On legal Internship and threats inside the courtroom

I was given the opportunity to share an experience inside the courtroom. To read my story please go to Themis.ph or click this link.

To the Universe, please make me a lawyer. Help me become a good one. :)

Hackers and IT Law Enforcement

When I watched the confessions of a Pinoy hacker, I can't help but be super paranoid.

How can we deal with the gaps?

Confessions of a Hacker

On IT Law Enforcement

Courses on IT and Law ICANN

How one’s IQ may contribute to one's wellness

Our present culture gives premium to what we produce or achieve than what we are. The standards of success revolve around bank accounts, number of properties, and the amalgamation of power and fame in a person. Our sense of security depends not so much on how we take care of ourselves in terms of body, mind and spirit but how well we manage our finances. It is not to say that they are mutually exclusive—that to take care of one necessarily involves neglecting the other—but that in fact, they are equally important to living life successfully.

When we say body wellness, we refer to not just some parts of our physiology but to our whole state of being—body, mind, and spirit. It is only proper that we similarly give them importance because the standards of the world for success are not departed from the standard of success of our own well-being. Is there a correlation between a healthy body and success? Are the rich people rich because they are healthy or are they healthy because they are rich?

It is argued in this entry that although body, mind and spirit should be given equal treatment in terms of health, it is important that we first take care of our mind’s intelligence quotient (IQ) before we can take care of the other aspects of our health as we pursue the formula health=wealth.

In a study by Linda Gottfredson, a sociologist based at the University of Delaware, and psychologist Ian Deary of the University of Edinburgh, she tried to find a solution to the correlation of health and status. Her proposition was that the rich live longer because they are smarter. The crucial points in the study are that:

(a) social status correlates strongly and positively with IQ and other measures of intelligence;

(b) intelligence correlates strongly with “health literacy,” the ability to understand and follow a prescription for disease prevention and treatment; and

(c) intelligence is also correlated with forward-planning—which means avoidance of health risks as are identified (FORBES, 2004).

In her paper Life, Death, and Intelligence, Gottfredson mentioned that preventing and managing both chronic disease and accidental injury, the leading causes of death today, is a highly cognitive process. In the Journal of Personality; Social Psychology in 2004, Gottfredson cited a 1993 study that shows that more than half of the 1.8 billion prescriptions issued annually in the U.S. are taken incorrectly. The same study reported that 10% of all hospitalizations resulted from patients' inability to manage their drug therapy. These studies only show that the ability to comprehend things around in a more critical way determines not only our success in life but our very own existence.

As what is propounded in the studies mentioned, intelligent people tend to be more knowledgeable about health issues or at least have the propensity to learn more and understand better their health. Health literacy matters to people whose level of intelligence can recognize the importance of knowing the risks of our choices to our health. Our next step requires us to increase our IQ now for a healthier and more successful life.

But the next question is: can we really increase our IQ? If not, are those who have IQ below 100 points doomed to be unwell, hence, less successful? How do we explain the existence of people who have superior IQs and yet are totally in a state of health imbalance?

These things are just some of the few things that I think of in between reading cases and Facebook. 

Two for Taft: Let's attend the benefit concert and the unity run

If you cannot go to the concert but would want to help, just donate to us through the numbers posted here. Thank you very much!

Sports for Men is like a Religion

Sports is like a religion for men. So when they ask for their "prayer" time, don't snatch away the remote from them because you wouldn't also want to be disturbed while you're putting your mascara on.  Just wait for the game to finish. Or before the game starts, ask him if you can get 10 minutes after the game with him. For me, our men are like athletes all day. We need to pace them and train them to respond to our coaching and make them feel good when they play the game and win it.

EVENING TEAM: UP COURTS OF LAW CENTENNIAL CHAMPIONS

And so we made history. For the first time, the evening team won and we won big. We are the Champions. But more than that, we are the Solid Evening Team.

Now I reflect on how we were able to make it. The team who always landed last in the past Courts of Law now emerged as the champions. Although in 2008, we already placed 2nd in the Courts of Law (YAY!).  Please allow me to share the what my reflections concluded as the reasons for winning.

