Our Broadband Internet Connections

About a month ago, I applied for a basic PLDT subscription (PhP750 per month) for our communications needs and Eveth's once-in-a-while Internet browsing at EGI Taft Tower. I reckoned that dial-up access would be enough for her needs. Unfortunately, the connection is less than satisfactory, maxing out at 52kbps and drops every so often.

Anyway, I still thought that the setup would suffice since she can still use our Internet connection at Treelane. We have a SMART Bro subscription here priced at PhP988 per month with speed of up to 384kbps. A router (Linksys BEFSR41), which I bought more than a year ago, "splits" the Internet connection for sharing between two PCs.

Here is a photo of our two PCs here at Treelane, with the router on top:



Last Saturday, however, I took a longer look at the currently running PLDT DSL ads, particularly the PhP999 1mbps Xperience plan. We called 171 and learned that PhP999 is exclusive of the payment for the phone services. Too expensive. In the course of the conversation, we were offered instead the PhP990 plan (phone+DSL). That is not too far away from the PhP750 phone-only plan. The speed is up to 384kbps. So we applied. That was Saturday. The installation was performed on Monday. Fast eh?

The "DSL Installer" (as he calls himself) had the DSL modem with him. Following his instructions, I did the configuring with the laptop (OS is Windows XP). We were done in about 7 minutes. When he left, I did the configuration for the MacBook. It took me sometime. I learned later that you cannot "hot plug" the ethernet cable from one PC to another. You have to restart the modem. I also learned that unlike dial-up, you can use the phone while you are connected to the Internet. From Wikipedia:

Some variants of DSL connections, like ADSL and VDSL, typically work by dividing the frequencies used in a single phone line into two primary "bands". The ISP data is carried over the high frequency band (25Khz and above) whereas the voice is carried over the lower frequency band (4Khz and below). Thus the DSL modem and the phone can simultaneously use the same phone line without interfering with each other.

Now, do we buy a router to again split the Internet connection for sharing between the laptop and the MacBook? The Linksys BEFSR41 is cheaper now than one year ago. But the cheapest I saw is still PhP1995. How about another brand (and therefore another tweaking)? In the end, we settled for an Edimax BR-6104K, PhP1350 from Rising Sun. I did not have a hard time configuring it, although, initially, I got confused not seeing an option similar to the "Obtain an IP Address Automatically" found in the Linksys router setup. I later found out that I had to choose the "Cable Modem" option. Not intuitive for me. I am thinking all along that cable and DSL modems are different. Anyway, it is now running.

Here's the photo of the setup at EGI.



It feels good to dabble with things like these. You somehow feel, well, connected :-)

TeX And GIFT In Moodle

As I pointed out earlier, Moodle uses a TeX filter to convert TeX code to GIF images. Moodle can use a binary program on the server to render the images. The binary program can be MimeTeX or a full LaTeX implementation. This is configured by the system administrator.

The quadratic formula, for example, is rendered by typing

$$x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$$.

Here is a rather concise Moodle TeX reference.

Take note, however, that when you save your questions containing TeX codes in the GIFT format, additional symbols appear.

For example, the following code in TeX

Find the discount interest if $$F=\text{PhP}5,000$$, $$d=.09$$ and $$t=9$$ months.

becomes

Find the discount interest if $$F\=\text\{PhP\}5,000$$, $$d\=.09$$ and $$t\=9$$ months.

in GIFT. Notice the extra backslashes (\).

Here is another pair:

TeX:

What are the factors of $$4c^{2}-a^{2}+2{ab}-b^{2}$$?

GIFT:

What are the factors of $$4c^\{2\}-a^\{2\}+2\{ab\}-b^\{2\}$$?

So here are my recommendations:

• You can use GIFT for editing, but not for creating the items with a lot of math. Why? There are extra characters that need to be encoded.
• Suggested work flow: From ODF to TeX to Moodle to GIFT. For editing, you can simply work with the GIFT version. Just synchronize the ODF copy with it. The TeX and Moodle versions are intermediate and need not be maintained. To update the Moodle version, for example, you can just import the GIFT back into Moodle.
  

Happenings This Week (July 9 - July 15)

Let me narrate some happenings since Monday of this week.

• Lynne arrived on July 9, Monday. We packed... the goodies for the kids, dropped by Robinson's Place Imus to exchange her yens for pesos, and headed for home. Of course, the kids were ecstatic.
  
