The RubeTube

I've been spotted on YouTube! Our team in the 2005 ACM-ICPC World Finals (held in Shanghai) is in the freakin' thumbnail of the video below. We're the three guys in the bright Ateneo-blue shirts. From left to right, that's Allan Espinosa, myself, and Miguel Arguelles (who's actually hidden in the thumbnail). That's 0:46 into the video (or 0:48 from the end). Watch our 2 seconds of YouTube fame!


And here in this second video, I've been spotted again! This time, from the 2006 ACM-ICPC World Finals in San Antonio. I have a cameo role for another 2 seconds starting at 0:59 into the video (1:32 from the end).


...Yes, I am absolutely sure that those are my hands that are on the keyboard, and that that is my watch. I confirmed it by observing how my wrists and hands look like while typing. At first I was doubtful that it was me because I usually take my watch off during programming competitions (it gets in the way, you know). But then again, them hands were typing quite slowly so I figured it could've been during the practice session or in the Java Challenge (we placed 6th!) where we weren't in any rush.

Labels: ACM-ICPC, Punzki, videos, YouTube

If you had noticed from my last entry, the source code of my "Name Bastardizer" is hosted on punzki.com. Yes, I have finally gotten around to purchasing my own hosting and domain!

Right now, there's absolutely nothing on it, except for links to Fantasy Sports Live (which I'll be moving to punzki.com in the future), and the new the RubeTube's new address: http://blog.punzki.com. Blogger's custom domains are awesome; your blog will still be hosted on Blogspot, but you can have it displayed on your own domain or subdomain. In other words, you get your own URL while still eating up Blogspot's storage and bandwidth. The old address, http://punzki.blogspot.com, will still work and will redirect to the new one (go ahead, try it!). http://www.punzki.com/blog is another alternate address.

Aside from the RubeTube and FSLive, punzki.com will play host to whatever projects I come up with in the future. Also, I have yet to think of an official "title" and tagline for punzki.com, so suggestions are very much welcome! Submissions for an official logo are also needed.

(Many thanks to my host, Philhosting.net, and their really cheap Windows hosting. Just check out their "Economy" hundred bucks a month plan... what a steal! And it's pretty fast, too.)

Labels: :D, Blogger, Philhosting, Punzki, punzki.com, RubeTube

As you can probably imagine, a lot of people (including my dear friends) misspell "Punzki", intentionally or otherwise. This has led to the creation of such monstrosities as "Poonski", "Punsky", and--God forbid--"Funskie".

(I do realize that this is partly my fault because I don't usually spell out my name when I introduce myself to others as Punzki. But you could have asked, right? I don't bite.)

Let's dissect the parts of my moniker and discuss the common mistakes when spelling them:

• F instead of P in Punzki, e.g., "Funzki"
  
  When people do this, they are usually just trying to be cute, but I get irritated with this particular intentional bastardization of my name.
  
  
• oo instead of u in Punzki, e.g., "Foonzki"
  
  Again, not cute.
  
  
• The n in Punzki is mandatory. You absolutely cannot get this wrong.
  
  
• s instead of z in Punzki, e.g., "Punski"
  
  Conditionally excusable. The exception is when you know what my real name is, which has no letter S in it at all, and you realize that Punzki is derived from my family name.
  
  
• Not putting a k in Punzki, e.g., "Punzi"
  
  Partly excusable, because sometimes the strong "z" sound can overpower the "k" sound and you end up not hearing it. On a side note, my brother's nickname/Net handle is "Punzie".
  
  
• ie or y instead of i in Punzki, e.g., "Punzkie", "Punzky"
  
  Acceptable, although "ie" is very close to qualifying as asking-for-it.
  

