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Manny Pacquiao proved himself in the ring this past Saturday by taking down Oscar De La Hoya. The consensus among most analysts was that De La Hoya was the bigger, stronger man and would knock him out. Pac-man proved otherwise, and almost drew the KO himself.

I watched the fight with family, and it was a really fun time. Watching the fight from start to finish, Pacquiao definitely carried himself with class and style, and I think represented us very well.

One of the first things Pip and I noticed was Pac-man entering the ring with a smile on his face. No mean looks or stares, but a smile, a gratefulness to be an elite fighter and thankful for being able to compete at the level he is at.

At the end of the fight, during the post-fight interview with Larry Merchant, Manny remained humble. He beat the odds and was able to stay cool and collected, and never tried to push himself up or be big headed.

And of course during the fight, he showed his speed, tenacity, and great boxing ability.

All together, Manny depicted us as a culture that is gracious, hard working, fun loving, and not pompous. I’d like to thank Pac-man for being entertaining and being a great representative of our culture. Here’s to the next fight!

-m

for some reason i keep thinking about stuff that i want to post, but i just never write down any notes or remember when i sit in front of my computer. maybe i should get a moleskine.

i know for sure the one thing i wanted to say was that i am so lucky, and so thankful, for being able to do the things that i can do. it took a lot of hard work, and of course some luck, to have been able to get to where i am in life and to have the kind of things that i do: the people, the job, the friends. the stuff, toys and extras, are kinda nice, but it’s really the deeper things that take the most work to achieve and earn.

every now and again i am reminded that i need to be sure to acknowledge people and the things that have conspired to get me here. thank you for everything!

i think far too often we forget to thank our lucky stars and take in what is around us in this world. most especially, we tend to take things for granted. i think everyone is susceptible to it, but i don’t think everyone recognizes that they do take things for granted until, as the saying goes, those things are gone.

so, please take some time to be thankful for what and who are in your life. remember to stop and acknowledge their presence and impact on your life, remind yourself to do so every once in a while.

thanks and love.

-m

i’m an avid reader of coding horror and the author, Jeff Atwood, is an advocate of programmers (and professionals in general i believe) to not only practice their art, but to write about it as well. so, i thought i’d share some stuff about being an interviewer. note: this is my view and pertains mostly to the IT field, so your mileage may vary

i guess i should preface this by saying that finding someone you want to interview is very tough in and of itself. for me, it seems like 80% of the work really. sifting thru resumes and cover letters and, often, emails with only attachments. i don’t know if there is some sort of predefined etiquette nowadays on applying for jobs thru email (how many jobs are applied for nowadays, especially if the job is posted on craigslist), but this is how i would like to see them:

first off there is the whole notion of cover letters. i believe it is acceptable for the actual content of the email to be your cover letter. if you don’t use it as your cover letter, then attach it, but say something in the email. many emails i received just had the position as the subject (perfectly acceptable), but just left their cover letter and resumes as attachment with no sort of greeting or introduction. just say: Hello Sir/Madam, my name is blah blah and I’m applying for your position. Attached is my cover letter and resume. Thank you.

now onto the cover letter… those are quite tricky really. the cover letter shouldn’t be too long, and it shouldn’t be too short. maybe 3 paragraphs are good enough, and it should be well written! no misspellings please! i would do the following: first paragraph - introduce yourself, say your name, the position you are applying for and maybe how you found the posting. second paragraph - say why you feel you are qualified for the position. reference some of your past experience (or schooling, if you’re new to the field). last paragraph - summarize! remind the reader that what you wrote shows that you fit the position. and for kicks, i would say that it’s a good idea to thank the reader for taking the time to read the cover letter AND consider the resume.

so now the good stuff: the resume. i’m not really going to say much here other than the following - do a google search on building and refining a resume. there should be more than enough information out there to help you get a decent-looking resume. have your peers look at it and give feedback. and for godssake, PLEASE NO TYPOS. typo = didn’t take enough time to carefully prepare it.

make sure that when you send your email, that you have your resume (and optionally your cover letter) attached, and note what format the resume is in.

no here’s the scenario: i’ve READ your email, LOOKED at your cover letter, and GLANCED at your resume. see what i’ve done? at each point i’m paying less and less attention, but still enough to notice your mistakes. please be careful with those things.

so let’s say i want to bring you in for an interview. great! some places have time to give you a phone call, i typically don’t so i’ll send an email. try and respond quickly, the same day if possible even if it’s later in the evening. make sure you have directions and a phone number to call just in case. show up 10-15 minutes early. and, make sure you know what you have applied for and are prepared to be asked questions pertaining to skills required for the position. make sure you have questions to ask. be nice, relax, be honest, and don’t BS. i much rather a person say “I don’t know” than try to fumble thru a question i’ve given.

ok, so that is my advice so far. now for some insight from the round of interviews we’ve done in the last few months.

it’s very different interviewing people for a programmer position than it is for a systems position. maybe it’s because i don’t really know the kind of questions to ask a systems person, as i’ve never interviewed for a systems position before. so it’s more difficult for me to figure out whether a person would be well-suited for the systems position than to figure out whether a person is good for the programming position.

