On Performance Contracting: Blue Pill or Red Pill?

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.

Morpheus to Neo, The Matrix (1999)

In The Matrix, Neo hears rumors of the Matrix and a mysterious man named Morpheus. Neo spends his nights at his home computer trying to discover the secret of the Matrix and what the Matrix is. Eventually, another hacker, Trinity, introduces Neo to Morpheus.

Morpheus explains to Neo that the Matrix is an illusory world created to prevent humans from discovering that they are slaves to an external influence. Holding out a capsule on each of his palms, he describes the choice facing Neo. The blue pill will allow the subject to remain in the fabricated reality of the Matrix, while the red serves as a "location device" to locate the subject's body in the real world and to prepare him or her to be "unplugged" from the Matrix. Once one chooses the red or blue pill, the choice is irrevocable. "Bluepills" are people who have either elected to remain in the Matrix or have not yet been offered the choice, while "redpills" have chosen to disconnect.

Neo takes the red pill and awakens in the real world, where he is forcibly ejected from the liquid-filled chamber in which he has been lying unconscious. After his rescue and convalescence aboard Morpheus' ship, Morpheus shows him the true nature of the Matrix: a detailed computer simulation of Earth at the end of the 20th century (the actual year, though not known for sure, is approximately two hundred years later). It has been created to keep the minds of humans docile while their bodies are stored in massive power plants, their body heat and bioelectricity consumed as power by the sentient machines that have enslaved them.

(With minor revisions from the Wikipedia article)

I'd like to compare performance contracting to this scene. When one does performance contracting, you offer the person a choice: Stay in his/her comfort zone, or take the exciting/scary/uncertain road with the goal of improvement and realize your true potential? 

I am not saying that taking the red pill means doing something that you are not good at, though that is also a choice. What I mean is to increase your standards of performance, or your goals, or your sense of purpose. 

Neither am I saying that staying in the same level of performance is wrong. It is just that I believe that each person has that even better level of performance, which can contribute more to their organization's purpose or state of affairs of their society. But if you feel that you are at your best in your current status, then you should take the blue pill. 

I consider that I took the red pill when I transferred from UP Manila to the PMS. While I did strive to learn and improve when I was at UP Manila, working at PMS was an altogether different level of work, performance, and sense of purpose. It was never a smooth ride. I felt that I was never able to see the end of that deep "rabbit hole" Morpheus mentioned. Still, I know I have improved, and I continue to improve, and I am able to contribute to this organization's purpose and goals. 

Will you take the blue pill or the red pill?

DOE's Demand Aggregation and Supply Auctioning Policy

As a fan of the DOE website, I saw this post about the Demand Aggregation and Supply Auctioning Policy (DASAP) draft Department Circular. Upon reading, I noted the following features:

• It reiterates the provision in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that distribution utilities (DUs) have the responsibility of supplying electricity in the least-cost manner to its captive market (i.e., its customers);
• It shall be the platform to allow a yearly venue to auction the baseload and peaking requirements of DUs
• DUs will be required to aggregate their power requirements, which will then be auctioned to independent power producers (IPPs) for comparatively longer term (i.e., in contrast to sourcing it from WESM); and 
• Promote price stability. 

To understand DASAP, let's look at concrete examples.

According to this article, Meralco usually sources 90% of its power requirements from power supply contracts. Power supply contracts provide Meralco with constant supply of electricity which Meralco sells to its customers. Aside from reliable supply of electricity, power supply contracts allow Meralco have stable cost of electricity - from these power supply contracts. 

The remaining 10%, Meralco sources from WESM, or the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. 

For consumers in Meralco area, the 90% sourcing of electricity from power supply contracts is a boon. This means that 90% of their electricity consumption is sourced from a provider that has a stable cost.Only the remaining 10% is sourced from WESM, which offers fluctuating price at every hour.

However, for some other distribution utilities, their power supply contracts only account for less than 50%, which means that more than 50% is sourced from the price-volatile WESM.

DUs would most probably want power supply contracts with IPPs, however, IPPs, businesses as they are, want to have proof that they can pay at the end of their billing period. This "proof," is a big amount of money or assets, which poorer distribution utilities cannot afford. Unfortunately, this situation drives the DUs to source their power requirements from WESM, driving the cost of their electricity up. 

(WESM also requires proof, called "prudential requirements." However, it is not as demanding as that for long-term power supply contracts with IPPs. )

To allow (or require? but also provide a supporting environment) these DUs to enter into power supply contracts, even if they may not have financial state required by IPPs, DASAP will aggregate all the uncontracted power supply requirements of the DUs, and then auction them to IPPs. 

The primary concern of DASAP is supply of electricity of DUs. However, as supply is addressed, price of electricity is expected to become more stable. With DASAP, DUs will no longer source so much electricity from the price volatile WESM, Instead, they will have like two power supply contracts: first, for longer term (e.g,. 5 years or more), and second, for shorter term power requirements, like annual projected requirements, The regular power supply contract, for example, may provide the baseload demand, while DASAP will  take care of the peak demand requirements.  Only very small power demand not projected by the DUs will be sourced from WESM, which is the primary cause for price fluctuation.

My Android Apps

Nothing serious today. Just want to share a list of some of my Android apps. Most of the identified apps should be familiar. I only added additional info on those that may not be familiar to you.

Productivity

• Google Docs
• Google Sheet
• Google Slides
• Google Calendar - A better Google-synched app.
• Google Tasks Organizer Lite - If you use Tasks in Gmail, this is the app that provides the basic functionality.
• Blogaway for Android - Basic blogging app for Blogger.
• Adobe Reader - Provides most of the features of the free reader in Windows. Allows comments.
• Wunderlist - List/Task management app which allows sharing of lists.