Now if you are any good in discrete math, you will realize that given these parameters, there are 48 possible ways that you can screw up my name (48 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3). Take your pick, please (the ones in bold are palatable for me, most are toward the end):

• Foonsi
• Foonsie
• Foonski
• Foonskie
• Foonsky
• Foonsy
• Foonzi
• Foonzie
• Foonzki
• Foonzkie
• Foonzky
• Foonzy
• Funsi
• Funsie
• Funski
• Funskie
• Funsky
• Funsy
• Funzi
• Funzie
• Funzki
• Funzkie
• Funzky
• Funzy
• Poonsi
• Poonsie
• Poonski
• Poonskie
• Poonsky
• Poonsy
• Poonzi
• Poonzie
• Poonzki
  
• Poonzkie
• Poonzky
• Poonzy
• Punsi
• Punsie
• Punski
• Punskie
• Punsky
• Punsy
• Punzi
• Punzie
• Punzki
• Punzkie
• Punzky
• Punzy

Of course, I didn't generate those names myself... I wrote a program to generate those. Steal the source code, if you wish. (I decided to use C++ because all I've been doing lately is C# and Java and I was afraid I was getting rusty.) The Punzki nickname generator is pretty flexible, so if you have an oft-misspelled nickname as well, you can change the source code and compile and run it yourself, but be sure to let me know about the results!

Labels: C++, combinatorics, geek, math, names, Punzki

Finally, here's the answer to "Six things you probably didn't know about me, but one of them isn't true". I'm tackling the "facts" one by one and I'll reveal which is the odd one out.

1. I flunked the entrance exam to Ateneo Grade School. I ended up studying in Don Bosco for two years. I took the Ateneo Grade School exam again and got in when I was in Grade 2. The difference? I didn't become smarter. I took the exam the first time in Filipino, and in English the second time around.
   
   TRUE. I still am better taking tests in English than in Filipino. Who isn't?
   
   
2. I wasn't before, but I'm currently allergic to alcohol in alcoholic drinks; I get rashes and have difficulty breathing. Alcohol is not such a bad thing to be allergic to, in my opinion. Better than being lactose intolerant.
   
   TRUE. Sad, but true. Yet also quite fortunate. What's the big deal with alcohol anyway?
   
   
3. For as long as I can remember, my parents have played mahjong with their friends regularly, usually several nights a week. With mahjong such a big part of our daily life (and family income) I know the rules of the game, but strangely enough, I have never played an actual game in my life.
   
   FALSE. This may come as a surprise for most of you who know me quite well, but this one is totally false. But actually, it's mostly true, except that I have played an actual game of mahjong, twice or thrice. Tricky, tricky!
   
   
4. I learned to play the guitar during my first year of high school. One of my classmates ("IC" was his nickname) taught me the first song I learned to play: Ang Huling El Bimbo. My parents bought my my first guitar for my birthday that year. It was colored "toothpaste/Aquafresh blue", as I liked to describe it.
   
   TRUE. G-A7-C-G for the verse and chorus, and Em-G-C-D for the pre-chorus/refrain; how can I forget? Sadly, the toothpaste blue guitar is now broken.
   
   
5. I have never stepped foot inside a casino my whole life. Of course, the first 21 years of my life leading up to the legal gambling age hardly count, but still...
   
   TRUE. The inside of a casino is still a mystery to me. And I prefer to keep my innocence.
   
   
6. And now, for the most embarrassing thing you probably don't know about me... I was once a (closet) Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls fan. Much like every other guy in my generation, except that they're not man enough to admit it.
   
   TRUE. I've had the balls to admit it. Do you?

No one was able to figure out that #3 was the stinker. To everyone's credit, even my girlfriend failed to get it correctly on the first try; her first guess was #5 and she was deciding between that and #3. Akie (we chatted over YM) was the worst; by process of eliminating the other five choices, he finally got the answer.

Labels: facts, Punzki, tagged

With me not being used to having a lot of work pile up, I haven't had much time to blog lately. But I will take a break from my blogging hiatus to respond to Aids and Bernard who have "tagged" me to tell five things you probably don't know about me.

But I'm going to take matters into my own hands and add my own little twist. Instead of jotting down five things, I'm going to make a list of six things you probably don't know about me, but one of them isn't true; you'll have to guess which one that is. I'll reveal the answer in a later post and you'll still end up finding out five things you probably didn't know about me. In the meantime, mark your guess by leaving a comment.