1. SHOWING UP

We have never defaulted a single game. NEVER. Thanks to the block presidents who always texted our players the game schedule. Thanks to our players who do not wait to be informed but had the initiative to text us, the representatives, directly for schedule. Some players, like Jop, also message us the list of players as early as Monday, 6 days before the Sunday games.  And they confirm attendance. And they confirm absence. This was important  because it allowed us to find other players if some cannot go.

2. PLAYING THE GAME

Half of the battle was showing up. Half of it was playing it. Who cares if some of our women players really don't know how to play basketball. Most of our futsal players were first-timers. Some of our basketball players were sick, even had a fever during the game, were injured, or had no sleep especially if we partied the Saturday night before. But that didn't stop the players from showing up and playing the game. "Maglaro ka, kahit tumayo ka lang." But no one just stood there. Everyone played.

3. SUPPORT

Every Sunday, Faith will cook trays of pasta for the team. This was the contribution of their block (3E) . Every week, we always had grocery bags funded by 4E and some individuals of 5E and 6E. Our players came mostly from 1E, 2E and 3E. JD and Golda always brought water and banana for the team. And Jop, I cannot account enough his contribution--from water to driver for the team to photographer to helping us text and call the players minutes before the game. Sabi nga niya, nagkakahawaan kami ng pagiging competitive nina Golda, siya, at ako. Nakakahawa ang pagiging competitive!

And who will not notice that the evening team always had audience? The evening blocks sent their cheerleaders and stayed until the end of the game---studying in between games inside the court. A 9-am-to-5-pm moral support. Parang work schedule lang pero dito walang sweldo.

I think the mere abundance of water, ice cubes, Gatorade, bananas, food, Burger McDo, pasta, and all the chocolate bars and cupcakes in the grocery bags boosted the morale of our players. We had people ready to give the players cold drinks during the game. Medyo nahirapan kami dito kasi minsan kulang sa tao, pero ang importante, kapag nagutom o nauhaw, may makukuha ang mga naglalaro.

4. CONSISTENCY

All the above three items were consistently applied on the three Sundays of the Courts of Law. Bawal mag-falter. Dapat consistent.

These four points, in my humble opinion, were the reasons why we won.

Proud lang ako sa team. Obvious ba? Hehe. Maraming salamat sa buong evening community for being team players.  Sobra-sobra. Salamat.

VICTORY PARTY ON FEB. 5, 7PM, BAHAY NI JOP. POST MIDTERMS PARTY NA RIN. Galingan natin sa mga exams. Para sa lahat ng laro, lumaban.

CONGRATULATIONS! *group hug*

IMHO: Internal Locus Control Fights Bad Luck

In my previous post, I wrote about confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecy and suggested that cognitive therapy is one way to deal with our prejudices or how we tend to collect only statements or theories that would support our stand.

Today, I was reminded of "internal locus control" and how sometimes I forget that our existence depends largely on how we deal with our lives. For people who believe in bad luck, psychologists say that they have "external locus control" or there are a lot of things in their lives, if not all, that they believe are not within their control. They blame everything except themselves. The opposite is the belief that we can control our situation, that bad luck is just the product of your own decisions and if there are things that are not working for you, then you can change it by changing yourself or whatever it is that is not working for you anymore.

I was blaming bad luck for things that are actually within my control--backing up my files so that I don't fret at this time for not finding the most important folder in my files, running my anti-virus and spybot everyday so that I don't have to be stressed with my files' security from viruses, putting things in their proper places so that I don't spend hours looking for them and not finding them, and sticking to schedules so that I don't find myself more stressed than I should. At this hour, I miss Sven and his consistency in securing everything in place. Even me, literally and figuratively. But again, I have to do this myself.

Today, I was reminded about internal locus control and that it is perfectly alright to be anal about certain things and that the new zodiac sign dates do not change your destiny. If you are lazy, you are lazy not because you are a certain sign but because you chose to be. Deal with yourself.

100 Years na ang UP Law. Ano bang meron sa 100 years?

100 years na ang UP College of Law. Abstract masyado ang 100 years. Binilang ko ito sa araw, 36, 525 days na ang nakalipas simula nang itatag ang UP Law. Kung gawin ko pang linggo, 5, 217 weeks old na tayo. Abstract. Ako ay 9, 743 days old na, 26.67% ng tanda ng UP Law. Abstract pa rin.

