Examinations...

For most schools, colleges and universities, this week is a week not for the students to celebrate... cause it is Preliminary exams week (PRELIMS)!  Students need to get back to their notes, research some, or even a time for being resourceful (where some "diskarte" is needed) with the objective to succeed and overcome the exams that the professor will be handing out.

Professors, instructors and the like are creating exams... also with different goals and objectives.  Most of which creates it to gauge the understanding of students towards a certain subject matter, while others uses exams as a standard of how good they are (the professors) or even a tool for revenge, letting the students experienced what he or she had undergone before.  In any case, would examinations REALLY measure the competency of a certain student?

A certain examination, especially concerning subject matters that are general in nature (e.g. Math, Science, English, Filipino, etc.) would include type such as identification, true/false, multiple choice and the like.  Will competency on a subject matter be determined by creating an examination with for example ten (10) items of multiple choice questions?  The answer is YES and NO.  Yes, if the subject matter relies on terms.  Mostly, examinations that will involve the said types usually the subject matter is subjective.

For objective-based subject matters such as in specialization-based areas, the examinations would rely on how the topics was approached.  A programming topic should have a programming exam, but there are instances that a professor might use a true or false method.  That is, it will really depend on how the professor would be able to maximize that specific type that the student will not just guess if it is true or false but conduct some observation to come up with the favorable or correct answer.


One thing that I can consider the truth in making examinations, IT IS NOT A PIECE OF CAKE!  One must be very pedant in creating exams.  An instructor needs to take into consideration a lot of things, one will be pondering that if the exam created can be answered by the students concerned.  Another one will be time constraints or even the total number of items, even thinking of the amount of points for a specific question if the exam given is an essay type.

In any way, examinations do help in one's advancement on whatever activity he or she may be involved in.  It serves as a measuring tool in delivering education to each student in all levels.  That is, it must be carefully planned so not to punish or crucify a certain student, but to help these learning individuals to instill the knowledge that professors or instructors tries to impart to them.

Cheers!

NBA's Free Agency Sweepstakes

In a matter of hours from now, the National Basketball Association, considered as the world's elite professional league in basketball, will be entering the free agency season.  Teams will be in a lookout of possible players that will be keys to improving chances in winning the NBA title in the next season.  A lot of players will be on the market, some are battle-tested veterans, while others have been in the league for a couple of years and had a nice resume to show.

One of the problems that may hinder a team, especially from big market ones (e.g. Lakers, Knicks, Heat, etc.), will be the salary cap.  Some of the mentioned teams are WAY OVER the cap which will limit them from offering maximum contract to some very reliable pieces that are considered last pieces of the puzzle for a championship.  The NBA draft had passed with some of the teams picking freshmen according to their needs (like what the Hornets and Bobcats did) and others were adding some veterans via trades to boost up their lineup (see Wizards, Clippers).

Since its free agent season, below are a list of the top forty players available in the market (the ranks are according to CBS):

2012 NBA Free Agents - Top 40 Players
Rank	Player	Position	Current Team Before Free Agency
1	Deron Williams	PG
2	Eric Gordon	SG
3	Kevin Garnett	PF
4	Tim Duncan	PF
5	Roy Hibbert	C
6	Steve Nash	PG
7	JaVale McGee	C
8	Ryan Anderson	PF
9	Nicolas Batum	SF
10	Jason Terry	SG
11	Brook Lopez	C
12	Ray Allen	SG
13	Jeremy Lin	PG
14	Gerald Wallace	SF
15	Goran Dragic	PG
16	Ersan Ilyasova	PF
17	Jason Kidd	PG
18	O.J. Mayo	SG
19	Brandon Bass	PF
20	Mo Williams	PG
21	Andre Miller	PG
22	Omer Asik	C
23	Kris Humphries	PF
24	Jeff Green	PF
25	George Hill	PG
26	Lou Williams	SG
27	Aaron Brooks	PG
28	Ramon Sessions	PG
29	Nick Young	SG
30	Jamal Crawford	SG
31	J.R. Smith	SG
32	Carl Landry	PF
33	Antawn Jamison	PF
34	Jameer Nelson	PG
35	Chris Kaman	C
36	Marcus Camby	C
37	Michael Beasley	PF
38	Robin Lopez	C
39	Delonte West	SG
40	Grant Hill	SF

With this, who's your pick to go whom?  There are news that Kevin Garnett is contemplating retirement but changed his mind and returning to the Celts for a reported 2 to 3-year deal while Big 3 teammate Ray Allen has been looking into options besides Boston.  The recently crowned NBA champions Miami Heat, with pitches coming from LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, are trying hard to sign the free agent shooter.  Also, the tug-of-war battle for Deron Williams and other rumors (especially the Steve Nash-to a lot of teams) makes the summer (in the US) of 2012 becomes more interesting as the time of free agency signing approaches.