Six things you probably don't know about me (but one of them isn't true!):

1. I flunked the entrance exam to Ateneo Grade School. I ended up studying in Don Bosco for two years. I took the Ateneo Grade School exam again and got in when I was in Grade 2. The difference? I didn't become smarter. I took the exam the first time in Filipino, and in English the second time around.
   
   
2. I wasn't before, but I'm currently allergic to alcohol in alcoholic drinks; I get rashes and have difficulty breathing. Alcohol is not such a bad thing to be allergic to, in my opinion. Better than being lactose intolerant.
   
   
3. For as long as I can remember, my parents have played mahjong with their friends regularly, usually several nights a week. With mahjong such a big part of our daily life (and family income) I know the rules of the game, but strangely enough, I have never played an actual game in my life.
   
   
4. I learned to play the guitar during my first year of high school. One of my classmates ("IC" was his nickname) taught me the first song I learned to play: Ang Huling El Bimbo. My parents bought my my first guitar for my birthday that year. It was colored "toothpaste/Aquafresh blue", as I liked to describe it.
   
   
5. I have never stepped foot inside a casino my whole life. Of course, the first 21 years of my life leading up to the legal gambling age hardly count, but still...
   
   
6. And now, for the most embarrassing thing you probably don't know about me... I was once a (closet) Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls fan. Much like every other guy in my generation, except that they're not man enough to admit it.
   

And with my blogging obligations heretofore accomplished, I tag the following unlucky souls: Akie, Arbi, Borgy, Pau, and Cu.

(Update: Find out the answer here!)

Labels: facts, Punzki, tagged

I'm admittedly not a humble person. But I don't think I'm being overly boastful by sharing with you my page on the Ateneo de Manila University Awards Database. Never knew such a site existed before; I only stumbled upon it yesterday. It lists the awards received by Ateneans at competitions in recent history.

Fifteen awards are listed under my name. There are no advanced search features so I can't verify that that's the most for an individual in the database, but you'd probably agree that fifteen is a lot (and I'm sure my list there isn't complete).

Why do I join all these contests? I've been at it since my grade school days. I have to admit, it's partly because of the recognition and the opportunity to market myself. It's also partly because of my fiercely competitive nature. But the biggest reason is that I'm always tremendously proud of the institutions I represent. I want recognition not just as an individual, but also as a product of the Ateneo and the Filipino nation.

I think I've accomplished my goal of helping let the world know that Filipinos (and Ateneans) truly kick ass. Up next: helping HP soar to new heights.

Labels: Ateneo, contests, Filipino, Punzki

In belated celebration of the 21 years and 1 week of my life, here are 21 random facts about myself. Exclusively on the RubeTube, of course.

1. My all-time favorite food is bacon. I'd eat it for breakfast without hesitation. Same goes for lunch and dinner. I like 'em slightly burnt, toasted to a crisp, with all the excess fatty oil removed.
   
2. A teacher from fourth grade (Mr. Angeles) in Ateneo Grade School was the one who gave me the nickname "Punzki". He wasn't even one of my regular teachers; he just proctored us for one of our quarterly exams. He announced the top scorers for each subject and he got tired of saying my full name so he came up with this ridiculous nickname.
3. I failed Biology in Philippine Science High School in my third year for one quarter. I flunked because I didn't do my lab reports and I always went to lab sessions unprepared.
4. 17 is my favorite number. It's the most beautiful number one can think of. Prime numbers are inherently beautiful, and 17 is the "most prime" prime number. And 17 is so obviously prime. You can't say the same for "2" or "29" or "97". 13 comes a close second though.
5. My parents say I looked like E.T. when I was a baby. And sadly, it's true.
6. My preschool years were spent at G.O.A.L. Montessori, a school inside our subdivision. G.O.A.L. stands for "Gift of Advanced Learning". I'm not sure if I ever learned anything advanced.
7. I am one of the most asymmetrical people you will ever meet. My left hand fingers are longer. I can hear better with my left ear. My left foot is bigger and that makes it hard to buy shoes. When I say every part of my is asymmetrical, I mean every part.
8. I've always been good at math, but I never really liked the subject. I just wanted the A's.
9. I first used a computer when I was 5 years old. I started with GW-BASIC on a Philips 286 PC clone which cost a fortune back then.
10. My first email address was mark@freemail.webquest.com. Webquest is a long-dead Philippine ISP. I remember having to use Eudora Lite as my POP3 email client. Do people still use that?
    
