The Google site and all Google services were down tonight for around 30 minutes. It was probably a routing issue for my ISP because friends in Cambodia and Singapore were able to access Google. It was funny, because as soon as I saw the page cannot be found error, I panicked!
Almost everything important is forwarded to gmail! documents, calendar, chat transcripts, files, account information, pictures, etc. Googling was also non-existent for that 30 minutes!
That 30 minutes was also the only instance I have used Yahoo search again after a long, long time.
We have become Google-lites.. at the mercy of Google and its many, many, many applications...
I should start backing up my essential files soon. Offline of course.
The enrollment process in UPD is something we can call our own due to its pecularities, specialized needs, and unique grasp at how technology automates enlistment procedures. Technology was supposed to make lines shorter and the process quicker. Enrollment happens every semester. Well thought of systems have to be implemented and thought of beforehand. But when I got to the College of Education this afternoon, there was a bit of a chaos.
Registration at the college had been very efficient ever since I enrolled there for my master's program in 2005. There are some procedures that could have been streamlined to make everything faster, but I was still able to finish everything in a day.
But today was different because of a change in the checking system. We used to have the issuance of form 5s, checking, library clearance and assessment in the auditorium. But because checking now involved accessing CRS/UIS to "check" the actual subjects written in the Form 5 versus the subjects listed in CRS/UIS, checking had to be moved to the MITC Lab (for the Diliman Network connection). That was the problem.
The MITC Lab has a small door and no waiting area. So when students brought their form 5 to be checked, they had to wait outside MITC to get their form 5 back. Do you know how many students there are in the College of Education? There are a lot. So imagine all of them waiting outside the doors of MITC. There were only 2 checkers servicing the student body of the college. And everyone has to have their form 5 checked.
The registration committee should have foreseen this. Students waiting in the lobby, sweating, irritated, wondering when they were getting their form 5 back, repeating the name of the student being called, passing form 5s to the registration assistants and just surprised at how a simple process of checking became this chaotic.
Hopefully they learn from today's experience and have a better "system" in the coming days. They could have just placed DILNET connected computers in the auditorium to keep the old, "working" and efficient system. There is always the wireless bridge to help them with the connection. Two cheap access points configured to act as a bridge from point A to point B could easily provide the DILNET link from a room with DILNET to the auditorium. Then just place a hub and connect the necessary number of computers.
I wonder how this change in the process affected the other colleges? I will be going back tomorrow to finish my enlistment. I do hope I finish.
What was the most embarrassing hobby you've ever had?
Submitted by Billie Fable.This was when I was very young and did not know any better - I cut out the signatures of famous people I would find in newspapers and magazines and stick them in my "autograph" book. I think I still have that autograph book somewhere.