Sa status message ni Dean Leonen, ito ang nakuha ko:

‎[4 Philippine Presidents], 12 Supreme Court Chief Justices, 75 Associate Justices, 8 Senate Presidents, 8 Speakers of the House of Representatives, 111 Senators, 248 Members of the House of Representatives, 52 members of the Batasang Pambansa, 3 UP Presidents, countless diplomats, public interest lawyers, entrepreneurs: UP Law at 100

Sa loob ng isang daang taon, pinatakbo natin ang bansang ito. Kumbaga kung may relasyon ang UP Law at ang Pilipinas, hawak-kamay na sila nung panahong tayo ay nasa ilalim pa ng mga Amerikano. Sina President Roosevelt at President Taft ng Republicans ang mga presidente ng Amerika na unang nakarelasyon ng UP Law. Nakita ni Emilio Aguinaldo ang unang pagkakatatag sa atin. 42 years old na siya nun at 10 taon na siyang wala sa posisyon nung itinatag tayo. Si George Malcolm ay 30 years old pa lang nung itinatag ang UP Law at College Secretary pa lang siya nun. Si Justice Moreland ang unang dean pero binigay niya agad kay Malcolm ang Deanship. Achiever din tong si Malcolm dahil 35 years old pa lang siya nung una siyang naging Associate Justice ng Supreme Court. Tatlong presidente ng Pilipinas ang maaaring naging estudyante niya--sina President Laurel, Roxas at Quirino. Maaaring naimpluwensiyahan niya sila one way or another at nahuling may love life sa unibersidad.

Nandiyan na rin ang UP Law nung nagsimula ang World War I, World War II, Cold War at nung natapos ang mga gerang ito, nung nagbagsak ng bomba ang mga  Hapon sa Pearl Harbor, nung nag-declare ng Martial Law si President Marcos na graduate din ng UP Law, kasama rin ang mga studyante at guro natin sa EDSA I, EDSA II, EDSA III, nakita natin ang "resignation" ni President Erap (na hindi taga UP Law), ang mga kontrobersiya ni GMA (na hindi rin taga UP Law) at hanggang ngayon nandito pa rin tayo binabatikos ang Korte Suprema (na dapat lang).

Naalala ko tuloy ang sabi nung pedikurista ko: "Sino ba ang nasa administrasyon? UP. Sinong nasa oposisyon? UP. Sinong nagra-rally sa kalsada? UP. Kayo ang nagpapatakbo ng bansang ito." 

Saan na ba tayo papunta pagkalipas ng isang daang taon? Saan ba natin dadalhin ang bansang ito pagkatapos ng isang daang taon nang tayo ay maitatag? Ito ba ang Pilipinas na gusto natin ngayon?

Marami pa tayong magagawa. Tayong mga batang henerasyong ng UP Law. Kung ang average age ay nasa 70, may halos 50 years pa tayo para mabago ang sistema ng bayan. Kalahati ng ipinagdidiwang nating birthday ng UP Law ngayon. Sa 150th year nito, ang mga ginawa natin para sa bayan ang ise-celebrate ng UP Law at 150.

Huwag nating kakalimutan ang araw na ito. Itaga natin sa bato, aasenso din ang bayang ito. Ang bayan natin.

Happy 100th Birthday UP Law.

100 Years of Honor and Excellence.
100 Years of Teaching Law in the Grand Manner.
100 Years of Making Great Lawyers.
100 Years of UP Law.

* I got the information about Dean Moreland and Dean Malcolm from Wikipedia. 

What was the bird thinking?

I was walking this morning on my way to the Courts of Law activity when I saw two birds flying above me. I stopped walking and watched them fly. One of the birds, as it glided in the wind, suddenly folded its wings as if it wanted to free fall. And it allowed itself to free fall for three seconds before it stretched its wings, flapped them and glided again. It surprised me when it folded its wings. What was it thinking?

The courage to jump. The courage to fall. The courage to fly. The courage to move on and glide in the wind.

The beauty of gravity. Without it, the birds cannot fly. Without it, the birds cannot soar.

When we glide, the lift force counteracts the drag.
Gliding is both a vertical and a forward force.
Know when to glide. 