11. My ICQ number is 19812952. Now when was the last time I used it? Heck, I had to search for myself on their People Search to remember my number. I'm pretty sure that's me unless there's another Mark Punzalan born on August 22, 1985 nicknamed "Punzki".
12. I learned how to whistle by sucking air in instead of blowing it out. I always thought that was the way most people did it.
13. I composed the musical arrangement for our high school batch's graduation song. Well, most of it anyway.
14. I once had an allergic reaction from eating a choco-flavored lollipop. I thought it was absurd to get an allergy from a choco-flavored lollipop but I've never had any since then.
15. I actually like airline food. Most of the time.
16. I have never played DotA and I've only played Counter-Strike once. I don't like to be "in" when it comes to gaming.
17. I never learned how to properly eat with a spoon until I was 16 years old, in high school. I always thought you were supposed to hold it like a shovel at all times until someone pointed out my lack of dining etiquette.
18. I totally pissed my brother off when I deleted the hard disk partition from our 286. I was 6 years old then and I was curious if "fdisk" was a game.
19. My favorite computer game of all time is Civilization. Sid Meier is a genius. Who cares if it's unrealistic that a phalanx can defeat a battleship?
20. I puke whenever I try to eat squash or any of its derivatives.
21. I can't swim to save my life. They say it's impossible for a human being not to float in water but I'll never believe them. I don't float.

As a bonus, here is a cute (?) kiddie photo of me, circa 1988:


Boy, this is gonna be much harder next year...

Labels: birthday, facts, Punzki

Every writer has a handful of words and phrases that he/she uses instinctively, without giving a second thought as to whether or not they're appropriate. These are the words and phrases that have proven useful to the author over time in those situations where you can't just think of the right transition, adjective, or conjunction to spice up an otherwise uninteresting series of sentences.

People develop these not-necessarily-bad habits by virtue of overuse. Sure, it's okay one or twice, but at some point you'll use them one time too many unless you're very careful with your word usage. If you go through the entries in my old blog, you'll notice that there's a select number of "Punzki-isms" that are used over and over again. I try to be vigilant but once in a while I'll end up using a Punzki-ism in every other sentence. On the other hand, they come in handy when trying to "stretch" an essay or a paper to make it reach the minimum-word/page-limit.

Without further ado, here's a (partial) list of Punzki-isms in no particular order, with sample Punzki usage (in italics) and commentary. Optional parts are enclosed in [brackets]. You may notice that sometimes, removing the Punzki-ism hardly makes an impact in the essence of a passage. That's just part of their mysterious nature.

basically - "I'm a professional bum right now. My job is to basically just eat and sleep the whole day." Notice how "basically" can just be removed from this example. My hypothesis is that most Filipinos who speak decent English are guilty of overusing "basically", especially in conversations. An even more deadly combination is "so basically": So basically I rule, right?

I suppose/I guess - "I've been gaining a few pounds lately; I suppose/I guess I need a stressful job to stay fit." Similar to "basically", it is absolutely unnecessary except as a means to get rid of that my-sentence-feels-too-short feeling.

so (at the start of a sentence) - "Google invited all the ACM finalists to one of their offices for an interview. So we got to go to Google India since it was the nearest." The word "so" is used to express a cause-effect relationship between two events. But in this example, it would've been better to put the two sentences together or get rid of the "so" altogether.

quite/rather/particularly/somewhat - "As you can imagine, it was quite/rather/particularly/somewhat surprising that they didn't want me on board their company." No complaints about this Punzki-ism either, except that I occassionally use it absentmindedly when a lesser degree of effect was not intended.

I'd like to think that - "I'd like to think that they didn't hire me because I was overqualified." Nothing really wrong about it, except that it suggests a lack of confidence.

pretty [much] - "I'm not worried; being a Microsoft MVP pretty much assures me of getting a job someday." This is one habit that's tough to get rid of. I think it's horrible when "pretty" is used in any manner other than as an adjective, but I just can't help myself. Also, it dilutes the sureness of the "sure" that follows it.

