A lone (or a few) rotten eggs in a basket...

Dunno (a.k.a. too lazy to search) who said this first, but:

A lone (or a few) rotten eggs in a basket makes it seem like a basket full of nothing but rotten eggs. 

Anyways, I think we can learn two lessons from this saying:

If you give a little love... #quoteme #quotethem

Dunno if anyone's said this or something like this before, but it's a theme I believe in and that has caught my attention lately:

"If someone did some little nice thing for you, do it many times over to others."

Here's an example on Quora: http://qr.ae/1g5WA.

[quote me] (or quote them?) The pro and con of school.

Image from Wikipedia

I was going over my Palm (device) Memopad (app) notes backup from yesteryears, and I saw this quotation I jotted down there:

Benjamin Franklin on Marriage [quote them] [quote me]

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards."

It is said to be an antecedent to the Stanley Kubrick 1999 film, "Eyes Wide Shut," starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, which explores the hardships of keeping an ongoing relationship alive. [Source: Wikipedia]  On a side note, it's funny that it stars now-divorced couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Also, I've always associated Kubrick only with the sci-fi genre, and specifically, the "2001: A Space Odyssey" movie.

Anyway, this Benjamin Franklin quote probably best captures my own beliefs about marriage, and I would think, that of my real close friends', too.

[quote me] Age is never an excuse for a wrongdoing.

Image from Speartoons

Or anything else for that matter. And even more so for a crime.

Digital vs. Non-digital: The unnecessary debate

Digital vs. analog watches.  Digital vs. film photography.  Digital vs. oil/charcoal/watercolor/pencil-on-canvas/paper art.  Digital vs. non-digital music.

So? What's the score? What are the pros of digital, and what are the pros of analog? Who's winning?

Some of the greatest tech companies...

...have come up with products with names that reflect the four main elements of nature: Earth, Air (Wind), Fire, and Aqua (Water). That's Google, Apple, Amazon, and Apple. But obviously I'm bending the rules here. MSI has a netbook line called the MSI Wind but they're not really one of the greatest tech companies. And what about Facebook and Intel and Microsoft, and so on?

Anyways, in Chinese beliefs, metal (Chrome?) and wood are also part of the elements of nature, whereas air or wind is not. Which tech company will use Wood or Timber or Lumber or a similar term in a product name and will it be from one of the greatest tech companies of all time?

[quote me] The 3 T's of blogging

Think first.
Type second.
Talk last.

I say this because I saw this Pinoy invention blogged about somewhere, and some stupid, seemingly Filipino citizens were quick to comment, "A Pinoy invented that? No way! They're selling those things in China!"

Hey people. So if they are selling them in China, does that mean they invented it in China?

They're selling iPhones and whatever else in China. They're selling McDonald's hamburgers and so on in China. Were those invented in China?

Anyways, I didn't like that some people were quick to find something that could invalidate that one positive Pinoy thing, when they could have first tried to validate it. But what happened was that their own "proof" that was meant to invalidate the Pinoy claim to the invention was itself invalid!

Google Search has already been invented, people, in case you haven't heard. Oh but yeah, you need to know how to use it properly. That's difficult.

Anyway. These type-first people are the very voices that continuously tell us and treat us like we're not good enough, essentially becoming our very obstacles to growth. If you ask me, I would deport them right away. Nevermind if they are actually Filipino citizens. Put them somewhere very far from our consciousness.

* * *

Wait a minute. Talk third? It has always worked for me, when seeing some illogical or baseless argument being posted on forums and what not and I feel really compelled to react, to type and compose and re-type my response very carefully, reading it always at least one more time before I post. It helps to play around with what you have composed because that "written" word when published will be there forever, more or less. Say something differently, and its meaning could be very far off from your original intent.

It also pays to check your spelling and grammar because some low-lifes will invalidate your argument just because they find something superficially wrong, and then you might not get your point across to some people who really need to hear you. So yeah, type second and "talk" (i.e. transmit your message) last.

Lastly, I sometimes do not post my message anymore when I think it will only cause more harm than good, e.g. when people you are addressing are the type who can never understand and will just continue to think "I'm right, you're wrong." "Talk never" also works.

[quote me] I make the product, not you. Vote with your $$$.

If I make a product, I make the decisions as to the features of that product. Not you. Not anyone else.

There are many ways I can decide on whether or not a feature gets into my product or not. It could be based on what is available. It could be based on what I think is best for you. In the end, it's MY decision. Not yours. Not anyone else's.

[quote me] finger pointing is bad journalism

FU to those of you who whined that Steve Jobs didn't do enough philanthropic work, blah blah blah, contrasting him to people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or Mark Zuckerberg, who, guess what, DO NOT HAVE TO BATTLE CANCER WHILE DOING THEIR BEST AT WHAT THEY ARE HERE ON EARTH FOR; you who have nothing better to do but to point fingers at others whereas you have nothing to show for yourself. To me, you have killed the man. FU! Unlike you who only have pageviews, ad clicks, and paychecks in mind, he might actually have thought to give to charity when he's not around anymore, so that he will have amassed as much as he can so he has the most to give (which I think is a personal decision), but probably more so that he will not need to hear the praises and accolades that people like you would otherwise want for yourself while you're alive. FU!