So, just sit back and enjoy... read through the rumor mills and just go in awe, if there will be surprises along the way (which I think there will be)!

Let the games begin...


Cheers!

Sensationalized?

The Miami Heat winning the NBA finals, the CJ Corona trial conclusion, Tulfo-Barreto-Santiago spectacle at NAIA 3, price of gasoline going down, Jessica Sanchez worldwide phenomenon, the Paquiao-Bradley controversial bout, typhoons... name your news, did I mentioned some petty crimes being reported everyday in the different morning shows?  It seems that the never ending thirst for information always result in some sensationalized news by the media.



Nevertheless, it its just my opinion... I see that people are curious whenever there are sensational information, even more if its a news... especially if the one involved is famous (like the one that took place in NAIA) and it seems that it is bad publicity considering the participants are considered role models (whether we like it or not) by the general public.  Same thing goes with the Corona thing, why does people always been curious with negative publicity?  Was it because that it was more entertaining than your regular soap opera on TV?  Oh by the way, the trial became a soap!  We are entertained, while we learn... especially with the workings of the law, which I think a positive thing considering I knew little about the judicial system and the inner workings of it!

"We live, we learn" - quoted from a song from Alanis Morisette... we live and tell about it to the world, especially to the ones who are famous to be involved in such circumstances and we hopefully learn from their mistakes and there might come a time that we may use that learning in our own personal lives.

May it be negative or positive... sensationalism is now a part of our everyday lives.  Quoting from a song from Ace of Base, "we live in a free world, I whistle down the wind... carry on smiling and the world will smile with you", news such as the things we encounter everyday are normal nowadays as we only need to look at each one on a positive note and the result of it will also emit a positive effect in our lives!

Cheers!

Lourd de Veyra's Graduation Speech

If you had a chance to read through the speech of Lourd de Veyra (front man of the group Radioactive Sago project, from Word from the Lourd fame, TV5 personality, and Mr. TANDUAY ICE!) to the 2012 MassCom Graduation Ceremonies of the University of the Philippines, you mind find it entertaining and at the same time reminding.  Yup, entertaining because it was not the usual graduation speech that one will encounter during that type of a ceremony.  Words used were very very easy to grasp and it was delivered using Filipino, with occasional English phrases to instill catchy instances to keep the crowd in their feet.  It was also reminding, besides the fact that it was entertaining on one end, the speech brings out a lot of lessons in life as it was based on the speaker's personal experiences in college and graduation itself (and claiming that he never set foot in an actual graduation).

Before I forget, thanks for GOOGLE for providing me a pic of Lourd... :-)  also to the site where I got it!


ASTIG!!  -  This is the term that I blurted when I read it in full especially when I read this part:

Pero bago ang lahat, gusto ko munang gayahin si Miriam Defensor Santiago na hihirit muna ng pickup line bago mag-speech, lalo na dito sa UP. “Yelo ka ba? Para kasi ang sarap mong ipukpok sa pader eh.”

Marami sa inyo ang magtatrabaho sa mass media. Marami rin sa inyo ang papasok sa gobyerno. Malamang marami rin ang ibebenta ang kaluluwa sa advertising at gagawa ng mga kopya tungkol sa shampoo at fried chicken. Ilan sa inyo ay mangingibang bansa. May porsyento na mananatiling tambay. Ang ilan naman ay magkakaroon ng scandal video at tuluyang masisira ang buhay.

Hindi ko na siguro kailangang sabihin kung gaano kayo kapalad na mapabilang sa henerasyon. Nabubuhay kayo sa mundo na wala ka nang karapatang maging tanga, maging mangmang. Dapat may maglabas ng ganyang slogan sa advertising, “BAWAL MAGING TANGA.” Nagtatampisaw tayo sa baha ng impormasyon.

Pero hindi pa rin maiiwasan na may magtanong sa Twitter kung ano daw ang capital ng Pakistan. Kung may Internet connection ka, you could have saved yourself the humiliation of being called stupid and instead make GMG: “Google mo, gago!”

Pero ito ang problema. Iba ang impormasyon sa karunungan — ganap na talino at dunong.

One thing I realized was that, all the things that he said was TRUE.  The world is overflowing with information that it just need proper usage to give us the advantage in life but also its just at that instance that I realized that people seemed to be living in a world controlled by technology, ideals that were not present in the past, and other things that does not define on what a person who he or she really is.  Keeping it real will lead you to your destiny, maybe just like what Lourd's success had achieved.


In case you haven't read it... here's the whole speech:

Interaksyon.com - Lourd de Veyra's graduation speech for UP MassComm Class of 2012

Sleepy... but at work!  Be back for more...


Cheers!