IMHO: Spiritual exercise is a necessity to lead oneself and others

Chris Lowney published a book entitled Heroic Leadership and because I do not have the time now to read it, I searched for a summary of his book. I saw a powerpoint presenation and started to read the 51 slides. Apparently, he believes in the Jesuit approach and has explained such heroic leadership with a Loyola framework.

On his 36th slide, he mentioned what he calls a debilitating ego-itch and he put it this way:

I am terrified of failing; I need to feel important and be the center of attention; I'm insecure about my real talent and worth. 

He mentioned that money is usually the salve for some of these debilitating ego-itch.

So I read on and looked for what the author is suggesting to deal with this kind of ego-itch. He suggested that a person has make leadership like a way of living. He meant leadership not just in groups but more importantly self-leadership. To achieve this, he suggested a method called spiritual exercise and mentioned ways on how to do such exercises. I particularly like the THE EXAMEN where a person reminds himself or herself of key personal goals upon rising, after the noon meal and after supper. I have been trying to do this but I always forget the after noon meal, that is why at the end of the day, sometimes I ask what happened to my day. I feel tired but I tend to forget where I spent my energy in the past hours. The Examen, for me, is imperative.

To end, I would like to state a question that he posed in the presentation/book:

What would motivate you that you would go further than wholehearted service to achieve it? 

The author mentioned that asking oneself and coming up with an answer, all but guarantees motivated, imaginative engagement.

IMHO: We should consider the bigger picture when making resolutions

and when I say this, I don't only mean New Year's resolutions.

One of the posts that I have clicked on during the Christmas break was this: Making a New Year’s Resolution? Don’t!

The article was originally published in 2008 and was reposted by the site because they still believe in the same philosophy two years after. I am perfectly in agreement with the list of advices on how to achieve one's resolutions. However, I am in vehement disagreement with its advice as to not make new year's resolutions because we are going to break them anyway. What kind of logic is that? Really? I could agree if it was stated this way-- "Do not make new year's resolutions unless..." The former is just too arrogant and non sequitur.

So, I posted my opinion in that article and I am reposting my comment here:

People break their resolutions because the things that they want to do do not fit or are not factored in the bigger picture of themselves. When one starts to write his/her resolutions, it is indispensable that one reflects on the ff:

who are you, where have you been, what is your purpose, what is your meaning, where are you going, who do you want to be with, where do you want to go, what is it that you want.

The resolutions should be written inspired and motivated by the answers to these questions. Short-term vision of self vs long-term vision of self. The short-term allows you to handle things before you, long-term allows us to be flexible with the circumstances that we are faced at present.

One cannot just say that people should not write down resolutions because they are going to break them anyway without going into the core of the reason why they break it in the first place–lack of inspiration.

I hope the people who read this will be inspired to embrace the new year with hope that they can achieve what their hearts have been aching for.

Pau Duman

My comments are inspired by Deepak Chopra and Ryan Balisacan. Happy new year to all of you! May you resolve to do what you want to do and train your mind to always act to what the situation demands from you (Seneca).

I wish you inspiration to execute all plans this year. Achieve them. Have the heart to follow through.

Great Day with Toff Lamug at the University of the Philippines Diliman

Sa liwanag mo

ipininta ang ligaya ko

niyakap ang lalim ng pag-iisip

at anino ng nakalipas

Sa'yo ako nakasalalay.

IMHO: We should consider Green IT when purchasing electronic gadgets

Professor Owen Lynch in our Environmental Justice class asked for volunteers to report before Christmas break. Knowing well that students are already in their Christmas vacation mode, he enticed us by giving extra points to those who will bravely accept the invitation. He said he does not want to cram all our reports this coming year. Sherwin and I volunteered, his was Eco-Fashion and mine this, Green IT.

I have posted my powerpoint presentation at my Scribd account. Initially, I wanted to report on environmental provision in the Local Government Code, remedies, and existing jurisprudence on the roles of the LGU in the promotion of environmental projects. I was particularly interested in the roles of the LGU in the prevention of floods, their roles after such disasters, and how they can balance, for example, protecting the environment and upholding human rights in cases where there are demolitions to be executed based on legal grounds. Green IT was my second option and Green Weddings was my third. He replied that I choose a topic that I am not well versed with. I thought, all of the above. But he encouraged that I choose the second option and I gladly took it.

