19/20, due to a careless click in the spelling part.
In any case, I find the "How smart are you?" headline somewhat misleading. Is there really an objective way of measuring intelligence that takes into account cultural/linguistic differences? An English test hardly fits that criteria, although I suppose it's acceptable given the context and the expected readership.
As someone also in the Philippines and looking to do a little freelance work, how do you negotiate your prices and look for prospective clients? My main problem is that I never really know what to charge, and don't know what the "local" vs. "international" rates should be.
I find it strange that the majority of people thought the OP was referring to equal wages regardless of effort. It was pretty clear to me that he was referring to the difference in salary between countries for the same type of work. It disheartens me sometimes hearing that entry-level programmers in the US make $20 an hour, while I, with more than two years of experience, make about $30 a day. People don't realize how vast the disparity of living standards are across the globe.
It's probably not a coincidence that there were ping pong tables in the Computer Center and Engineering Center buildings of our University; lots of people played (I never got into it, though; kinda hard to play when you have tunnel vision).
Ha. We were required to use Poseidon for UML, but it was such a pain and crashed so often that we ended up making all our UML Diagrams in Dia (which is a nice enough and lightweight program, if slightly clunky; you might want to check it out). Yet instead of being pleased or even just ambivalent about the entire enterprise, our teacher got mad that we used a tool other than the prescribed one. I never really understood why people would get pissy about what tools you used instead of focusing on the actual output.
It's funny, I was just thinking about this a few days ago, and it's been on my mind for a while. I went through my entire school life not exerting significant effort but mostly "succeeding" anyway; I could cram for a test the same day and still ace it. I was never at the top of my class, but I was always in the top ten.
Even then, I realized that there was something wrong; I found it easy to get good grades, but because of that there was little to motivate me to really excel or do something extraordinary, so I never seriously tried. My first dream (the one I've had since grade school) was to be a writer, and I told myself that I would finish my first novel at the age of 14. Ten years later, I haven't completed it. People make excuses to others, but mostly we make them to ourselves; I adjusted and re-adjusted that deadline in my mind until it became meaningless. Similarly, I've entered contests and things, but usually procrastinated and didn't really put a whole lot of effort into whatever I did. I realize now that, yes, those were mostly just excuses.
I sort of regret it now, and I'm seeing the repercussions of my not having any self-discipline and real drive. It's too easy to get into the "good enough" rut, as I think I'm currently doing even now that I'm working. I do fine as a programmer, and my current developments are easy enough that I can still deliver good work even though I do things at the last minute, but really, it's shades of high school and college all over again and I really need to stop.
I would like to get out, though, and I suppose actually trying something out on my own and owning up to the risk of failure is a good idea. And yet, I still have no idea where (or what) to start.
I wish epiphanies came as freely and as conveniently as excuses, but then that would miss the point, no?