Social and Communication

• BBM 
• Viber 
• LinkedIn 

Information Sources

• Wikipedia 
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary 

Smartphone Management

• Advanced Task Manager 
• AppMgr III (App 2 SD) 

Capability Enhancements

• Easy Touch (Android Holo Style) - 
• Bluetooth Remote PC - Allows you to use your smartphone to control the mouse, keyboard or presentation of your laptop. Useful for presentations.
• Automatic Call Recorder - Records all your calls by default.
• Google Now Launcher - Alternative launcher for Android.
• SMS Backup + - Backs up your SMS to your Google account

Entertainment

• Aldiko Book Reader
• Chess Free 
• Flipboard 
• The Art of War 

Critical Incident Response and Management

• Batingaw 
• First Aid
• Army Survival Guide FM3-05.70 

Cloud Storage

• Google Drive
• Dropbox 

In case you are in Korea, the KoRail app Metroid HD is also useful.

e-Vehicles in the Philippines

I am writing this in response to a discussion with a friend who saw some e-Trikes in Mandaluyong.

The e-Trikes program is a program of the Department of Energy, called (prepare for this) "Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles Project (e-Trikes)." For brevity, it is called the e-Trike Project.

The US$504-million (roughly, P21.672-billion) project was approved by the NEDA Board in 2012. The ADB Loan component was US$400 million, and an additional grant was US$5 million (for solar charging stations). The rest is from the Philippine Government's counterpart and the Clean Development Mechanism.

The goal of the project is to replace 100,00 traditional, gasoline-fed tricycles in the Philippines with electric tricycles to reduce carbon footprint of the transport sector. The DOE also says that with the efficiency of the e-Trikes, the e-Trike operator will earn more.

Upon observation, my friend said that, considering that the e-Trikes are more expensive, they should be larger (i.e., even larger than the one now, which is larger than the traditional ones) to accommodate more passengers and become more profitable for the drivers.

While I do not know the price of either the gas-fed tricycles and the e-Trike, I said that e-Trikes will take on the roles of tricycles, which serve shorter distances than jeepneys. E-Trikes will transport passengers to very specific destinations, like tricycles, as against jeepneys which drive in routes. Thus, e-Trikes cannot be larger than they are now, because making it bigger will make it energy-inefficient - the motor has to carry the heavier body (which would entail more energy consumption) without any passenger paying for it.

I also added that e-vehicles, in general, are more energy and cost-efficient than gas-fed vehicles because e-vehicles do not consume* energy during idle time. Electric vehicles also have nearly higher energy efficiency on any speed, compared against gas-fed vehicles which decrease with lower speeds. Also, even if some say that e-vehicles use electricity produced from fossil fueled power plants, the power plants are more efficient in converting fuel to electricity than individual vehicles converting fossil fuel to mechanical energy. This efficiency also means less carbon emission, if at all, as e-vehicles may have zero carbon emission if the power plant is RE-sourced.

Tesla, a renown electric vehicles manufacturer, even promotes use of solar power panels at home, so you can charge your e-vehicle and have ZERO carbon emission.

Regarding income for the drivers, this is what ADB says:

A conventional tricycle needs between 5 and 7 liters of gasoline to travel approximately 100 kilometers (km), costing 250 to 350 pesos. To travel the same 100 km, an e-trike will use between 3 kilowatt hours (kWh) and 5 kWh of electricity, costing only 30 to 50 pesos. The 200 peso difference in fuel savings will help the driver pay for the cost of the e-trike.

The e-Trikes Project (and e-vehicles in general) has many advantages and promises. While its proliferation would probably mean additional demand on power generation capacities, its long-term effect of efficiency and reduced carbon emission makes it a viable replacement to fossil-fueled, energy inefficient, greenhouse and acid rain-inducing gases emitting vehicles.

Just my thoughts.

For more info about the DOE's e-Trike project, go here.


NOTE:
*In physics, it is a basic law that matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. For the purpose of our conversation, we use "consume" to refer to the transformation of electric energy to mechanical energy.

DISCLAIMER:

The above, and all posts in this blog, is the author's best-effort attempt to understand and communicate the benefits of the project, and is not to be used as an official source of opinion or interpretation. The below sources are provided for that purpose.

Sources:
ADB, E-Trikes - Driving Change, accessed on July 8, 2014.
DOE Website, The E-Trike Project, accessed on July 8, 2014.
Philippine Gazette, NEDA Board approves e-trike and hydroelectric power plant uprating projects, accessed on July 8, 2014.
Wikipedia, Electric Vehicles, accessed on July 8, 2014.
Tesla Website, Top 5 Questions, accessed on July 8, 2014.
NEDA Board, "NEDA Board approves six projects in infrastructure, education & agriculture,"
accessed on July 8, 2014.

Blogging on Technology for Teaching

Back in 2008, I started an idea of blogging about technology for teaching, which includes technology not just for learning but also for the teaching profession. Unfortunately, I was not able to go beyond a few chapters, which mostly were introductory concepts, like hardware, software, and peopleware. That was in 2008, when I was still working at UP. Now, I work at a busier agency.

Still, I wanted to pursue that book, but I feel that I want to start with blogging the chapters instead, so that I can also get feedback about each item or topic that I want to talk about.

I would probably start with re-posting old posts about factors to consider when making decisions related to technology for teaching. (I recognize that a lot of things have happened since 2008, like the Google Docs becoming a mature system to Google Drive now. I hope to update these articles soon.)

I have a few ideas I hope to pursue, and I will post it there. For my first post, I will post my preliminary outline, which may change over time, of course.

So, I hope that new blog will help those who want to learn more how to leverage technology (particularly free and open source ones) to maximize learning opportunities.

See the first post in the next few weeks at http://trainingtechnologies.blogspot.com/.