White Hair Chronicles IX - COBOL is 50

We mark this month the 50th year of the COBOL language. COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language) is one of the oldest programming language. It is also the first computer language I learned. I had to study it back in college. We used punched cards then for our programs that run on big-double-cabinet sized computers at the university.

According to Wikipedia, a specification for COBOL was initially designed by Grace Hopper. Committees were set up to recommend an approach to a common business language. On September 18, 1959, they decided on COBOL for the name.

I also used COBOL in my job as an Operations Research analyst, though I didn't use punch cards anymore, I typed directly on to dumb terminals of a ref-sized mainframe. That mainframe, which had a 90 MB hard disk (yes that's right 90 megabytes) that took half-day to format. There were no defragment tools then. But it also had a BASIC (BASIC itself is 45 years old) version that can do matrix algebra. COBOL is still very much around, though largely unseen.

Those were the days. Life was so much simpler.

"Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now" - (My Back Pages-Bob Dylan)

White Hair Chronicles VIII - Ganito kami noon, ganito pa rin ngayon?

This week marks the 37th year of imposition of martial law. I was a frail, skinny kid then in a public elementary school and this weekend I will be meeting again with some classmates from those days, some I have not seen in 35 years. They will find me still frail and skinny and still a kid at heart.

I remember waking up and being told that were no classes that day, September 23, 1972, a Friday I think. We were not allowed to go out and check with our schoolmates/ neighbors. The streets were deserted anyway. No one knew what was going on. There were bombings and rallies going on the past weeks. Talks were rife that classes will be suspended until the end of the schoolyear. We were initially overjoyed but got immediately terrified when told that we may have to repeat the grade when school reopens.

The TV channels were cut off. When Marcos appeared on-screen with his "I hereby declare" speech, people confirmed what was whispered in hush-hush tones. After which, only one channel operated and all it showed was Maribeth Bichara gyrating in skimpy clothes, alternating with Sahlee Quizon and Sonny Cortez singing something about sugar.

I'm sure my classmates can fill up my fading memories of how things were. These days we also have insurgency, bombings, journalists/activists missing/getting killed, corruption, military in the bureaucracy, poverty, efforts to change the charter, and more recently spying on the academe. Jun Cruz Reyes was my Filipino literature instructor in high school while Bien Lumbera was my professor in Pilipino 41 (an elective course - Critical Thinking) in college.

Alex Magno refuses to see the parallels between the situation then and now. But Winnie Monsod believes we are still haunted by Marcos' martial law, enumerating the problems that hound us up to this day.

While Alex Magno insists that dictatorship is impossible at this time, it is not dictatorship per se that bothers us. It is the damage being done to the institutions just to perpetuate oneself in power. It is to that that we say never again.

Pacquiao will have a tough time versus Mayweather

As I expected, Mayweather ran roughshod over Marquez. The Pretty Boy was simply much faster, sleeker, and mas magulang. And the fellow who gave Pacquiao fits in their two fights had no answer to the bigger Mayweather. The easy Mayweather win was an impressive fight for the two boxers. It was not boring at all, despite the virtual shutout.

So, how will Pacquiao fare against Mayweather? Marquez lost two controversial fights against Pacquiao. They fought on the same weight classes over the years, although Pacquiao started out much smaller. But Marquez was able to hold his own against Pacman. Against the naturally bigger Mayweather, the story was drastically different. They were in different fighting classes.

I have to give props to Marquez. He tried to make a go of it. But his best was not enough. Mayweather can rightfully claim to be the best fighter of all time. But not necessarily the most endearing or the most exciting. He can beat them all. Period.

If Pacquiao fights Mayweather, Pacman must be wary of the left hook. And he must counter with his own left or upper. In short he must be perfect on that night. Then he will have a chance.

In the meantime, Pac's corner will have to consider not letting Cotto get too much weight advantage over their fighter. In this fight, Mayweather visibly outweighed Marquez by more than 10 lbs. Manny, for his part, should start training seriously. With everything else equal, a good natural welterweight will always beat a good natural featherweight, as Marquez learned tonight. A superb training regimen/ discipline for this fight will make the difference for our pambansang kamao. For all Filipinos' sake, all showbiz/politician leeches, this goes to his network too, tantanan niyo muna si Pacman. Train in Batanes, for pete's sake.

Marquez 142, Mayweather 146, and it's a welterweight fight?

At the weigh-in this morning (Manila time), Juan Manuel Marquez weighed in at 142 lbs., while Floyd Mayweather, Jr. tipped the scales at 146. Wtf? This is a welterweight fight where the limit is 147 lbs. It turns out that there is a supposed catch-weight at 144 lbs.

JMM looked flabby even if he's just 142. He could bulk up overnight as fighters do come fight time. But that will make him flabbier, and softer, and slower. There is even lesser chance for him to win.

FMJ looked ripped and sweaty, but he doesn't look weak. He will be quick. He can add up more poundage overnight and still be comfortable tomorrow. He will win within the distance.

It looks like FMJ will pay a fine for coming in above 144. But he doesn't care, rightly claiming it's a welterweight fight anyway. The concept of catch weights foul up boxing.

Come November, when PacMan fights Cotto at a catchweight of 145 (in another welterweight title fight), Cotto can show up at above 145, pay the fines, and enjoy an advantage. What then are the weight classes for? Hopefully, PacMan learns a lesson from the beating JMM will get tomorrow. PacMan can opt not to fight Cotto if Cotto gets above 145.

My women's tennis album 10 - Caroline Wozniacki

She fell a bit short this year but many are predicting a great year for her next year.

See also Album 9.