The Departure 2011

It has always been a fact that saying goodbye is at it's its hardest when it seems that a piece of you is going to be left behind.

Saying farewell is one of the most agonizing feeling, that spur of the moment when you have to depart, one must go, the other must let go.

I have observed that even the most stoney-hearted person could succumb to a meltdown. And when that time comes, everything's gonna be alright kind-of-feeling slowly envelopes into a no-drama picturesque.

When a door is closed, a window shall be opened.



MAC

How to close an iOS app forcefully?

At times, some apps in the iOS platform are pesky especially when the app suddenly hangs and it wouldn't just simply close despite pressing the home button or even launching the app switcher to manually close it.

I'm talking about iDevices here that runs on the iOS 4.0 & up, which has a default switcher (that can be activated by double clicking the home button.

launching the app switcher thru double clicking the home button

On these occasions, there is a dire need to end the task of that tangled app from the iPhone's memory. To do this, open the app in question then hold down the lock button until you get to see the "slide to power off" prompt. Upon seeing it, hold down the home button until the app finally closes and it should bring you to your homescreen.

• opening the app in question, then pressing the lock button for 10 seconds

The trick might've been known to you all along but i think it best to still share it.





MAC

Dahon ng Hangin

This is my 3rd post of poems in lieu to the Language Month in the Philippines. I've been trying to relive the wonder of the Filipino language, trying to muster once again the native tongue, to give due to what has been learnt, to hide in euphemisms and ironies of the everyday challenges of our journey.




DAHON NG HANGIN

Ang sinag ng araw ay dumungaw
sa gitna ng ngiti ng alapaap
ang kadiliman ay nalusaw
naparam at ito'y nawasak


Ang samyo ng hangin ay kay sarap
parang tubig animo'y kay lamig
nanunuot sa buto at pag-iisip
tumitighaw sa uhaw na pagkainip


Ang langit ay kay liwanag
sinsigla, parang isang marilag
hatid ay liliw ng pag-asa
niyaong pusong galing sa pakikibaka





MAC

Pananalig

The beauty of mankind's collective thinking is its awesomeness to divert hopelessness into faith.  A midst the chaos and the spiraling downturn of economy and the lingering problems that continue to plague the human species, some of us bear the beacon of hope, of love and of faith.


Here's my take when it comes to faith.









PANANALIG




iidlip mo kahit 'sang saglit
ang pagal mong binti'y ipahinga
mga alalahani'y iyong iwaglit
na dulot ng 'yong mga pagluha






sabik ka ba sa kapahingahan?
na 'yong madama ang walang hanggan
niyaong pag-asa'y iyong makamtan
sa kapayapaang tuluyan






manalig ka sa mga di pa nagaganap
iyong ituon ang paningin sa mga pangarap
mga di nakikita'y iyong pagmasdan
darating ang panahong ito'y 'yong makamtan









MAC

Epigrams from The Picture of Dorian Gray (Part 2)

The second batch is much more daring, more thought-provoking, and more seducing to the mind and heart. Lest, you can assure that your collective thoughts are typically intact and couldn't waver, think again, for these illustrious thoughts from Mr. Oscar Wilde are beaters of conscience.

Click here for the first part.

13. To define is to limit

14. Every effect that one produces gives one an enemy. To be popular, one must be a mediocrity

15. Romance lives by repetition, and repetition converts an appetite into an art. Besides, each time that one loves is the only time one has ever loved. Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it. We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible.

16. I have never searched for happiness, who wants happiness? i have searched for pleasure.

17. There were two cries heard, the cry of a hare in pain, which is dreadful, and the cry of a man in agony, which is worse

18. The basis of every scandal is an immoral certainty

19. Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful

20. Civilisation is not by any means an easy thing to attain to. There are only two ways by which man can reach it. One is by being cultured, the other by being corrupt.

21. Death and vulgarity are the only two facts in the nineteenth century that one cannot explain away.

22. If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart

23. Like the painting of a sorrow. A face without heart

24. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?