[quote me] A smartphone is not a phone! (You got it wrong, again!)

One guy started to complain about why people appear to be racing to build the fastest bullet trains or the tallest buildings or the longest bridges. He said that during his time, around 40 years ago, cars didn't have power doors and windows, power steering, GPS navigation systems, or air-conditioning even. He said that, "Now, I only want a cellphone; something that can enable him to make phone calls, send messages, and check the clock and the date. Just 4 features! I don't even need a camera."

[quote me] A UP bachelor's degree is an advanced degree...

...and yes, we feel a bit of superiority but we usually hide it because we're smart enough to know that relationships are just as important as degrees.

I thought this so, because some people who don't have UP degrees try to justify themselves saying, "You may have a degree from UP, but I am better than you," in the same way that people who don't have advanced degrees also say, "You may have an advanced degree, but I am better than you."

Come to think about it, maybe I hate these statements and the attitudes that borne them because they're anti-relationship. This is not the UP way. The UP way would be not saying those things directly to people; instead we'll tell another fellow UP grad "That was just stupid. Obviously not from UP." Of course, that is if indeed those actions of theirs are stupid and those people not from UP.

[quote me] [tech] Google+ [sigh]

I love Google. The feeling ain't mutual - it's one of only maybe three technology companies that I am endeared to, but meanwhile I'm only one of probably a billion users that mean the world to them. If I were earning US$ and had access to Wall Street, I'd have invested in Google and two other companies years ago. But I'm not, I can't afford, and so I'll stick to ALI and SMDC. :D

[quote me] The bigger they are...

...the heavier they get.

I say this because I have observed that confidence and body width-to-height ratio are somewhat proportional.  It was true to me, too - I became a more confident person at about the same time when my BMI was starting to knock at the doors of 25, i.e. the overweight door to obesity.

It is so true as well in public transportation systems.  I've seen large width-to-height guys occupying a wider portion of the seats in buses and so on, and yet they still have to stretch their thighs outward so they occupy even more space.  Is it because they don't want people near them because they know they smell?  Or have they just overtaken their self-confidence to the point of rudeness?  What's up with that!

But then, is society to blame as well?  Can you imagine a large guy who's as shy and as soft-hearted as a smaller, thinner man?  Weird, isn't it?  Are these XXXL guys just living up to the hype?  Or did the David and Goliath story created a reverse psychology effect on us?

Last point.  East Asians and Southeast Asians are generally shorter and thinner.  Caucasians are generally not.

[quote me] An anecdote

"I like this photo.  I look thin in this photo.  I'll make it my profile pic."
"I totally agree with you, you LOOK thin there."

Enough said.  If you're overweight, that is already a symptom of a health concern somewhere down the line.  It's now time for a cool change.

[quote me] You just don't get it...

...but you think you do.  You just don't get it and you never will.


"What's this about?," you might ask.

You just don't get it but you think you do.  You just don't get it and you never will.  :-D

[quote me] I'm not religious, I'm normal.

Society has sadly come to the point that being God-fearing and God-loving comes with labels such as "religious," "fanatic," "abnormal," "holy," and other things with seemingly negative connotations in society at large.  I am not as "religious" as some of those people you call "religious," but to me they are the normal people, they recognized the right path and they are on it, or at least trying their best to stay on it.  I can't throw a stone at them, even if they may have strayed once or twice or more.

On the other hand, people who label these good people as "religious" are those who are too proud and/or afraid to admit their wrongs and be humble enough to honestly say "I'm sorry" to God and to whoever else.  Why do they label? or judge?  I think they do that to justify their wrongdoings, to make themselves feel comfortable and think that they're doing just fine.  To spread the disease that plagues many societies: "being wrong is hot. being right is not."  These people who use the word "religious" in a wrong way to label good people are those who also disregard some successful people's religiosity.  Like one president is actually "religious" but because he's successful, they attribute their success to other things, not to God.

Sure, not all seemingly "religious" people are actually religious.  And sure, it is very tempting to point our fingers at them.  But when we do that--pointing fingers, labelling, judging, a.k.a. being God--I hope we know what we're doing.

Well, people, you're not hot.  You're not cool.  You're not normal.  But yeah, you think you're happy and doing just fine because you're not "religious."  Guess again.

[quote me] The question is...

Yes, we can.  We can achieve our dreams.  We can do a lot of things.  We can reach for the stars.

[quote me] journalists. sigh.

I *hate* it when a journalist just quotes and quotes and quotes one person or one source to come up with a news article.  They are practically not the author of that article anymore.  They should instead write the article as a co-author of the main content provider.  But no, of course they need the fame and the exposure. And eventually a promotion and a pay raise.  Welcome to Earth.

[quote me] don't just dream

Don't just dream.  Visualize.


Everyone has dreams.  But I've met some people who've never realized their dreams.  Why?  They didn't visualize.  They had dreams, and they stayed as dreams.  If not turned into a vision, a dream stays as a dream.  Without having a vision, dreamers stay in their dream state.  Visualizers, on the other hand, get up from their dream, walk towards their vision no matter how long or how hard it takes or how tempting it is to get back to dreaming, and finally become the successful people that they are.

I'm sure you have dreams.  What are they?

But the question is, do you have a vision?  Think about it.