kimmel holds this notion that you can tell if you’ll want a person within the first handful of seconds in the interview. i was skeptical at first, but after going through a good number, i think his notion does hold true, at least for us.

in our interviews i am usually the one asking the technical questions. i like to start off with a programming problem that’s pretty basic: a simple loop, some control statements (if/else), and some basic math. i don’t even require it to be in any specific language, and i usually give the option of pseudo-code or even just writing out the steps in an ordered list. this is usually the deal breaker for me because it’s an easy problem that should not baffle any decent programmer. i am often worried about how i phrase this question to candidates, and i’m not sure if the low passing rate on this problem is due to my inability to ask the question clearly, or the candidates inability to solve the problem. very few people ask any sort of question for clarification, so i tend to think the latter. additionally, very few people take the option to pseudo-code it.

if you haven’t gotten close to the answer, then i’ll usually just throw some other easy questions out for the heck of it. i try to give the benefit of the doubt and give another chance on the follow-up questions, but, usually, i’ve already decided i’ve had enough. i’ll then just run thru the normal set of questions i ask everyone, not trying to dig deeper. then we’ll end the interview soon after.

now, this has worked really well for interviewing the programmers. the systems folks, all i can really do is try to judge their skills by what they tell me they’ve done. i also like to ask them the programming question, as it shows me that that person can describe the steps to solving an issue we might have with the systems (or, alternatively, describing data flows in the network, interconnectivity with systems, etc). but still, interviewing systems people has been super tough regardless.

from there it’s pretty easy to make a decision on whether we want you or not. kimmel and i are usually pretty good about letting people know about our decisions, but some other companies aren’t so be aware.

i guess i didn’t really cover what i usually look for in a candidate huh? first off, they need to cover the requisites for the position. second, they have to show interest in the position and the company. third, both kimmel and i like to make sure the person will fit in with the team. we have a very eclectic team, and we all hold super high standards about each other, so it’s important we get someone who fits in well.

so that is my experience as an interviewer thus far. i’m sure this whole thing will get refined as i go further in my career, but for now this is how i see it. if anyone has questions, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email.

-m

geez how did we get to 2008 so soon?? weren’t we just starting 2007??

i suppose we all ask ourselves that each year, don’t we? it seems like each year gets shorter and shorter, tho’ in reality time isn’t getting faster, i think it’s our lives. i remember when i was younger, a year seemed like an eternity… how many months of school did we have to sit thru?? and didn’t summer feel like it wouldn’t end??

it’s strange to think that the one thing that seems in flux, time, is the one thing that’s actually constant… which means, it’s actually us that is in flux. what is it about us that causes us to flux, especially the older we get??

actually, i think it’s going to be some sort of bell curve of flux for our lives… we start off as slow, and somewhere in our ‘middle years’ things happen in a blink of an eye, then we start to slow down again… guess we’ll see if i’m right in about 50 years, eh??

i’m not sure if i really have much to say about 2k7… i think i had more work to do at work than ever, but i also think i had more play to play also. i mean, work was tumultuous with all of the shakeups in the company… and it’s been my biggest challenge in my career to date. at the same time, i think i’ve been able to see more clearly where my strengths and weaknesses are, and where i want to get better. i’ve definitely had to step up to more responsibilities, and i think i’ve done an ok job at it. can do better next year i believe.

iris and i got to travel a whole bunch this year, which was fun. 2 trips to napa, yosemite, an east coast trip, seattle, and vegas like usual. lots of fun, food, drinks, and friends. i can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year. who wants to come play?

lessee… 1/4 on my new year’s resolutions from last year. oh well, tack them on to 2k8’s list.

finally got a new car, and yet i still miss the teg sometimes.

after all that, sometimes i feel like i’m still searching for something. i just don’t know what yet. maybe 2008 will bring more clarity?

in any case, i want to wish the best 2008 to everyone. i hope everyone’s year doesn’t fly by!

-m

i was checking the mail today and it inspired me to write about this…

i subscribe to handful of magazines… a few tech ones, maxim of course, and some business ones, and the one thing that has always bothered me is the way that magazines passively treat their subscribers. i’m not sure if anyone else has ever thought about this, but i think about this every time i open my mailbox and have a magazine in there. each trip to the mailbox i spend a good 5-7 minutes walking to the trashcan and throwing out those little subscription inserts that are always included in the magazine.

now for most people it’s probably not that big of a deal, but with print in such a decline nowadays, you would think that loyal subscribers would be treated differently from anyone who buys the magazine off a newsstand. is it that difficult to leave those out when you send me my magazine? i’m already a subscriber, you don’t need me to subscribe!

granted, there are a handful of them that are for the purpose of giving subscriptions as gifts, but that is rare. so why do i have to spend all my time every month removing those inserts? why don’t they do it for me?

just a thought i guess.

