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I was already compiling my thoughts on the things that I have wanted to write about but didn’t have time to do so and I guess it’s only now that I’ve stolen my own office space that I’ve actually given myself a brain breather. Goodness, I’ve got two games to release by end of the month and a dissertation defense sandwiched in between. (Plus a game development competition and a festival to help organize.) Lemme just breathe for the next 15 minutes as I write this.

The world loses another genius.
I’m actually grieving right now. When our Communications Officer, Vana, told me that Steve Jobs died, it took a minute to register. Tears involuntarily (and embarrassingly) fell on the exact moment that my team leads arrived into my stolen office to have our production mini-meeting. I guess I’m taking this hard (probably as hard as how the MJ fans received the music legend’s death) because it bothers me that I cannot download all the information from a person’s brain and he takes it all with him when he dies. And well…I’m a Mac user. I may not love everything Apple, but to me the Mac makes perfect sense. Right now, I don’t really feel like being a good researcher by putting in quotes from Bill Gates etc. Ok, I’m getting all depressed again now so let me just move forward…

(Apple’s tribute to the amazing visionary, as it appears on the official website.)

Congrats to Jenny on your Palanca!
My dear classmate in graduate school, Jenny Ortuoste, just won a Palanca. I’ve always admired the way she wove words so this didn’t come as a surprise. I guess, it’s about time. =^.^= And goodness, girl, I’ve missed all of you, along with our other classmates! I miss our discourses and how we make each other sounding boards for ideas and concepts that later bloom into geeky research papers. Hope to see you soon!

Uh, but what is this I see on the tarp? Naman, UP! Kaloka ang typo ha! It’s literally gigantic and it’s right smack in the middle of a very public place. (And I still haven’t forgiven the college scholar certificates you’ve given me that are written in Comic Sans Serif.)

On cloud computing.
My friend Michelle’s (MyMomFriday) husband has launched Arcus:IT. It’s the first cloud computing company in the country. So what does the company do, exactly? According to their website, they provide “IT infrastructure that is available on demand, elastic — a user can have as much or as little of our service as they want at any given time; location-independent, and fully managed by us. You need nothing but a personal computer and Internet access. Whether you are developer, an enterprise user, an SMB, a start-up company, you do away with the long deployment times and huge capital outlays associated with hardware infrastructures. Talk to us and we’ll help you chart a roadmap to the Cloud.”

For business owners out there, this might be worth checking out.

And Michelle! I miss our chika sessions with Rowena and MichelleM!

A Song of Ice and Fire.
Since I have about a month left before I defend my dissertation proposal, I took advantage of my free weekends to devour George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Many of you might have heard of (or watched) Game of Thrones, which was shown on HBO. Well, that was based on these books. The characters — and gosh, they’re numerous — are so addictive, I just want to curl up in bed and read all day. I’m already on the fifth book and I’m lamenting the fact that GRRM took 14 years to write all 5. That means, I’d probably be a grandma by the time he finishes.

The books are:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
A Clash of Kings (1998)
A Storm of Swords (2000)
A Feast for Crows (2005)
A Dance with Dragons (2011)

Game On!
Calling all college students who are interested in games: In line with the upcoming Philippine Game Development Festival 2011 (PGDF2011), the Game Development Association of the Philippines is holding an inter-school competition that aims to showcase student abilities throughout the country. We’d like to grow our talent pool and this seems like a great place to start. For more information about the competition, visit the PGDF website.