[should] probably - "I should probably stop ranting now." I just use "probably" too often. Maybe I'm really just tentative by nature?

ought to - "I ought to go out and look for a job instead of waiting for one to come to me." See "[should] probably".

[but] in any case - "My friends say that with my credentials, I'll be hired for sure. But in any case, I prepared myself for the possibility of being rejected." Again, not too bad, but I tend to use "in any case" literally in any case, i.e., when it's not properly used.

[but] anyway[s] (at the start of a sentence) - "Anyways, I'm going to go to sleep now and hopefully I'll get over it." Not much different from in "[but] in any case", but nobody ever says "in any cases". Gosh, it's so annoying when people use anyways. It's double annoying when I use it.

... - "Goodnight, everyone..." This is, without a doubt, my number one pet peeve when it comes to communicating with people.

An ellipsis is used: 1) to indicate the intentional omission of any part of speech; 2) to indicate a pause in speech, or a trailing off into silence; and 3) to indicate a certain meekness when talking to someone you're afraid to offend someone, e.g., "I'm sorry, please don't get angry..." The three previously mentioned uses are fine. What is oh-so-annoying is that when people use ellipses as if they were m.f.-ing periods. For example: "Hello... My name is Mark... I'm a CS graduate from the Ateneo... Nice to meet all of you... I hope we'll all be friends..."

You may think that's an absurd example, but I bet you know a number of people who write like that. And it's worse when you talk to people like that on IM (or SMS): "hi.. r u busy? ah ok, sorry.. talk to u later.." (notice the inappropriate use of ellipses with just two freakin' periods; what's up with that?)

(I will save a more comprehensive rant on the misuse of ellipses for another entry. In the meanwhile, watch how you use those ellipses, people. I simply cannot overstate how annoying all those ellipses are! I notice that this "ellipsis addiction" is common among non-native English speakers, e.g., Filipinos.)

In any case, I suppose I should probably impose a rather intimidating rule that should pretty much prevent me from basically overusing those words and phrases. So I guess I ought to slap myself quite hard in the face when I use them more than once in successive paragraphs. I'd like to think that that'd be a particularly interesting method. Anyway...

What are the words and phrases on your list? Feel free to share them by dropping a comment. I'd like to see if I've missed some common ones which should belong to mine.

(BTW, I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my ellipsis rant...)

Labels: blogging, English, Punzki, writing

Hello. My name is Mark Punzalan. I live in the Philippines, proud home to a booming call center industry and birthplace of Manila folders (I have never seen one of these my whole life). I was born one tragic day on August 22, 1985. I like to write code, surf the Web, watch anime, read science fiction, play the guitar, travel around the world, and solve Rubik's cubes. I am fluent in both English and Filipino, but English is my preferred language when it comes to writing. I am mortified when people use Taglish though I can't help it na at times napapa-Taglish ako.

You can call me Mark, but about half the people I know me as "Punzki". (To my knowledge, I'm the only person in the whole world with such a ridiculous nickname. If you know of someone who claims to be "Punzki", please inform me of the existence of the impostor.) If you live on the planet Earth, you will probably meet at least a dozen people named "Mark" in your lifetime. That's why many Marks need a separate nickname to distinguish themselves from the other lesser Marks. As a not-so-strict rule, the people who call me "Mark" are the people personally close to me, or maybe I'm just the only Mark they know. If you call me "Punzki", it's probably because you only know of my existence on the Internet (thank goodness for such a wonderfully unique username), or you have too many friends called Mark.

This is my first blog entry, but I'm actually on old hand at blogging. My original blog (Rubik's Redemption) can be found on theSpoke. I'm moving over to Blogger because it seems a helluva lot easier to use and I can customize my blog's appearance to my liking.

I really wish that I could write more about myself, but I've been laboring at this blog entry for too long already, making sure that it's interesting enough for you to visit my blog again. Not to mention I'm incredibly obsessive-compulsive when it comes to writing a good ending that doesn't leave one hanging.

Labels: blogging, Punzki