-m

i think i really am, and i also think a bunch of the people i was really close to back at myspace are now as well… who knew what kind of phenomenon we were a part of, and to be part of it in what i would consider its infancy (yep, i was there when myspace only had 4 million users!)… and while i don’t really know what happened after i left that caused people to leave, i’m sure it’s not that big a deal with them either…

the one thing i always remember was when the music section was just starting to get big… i remember that Tila Tequila was the most viewed “musician” in the section… i mean, how could she not be?? she just flaunted a lot of skin in a section of myspace that had high visibility… i remember it was either boz or pkats that said “i listened to her music, it wasn’t terrible”

now she’s on the cover of Stuff magazine… what is up with that?? i think having her as the most viewed early on allowed her to snowball and stay at #1… i still can’t believe she’s on the cover of Stuff magazine, she’s not even all that good looking… i don’t think doug thought she was all that either, but then he prolly got jaded from her early on since he was primarily in charge of the music section… but i remember boz and pkats talking about how hot she was (they love them asian girls haha)… ah, those were some good times…

all the press i hear about myspace now is about all this child endangerment, people getting suspended from school, stuff like that… it’s kinda sad because to me it meant more about the awesome people who made it happen, not about the phenom or the popularity… hell, i still sport my shirt every once in a while.

i doubt any of the myspace crew ever stumble across this, but you guys were one of the best groups of people i’ve ever had the opportunity to work with… i never would’ve learned as much as i did in that short amount of time… i can’t believe it’s already been more than a year since i’ve worked there… oh well, good times nonetheless.

-m

i’ve been spending a lot of money on avocados lately… damned if those 2 for 2 dollars sales at albertson’s and ralph’s lately has caused me to eat more than my share… i even went to the farmer’s market today to see if i could get them straight from the growers for a deal (and i found one… ripe avocados at 75 cents each! what a deal!)

so, i thought i’d share the treat i’ve been obsessed over lately… all of you who are filipino know this recipe already, as your moms, dads, lolos, and lolas have been making this for ages… for those of you who are not, you may find it a bit strange, but give it a try anyways… it’s not like a guacamole thing, it’s just… good.

i’ve left out milk and sugar measurements cuz i have no idea how much i put… just add for desired consistency and taste.

ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• milk
• sugar

1. cut and peel the avocados: how to cut and peel an avocado
2. mash the avocados in a bowl. iris likes to do it by hand, i like to do it with a spoon. her style is a bit creamier, mine is a bit chunkier. again, to your liking.
3. add milk and stir until it’s pretty creamy. you have to eye it, i tend to start with about a quarter cup of milk and add more as necessary. start with less than more milk, or you’ll end up with avocado soup!
4. add sugar to taste. iris and i don’t like it too sweet, just enough to bring out the sweetness in the avocado. i’d say about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons is good, but you’ll have to eye it here as well. like the milk, start with less and add as you stir.
5. enjoy!

if it gets too sweet or you’ve added too much milk, run back to the store and grab another avocado. that usually helps.

try it out, it’s a great dessert!

-m

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Here’s to new and exciting things this year! =)

-m

it’s that time of year again, gift-giving time!! i love giving gifts to my family and friends, but of course i can only afford so much (we all hate the going broke part tho’, don’t we?)…

and of course, there’s always those one or two people who are really really hard to shop for… i have a few of them in my life, and i always wish they had some sort of wishlist so that they wouldn’t be so difficult! what usually accompanies this is the discussion of whether giving a gift from a wishlist is impersonal… you didn’t spend time picking out something personal, blah, blah blah… you all know or are having thoughts about this discussion in your head right now. but don’t you think that the people making these wishlists are making them because that’s what they really want?? and to give them what they want, is that not a personal thing?? i dunno, i’m all for wishlists.

so maybe when the christmas season is over, you can tell those people in your life to resolve to make wishlists. they’re helpful at birthdays too.

side note: if anyone watches the show The Office and saw last week’s episode, i think Jim (played by John Krasinski), summed up the game White Elephant when he said: “at my house we used to call that Nasty Christmas.”

if anyone is playing Nasty Christmas or White Elephant (or whatever you call it around your house), and wants to throw that sucky present in the mix, i have a few ideas, let me know if you need some

finally, in case i’m that “hard-to-shop-for” someone in his or her life, don’t despair! i have wishlists at amazon and thinkgeek to make it easier for you. i’d also add a TiVo to either of those lists as well.

but really, i would just like your friendship and love for Christmas, along with a handshake or a hug =)

-m

welcome faithful readers!

uh, hello? is this thing on?

i know it’s been a long departure since the old mworld days, but here i am nicely situated with the other pimps at our own domain, itpimps.com… it’s been a long time coming, and i’ve missed blogging a lot, so i’m glad that our host has this…

speaking of which, i’m now using new blogging software, specifically wordpress. so far it looks great… and yes, i’ve been lazy and uncreative, so for now i’m using the default theme until i come up with something of my own flavor (plus there’s a lot of documentation to read thru on how to customize this thing, so it might take a while)… i like the flexibility of the software, plus the categories and other stuff… basically it has a bunch of stuff i wish that blogger had, but now i here they are!

i’ll be slowly updating things from here on out… new front/splash/home/something page, page of my favorite links, and hopefully the pictures… thinking about simplifying things and stealing derek’s AJAX picture gallery… we’ll see

so that’s all for now… glad to be back, and look out for more blogs in the coming weeks!

-m