• On Tuesday, we started sorting her things. And I started dabbling with our new MacBook. I installed VMWare Fusion, along with two virtual machines: Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux. I am impressed seeing three operating systems running in one hardware. Three-in-one. A very efficient use of resources.
• I was also able to configure and use our Apple USB Modem, successfully connecting to DLS-CSB's dial-up service. Bluetooth must be running for this to work. I suspect that this is because there is a Bluetooth internal modem which then connects to the external one.
• In the afternoon, we pre-ordered the final version of VMWare Fusion via the Internet. The price is $39.99, a 50% savings over the suggested retail price of $79.99.
  
• On Wednesday, she started working on the required revisions for her SIBS book. Eveth caught up with us before we went to SM Mall of Asia. There, we bought a Keyboard Shield at the Power Mac Center. And let me warn you about that store. The Keyboard Shield item is being sold in that store at PhP1,800 even as that same product costs just PhP1,200 in a store at SM Southmall. Gee, I don't know of a worse example of how a store takes advantage of customers. I will never buy anything from that store or any of its branches again.
• They also bought new pair of glasses and Converse shoes for Eveth. They made me wait a long time.
  
• On Thursday, she continued working on her book and I on my course materials.
  
• On Friday, we issued a check to Woodridge Properties, Inc., had a meeting with HomeCredit in relation to our mortgage, and bought a smaller bag for the MacBook (I got a 10% discount because I had an SM Advantage Card, but had to pay in cash).
• On Saturday (Elmer's 14th birthday), Lynne finished her SIBS work! Yehey!!! And we did the grocery shopping.

Next week, I will make sure her environment is fit for her continuing research work. I will go with her and help her clean her J205 cubicle. :-)

What About Me?

So aside from my single parenting chores, what have I accomplished so far during this service leave of mine? Well, here are some impressive statistics:

• I have been working on course materials for 5 Math subjects - College Algebra, Business Mathematics, Discrete Mathematics, Elementary Statistics and Trigonometry.
• I am done with the handouts for these subjects - 21 modules = 60 sections = 227 pages.
• I have prepared 21 sets of Quizzes and 35 sets of Problem Sets.
• I am ready with 16 sets of Online Quizzes, configured for 1- and 1.5-hour setups. The pool has 504 items. This is quite a lot! Three hundred nine (309) of these items have been checked and are now in GIFT format, ready for loading into Moodle.
  

Yes, I made good use of my time too. In addition to the above list, SIBS also asked me to make revisions on the high school textbook I am writing for them. That I was able to accomplish too, working intensely for about a week.

Here are some more things I hope to finish before my service leave ends:

• Check the remaining 195 test items and make them Moodle-ready
• Prepare print versions of these online quizzes (if my class cannot use a computer lab)
• Prepare a plan for conducting item validation on these questions (using Moodle's tools)
• Prepare overviews and concept maps for each module
• Create screen movies on the use of the Analysis ToolPak

That's My Lynne

This trimester, I have availed of the so-called service leave, my second in my 14 years in DLS-CSB. I took my first service leave back in Term 1 SY 2002-2003. The second was supposed to have been in Term 2 SY 2006-2007 but was deferred to this term. I'm halfway through it now and, looking back, I am happy that I spent it quite well.

First, my wife went to Japan for the second summer of her three-year post-doctorate studies and left the five kids with me. It is longer this time, 90 days to be exact, the longest we have separated in our married lives. I was worried about being able to cope with the challenges like my eldest entering College, my second-born moving to another campus, and my third entering Grade VI. Of course, the two youngest, who I am sure will miss their mother. But somehow, we managed.

Why am I doing this apparent retrospection? Well, Lynne had just finished her presentation and will be returning in 5 days. I cannot help but look back and smile. We did well, especially her. Her sensei told her that what she is doing is "interesting" and, if she can get the work she presented accepted for publication, it is enough for her to earn the degree. He even asked her to expand her work, which is what I told her her sensei will ask from her. She is so happy since she reached this point just on her second summer. Flying to Japan in early April, she had no inkling she will get these results, even doubting if what she is doing is significant.

Well, the husband knows she is good and he never doubted her abilities. To give you an idea how kick-ass her work is, here's the title of her presentation: Zeta Polynomials for Codes over Rings and the Riemann Hypothesis Analogue for Type IV Codes over Rings of Order 4.

Go figure. Hehe..