It made me excited for I did not know how mainframes work through virtualization and how this can save energy in the long run. Neither did I know that a search in Google produces 0.2g of CO2 nor the news in Netherlands that WI-FI is bad for trees. When I check out new laptops these days, I look for eco-labels which I did not do before and the DO NOT DISPOSE sign (known as the WEEE Directive) that would indicate that the manufacturer has a system of disposal of these electronic gadgets. I only have to turn it over to them so that they can dispose it properly.

In summary (with the presumption that you have viewed the presentation posted), there are innovations in the manufacture of new technologies with a great consideration in producing a greener IT. These are backed up by laws such as the European Directives and fiscal incentives by states to manufacturers who follow the standards imposed, for example, in the disposal of such electronic gadgets. As stated in one OECD paper, Towards Green ICT Strategies,  green technology for a green economy.

IMHO: We should be prepared for Cyberwars and Cyber Attacks

My partner and I discussed cyberwars over running errands two weekends ago. He mentioned that there's a worm called Stuxnet that can make factory plants explode according to recent news. We discussed this while I complain about my laptop crashing down when it's nearing finals week. I was absentmindedly putting bread, spread, and hotdogs into the grocery cart thinking about how vulnerable these computer systems are. I was mentally listing things I do with my laptop and how I can still be productive without it. (I decided to just wake up early everyday so that I can use the library's computer for work and school for free--working in the library is productive.) Until, I realized, he was really trying to engage me in a discussion so that I will stop thinking about my laptop.

Over text, we exchanged messages talking about international relations and law--whether the UN Security Council will have jurisdiction over this, whether this is similar to the nuclear testing case by France, whether the High Court has jurisdiction, and others. I was thinking whether impunity will be enjoyed by the perpetrator. He decided to write a paper on it while I promised myself to read more about it (since the topic that was approved for my SLR was on the Automated Elections). Risks. Management. IT. Cyberlibertarianism. Just some of the things that got stuck in my head.

IMHO, people should read more about digital armory and how in the future, ICT risk management will be a lucrative niche of our generation.

Is Stuxnet the best malware ever? Will I ever get my laptop back?

IMHO: Digital insecurity can be overcome

I have never ever felt so digitally insecure. Not until this week. Let me tell you a story of a relationship I have with Toshi.

My one-year old Toshiba NB200 laptop just didn't want to turn on despite the fact that in the past months he has always been turned on by me. One day, he just wouldn't and I don't know if I have to blame myself. Did I not treat him right? Did I not maintain my relationship with him well? Did I neglect him? I panicked, like any other person would be when the most important thing in your law school-work-extracurricular activities turned his back away from you. “Was it my fault?"

The repairmen said they couldn't pinpoint the problem. "

It's a hardware problem Ma'am."

I know. It wouldn't boot up.

"You may pay P5,000 to fix this kind of problem but unfortunately, we can't fix it."

I felt like my world crumbled. Ice cold water poured over my body. No, I can't cry. But it was so painful. I have all my files with him. I have everything with him. I need to print something that I need to pass on that day. This is what I don't like about technology. I can't help but be so attached to it. I can't help but feel like a whole huge lot of my life depends on it.

But as if it is something automatic in my system, my thoughts suddenly shifted to its problem-solving hemisphere.

"Think Pau, think. This is not a problem, just a challenge."

"I have my 1.5TB HDD with my files that I backed up just recently, check. My files are all backed up and encrypted throughTruecrypt.org, check. I have backed up online too through Dropbox.com, check. I have my Flashdisk with me, check."

My only issue is this: I did not encrypt my files in my laptop and because of that I felt so digitally insecure when the repairmen had to open it up. They will run Toshi overnight, trying to figure out what happened to him. They will try to thresh out its issues, bugs, failures--everything Toshi doesn't want the world to know. Toshi is so exposed. They can check ALL my files with him. Everything. And I felt so bad I didn't do anything about it before he crashed.

Now, I'm waiting for the results of another run done to him. I may have to wait 2-3 weeks since it is entirely possible that the problem is his Mother(board) and it will demand that much attention. I can't do anything about that on my own. I need to trust the expert. I can't take it unto my own hands.

I learned my lesson. I hope I will not commit the same mistakes again. I promise to learn how to maintain relationships with electronics. Just like what the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was trying to point out--maintenance is the key.

Toshi please come back to me. I need you. Back.