing. Here is another politician saying things that the public wants to hear. Angara’s call to urge Filipino students abroad to go home and serve the country is a noble sentiment. But that’s all there is: sentiment. It might have worked for students who graduated straight out of college. But it takes more than sentiment to convince the graduate students and the postdocs to return. The Philippines can’t even offer proper jobs for college graduates. What more for returning MS, MA and PhD holders, eh?

I have short patience for people who say that after finishing graduate studies abroad, you should go back to the Philippines and be an entrepreneur or something. Hey, I am not pursuing a PhD in mathematics to be an entrepreneur. Money isn’t everything, you know. For die-hard academics like me, it is more important to be able to practice what I’m doing and interacting with people who are experts in the field I am studying. Sure, you can interact using the Internet, but nothing beats being able to knock at the doors of the experts if there is something you don’t understand.

Let me quote the last paragraph of the article. Angara said this:

Let’s make our students abroad feel they have the support and commitment of the government. Upon completion of their studies, we must provide them venues where they can put their expertise to good use, making sure that we adequately compensate their educational qualifications and international experience.

I’ve heard those lines before. In fact, isn’t it why we have the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) in the first place? They meet every year, discussing the problems of our country and trying to find scientific solutions to those problems. After the meeting, they write a report to recommend solutions and submit it (I assume) to the Office of the President. I once attended an NRCP convention, and at that time they were talking about alternative energy resources. If I remember correctly, they were advocating the use of biofuels at that time.

Now tell me, what happened to those proposals? Are they being considered in making government policies? Or are they filed in the shelf, just like every report that is submitted to a government office?

A few disclaimers are in order here. Yes, I do love my country. I would like nothing else but to go back and serve the country in whatever way I can. I dream of a country that could compete with other countries in terms of science and technology. But if there’s one thing I realized after teaching for several years, it is the fact that we have a long way to go. With people clamoring for a lower standard of education (see for example this, this and this), I can’t see how a graduate degree would help. It’s like a double-edged sword: people look up to you because you are smart, but if they don’t understand what you are doing, they will say that you are too smart for them and ignore you completely.

My response to Angara? Give me something more concrete, then I’ll reconsider. Otherwise, I’ll just consider this as sweet talk to attract voters.

Chiz, Chiz… Oh No You Didn’t!

Tina — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:53:22 +0000

I’m sure that Martin was thinking of what I wrote back then when he wrote this entry. I was willing to be open-minded about it and give him another chance, I might have reacted too strongly just because he attacked the subject I teach. But with his recent proposal to pass all students this year due to storms, he just sealed his fate. You just gave me another reason NOT to vote for you, mister.

First of all, we still have a few more days before the first half of the school year ends. It is too early to say that, there is still a lot of time left for the schools to recover from the tragedy brought about by Ondoy and Pepeng. Granted, not all topics can be covered, but the teachers can still teach something. Lighten up the requirements maybe, but do not throw away the entire year altogether. I shudder to think of the efforts made by the teachers to prepare their lesson plans for the entire year, only to be wasted by a stupid statement from a certain politician.

Second, he says there might not be enough funds to rebuild the schools, and priority should be given to the agriculture sector and repairing of roads and dikes that were destroyed. Heh, there would have been enough money if politicians didn’t spend it in lavish dinners and other whatnots. The outpour of donations from other countries are huge. Are you saying that it will still be not enough? Well it won’t if certain people are pocketing portions of those donations.

Third, he is leaving an impression that education is not important to be successful in life. When something bad happens, the first thing he sacrifices is education. I won’t be surprised if he will reduce the budget for education once he becomes president. He claims that he represents change in his campaign, but I don’t think that the changes he is proposing will benefit our country.

This guy has no respect for education, doesn’t he? I am now more inclined to believe what the others are saying: A vote for Chiz Escudero is a vote for a dumber Philippines.

I strongly suspect that this move of his is just to impress the students. Guess what, Mr. Escudero: You didn’t impress all of them. Hell, the ones who will like this proposal are not even old enough to vote for you next year. Elementary and high school only, folks.

I wonder how this statement will affect his bid for the presidency…

Relief Operations For Victims of Ondoy and Pepeng

Tina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:40:53 +0000

I’ll be out of touch for the next three days, meaning that I’ll take a break from all the tweeting I’ve done for the past couple of days. But the relief operations in the Philippines will still continue, so let me just leave you a few links:

Help for Typhoon Ondoy Victims in the Philippines (via Google) – Compiles relevant information about the disaster, including a volunteer-maintained map of persons needing rescue and a list of relief organizations accepting donations.
OndoyManila – Contains a map of disaster areas, missing/found people database, as well as rescue and relief operations contacts. There is a form you can fill up if you want to help update the information on this site. If you want to help their team, you can send an email to typhoonondoy@googlegroups.com.
Ondoy Victim Directory – Database of missing people, collated by Ateneo Task Force Ondoy
Bayanihan Online – They collate messages (mainly via Twitter) on areas in need of volunteers, donations, transportation and relief goods. They also collate reports on abuse. (looting, red tape, etc.) You can help their team by leaving comments on their site, or via Twitter (@bayanihan_)
PAGASA website – For updates on Pepeng.
bicolanodevil at Twitter – If you are not happy with the frequency of reports by PAGASA. He also gives updates from other sources.
Sahana Forum – Online forum to help collate information. (I have to admit, it’s been a while since I was last active on an online forum.)
Tulong Tayo – Collecting information via text.
Embassy of the Philippines – For information on sending donations from overseas.
Department of Social Welfare and Development

If we all do our part, we can survive whatever storm comes our way.

Stay safe everyone! I’ll be back online on Tuesday.

Another Prayer

Tina — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:03:48 +0000

DOST-PAGASA MTSAT-EIR Satellite Image for 2 a.m., 02 Oct. 2009

(After seeing the satellite image of the approaching storm, I just had to add this to my prayer.)

Dear Lord,

Spare the Philippines from this strong typhoon. We are still trying to pick up the pieces from the last one.

Amen.