25. The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but one is young.

26. Life is not governed by will or intention. Life is a question of nerves, and fibres, and slowly built-up cells in which thought hides itself and passion has its dreams.

MAC

Salimbayan

Buwan ng Wika - The month of August is celebrated in the Philippines as the language month. It just dawned on me this evening to accentuate this occasion with a month-long poem of posts composed in the Filipino language. I'm quite excited about it because i was inspired by someone i recently knew who has accomplished a visual delicacy when it comes to poetry and photographs.








Salimbayan




O tinig mo'y aking pilit na inapuhap
sa salimbayan ng pluta'y di ko malasap
Niyang samyo ng 'Yong kabanguhan
anopa't di ko maramdaman




Bakit tila napawi na ang 'yong mga ngiti?
bagama't wala ka namang panaghili
Totoo bang panaho'y nakapagpapabago?
pagkat di tanggap ng isipan kong ika'y di na totoo




O sa saliw ng lagaslas ng hubad na ilog
ang mukha mo'y di ko na maaninag
sa salimbayan ng muntihang mga alon
ika'y pumanaw at lumisan




Anopa't ako'y nasiphayo
pagkat di kita nahango
ni di ka man lang nagpaalam
kahit isang liham ay wala kang iniwan


Sa salimbayan ng aking damdamin
asan kama'y di parin maamin
ng pusong naiwan ng lihim
na di tugma ang panahon natin





MAC

Fried Ice Cream

Forgive me if it never crossed my mind that there is actually a real fried ice-cream. But seriously, my mind is in revolt trying to analyze and reason out the possible output when you fry an ice cream.

I can't help but laugh thinking the process of frying an ice-cream and it's kind of insane to cook it in hot fat or oil, my initial response without blinking adieu is that it will melt, and what good it is to lick and eat that favorite dessert of mine?

With my thoughts being baffled, i checked with my friend who just came from Manila, to my surprise, he had tasted a fried ice-cream and it felt really that good - he mused.

Although i'm the type who easily got convinced esp on verbal communications, i still have second thoughts on this case. Still bewildered, i consulted Mr. G and checked for images of fried ice-cream. There you go, the fried ice-cream is really existing nature-wise.

By the time i get to have the hands-on real experience of this craze, i will definitely post back how was the taste, and to give a conclusion in licking a fried ice-cream.

MAC


(images courtesy of Google Photos)

How to Turn Bad News to Good News for Customers? (call center 101)

Sometimes reverse psychology doesn't always work when blurting out the bad news. One may point out that you have to know the mood of the customer when it comes to telling the negative. But not everyone of us has the psychic ability to read minds especially for those frustrated customers that desperately need a saving grace in the field of customer service, lest in a call center environment.

The challenge is how to turn the bad news to make it sound like more accommodating in the ears of the customer. These phrases would pre-empt the customer that a bomb is coming on their way, making them feel prepared to receive the bad news, and to calm their senses that it's not that bad at all,

1. As it turned out instead of using unfortunately
(example) As it turned out Mrs Jones, your warranty has expired last month, the failure on your device is therefore cannot be covered but i'd like to discuss your options.

2. I hate to break the bad news to you but...
(example) Ms Jones, i hate to break the bad news to you but worry not because we have some alternatives in the solution to your problem.

3. I've good news and bad news for your case, i'll tell you the bad news first...
(example) Mrs Jones, I've good news and bad news for your case, i'll tell you the bad news first... (state the dilemma), and the good news is, you may opt to do this...(state the customer's options)

4. Given the results...
(example) Missus Jones, given the results of your case, we found out that it's kind of a dead-end, however, i was able to squeeze out some options for you.

image: courtesy of SpaceX

A compassionate customer service rep wouldn't go head-on colliding with the customer in telling the negative no matter how small that is, instead, it is psychologically advisable for them to use coaxing words and phrases.

The plebeian keyword here is the Option, it was overrated sometimes but technically and philosophically, you're extending a beneficial effort for the customer when you offer some alternatives, that may or may not directly solve their problems.



MAC