Facebook: Hacked

Relevant links: facebook.com, simflecks.com, twitter.com

If anyone actually visits this site and uses Facebook, please 1) change your passwords now, 2) accept invites from people who are over 18 and 3) whom you have met personally. My family and extended clan has been affected by this; all of our accounts have been disabled and our passwords changed, so now we have a catch-22 situation. But even the self-help recovery process is, at this point, useless: sending the security code to yourself (if you still have access to your e-mail account) to complete the account retrieval results in a sending code error. One of my cousins was even hacked twice after he made a new account.

Blargh. I think I'll wait for a bit and hopefully it'll all come to pass. Otherwise I'm looking at the end of the world, or 2012, whichever comes first...

Undergoing Renovation

I'll admit that the second time I my idea(s) on how to improve a call center facility with its employees in mind pretty much said "crazy" (literally), but it was still disheartening that I didn't get even a 'meep' for a response. In light of last month's performance- well, lack of it- I'm going to keep this shenanigan on the back burner for the indefinite future. Perhaps I'll use this space to just review whatever video game I'm currently playing, rant about life, or rave about whatever concept I have in mind for my Thousand Years of Darkness Alternate Universe campaign, hereafter referred to as KyD-AU, for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG system.

I'll keep in touch.

Re-Purposing

Pay no attention to the name of this blog. It should read "Assertive Call Center Agent", and I'm sure there's no character limit, but the former has a more je ne sais quoi to it, don't you think? Now, despite having a cumulative experience of five or so years in my current professional field, I've only recently begun documenting a list of items. And since I have this site, it's time I put it to good use. The following I will post are what I call observations. I do not believe they are criticisms, and they are not meant for one entity. I wish to use my reflections, if you will, as a means to raise awareness in regards to how an ideal BPO/call center should be operated, and I invite everyone, not just people from the industry, to join in a discussion and weigh the positives and negatives my said observations propose.

Now with that disclaimer out of the way, let's start with something of lighter fair:

"One agent, one locker. First come, first served, first choice."

That is all, for now. Discuss.

Hypomania

"Convergys gathered four well-respected bands of the local independent music scene, and tonight is a fresh breakthrough from the ever present colonial mentality towards creativity in the Philippines. Truly, Filipino music is not just music for the Filipino, whether here or abroad, but it can also compete in the international music arena! Tonight, we have an eclectic synergy of music, to be performed by Feen! Paramita! Juan Pablo Dream! Aaannnddd... Up! Dharma! Down!

"Witness the unity of these bands, amidst the diversity in their sound, style, and background! Welcome, to... Hypomania!"

And with that, I introduced the bands to the audience, and my fellow professional colleagues provided the cheers of applause and the roar of approval. What follows are my recollections of the songs that the bands played that night:


Monica Francesca hosted our event (follow her on Twitter!). Here she interviewed Patrick Mueller of He Cares Mission, whom we were benefacting with our concert.


Feen's third number felt like torrid, passionate lovemaking (or sweaty, freaky sex, take your pick). Their single "Flat Tire" is akin to bathing in sound, with its powerful vocals. Much props to the sound production team. (Oh! Feen's also on Facebook!)


The Comcast Triple Play™ Band rocked Lisa Loeb's "Stay". I'd never would have imagined it, and it was a great rendition. Shame I didn't get to record their version into an MP3, but then again I'd be competing with my own hollers of enjoyment. They also performed No Doubt's "Underneath It All", which I'm sure my sister greatly appreciated. Xyrene, Dudley, you guys were awesomesauce.


Gotta hand it to the solo U-Verse singer, he's got balls for getting on stage and going on with the show when I overheard that his bandmates chickened out on him. But, DAYUM! Can he belt it out or what? Guy also knows how to work an audience, too! (FGT™, eat your heart out.)


Holy sh*t, the U-Verse TL's got the biggest cojones of them all!


He even had an entourage that performed that Shakira/Beyonce single. My kid brother had a sudden phobia attack, so we went to TimeZone for a short while. 'Twas fun watching him sink basketballs. Lots of nothing but net.


Sis texted me just in time for Paramita, so me and my bro hot-footed it to our front seats. And it was so very good, because Paramita is effing metal, man! \m/ They can rock hard, they can rock soft. It was a hella rock love song for an opening set. And "Hiling" was so much better live! My other younger brother also liked the drummer/lead vocalist's sense of humor. Well, their lead guitarist also threw in a guitar version of the saxophone riff from Wham's "Careless Whisper" during instrumental parts of their song. A very funny running gag.


Juan Pablo Dream was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. With a '60's style to their costumes and music, it was "classical" music appreciation class in session. Their lead singer can channel James Brown, and the backup singers were a cute touch. Fun, bubblegum fun. Damn my two left feet and my nerves, if only I could have switched genders with my sister I wouldn't have been so embarrassed, I wanted to get up and dance! And they sang "R.E.S.P.E.C.T."! Aretha Franklin would have been proud. All in all, JPD was a real good trip, a cool blast from the past, cats. Psychedelic, baby, yeah!


And then Up Dharma Down took the stage. They start out like a slow-burning kiss that ignites into a nuclear conflagration, immolating all within hearing range. Their signature is unmistakable: their footsteps the pounding of the drums, the bass their heartbeat, the lead guitar their emotions, and the piano and vocals their voice of reason in the chaos. "Pax", sang the gods. And so it was. Perhaps it was a combination of factors, but after a night of energetic music from three bands prior, and the long night ahead, the crowd was lulled into a pleasant state of calm euphoria. That was how they left us as they ended their set, everyone tired but happy with the evening's events, going home to sleep with their music still ringing in our ears as we drift onwards and into our respective slumbers.

And now, how to end this post? Perhaps with this customary parting line from live bands the world over: "You've been a great audience! Thank you! Good night!"

(Special thanks to my dear sister for taking all those pictures, and to my two kid brothers for letting me treat them like I'm their big brother.)