STI College - Davao 10th Commencement Exercises

Last May 16, 2008. STI College Davao conducted its 10th commencement exercise. The activity was held at the CAP Auditorium, Anda Street, Davao City. The auditorium was filled with excitement as the candidates for graduation from different courses are about to take the next step in their careers.

As as instructor, I was happy seeing my students marched the stage and received their diplomas. Its a happy feeling seeing the them successfully finished their course. I also like the sight of seeing proud parents accompanied their graduates.

To the graduates and parents - Congratulations!

Distribution Mangement System (DMS)

I was invited to attend a product demo on DMS (Distribution Management System). The system was presented by the DMS Group from Serbia. DMS is a program used to manage electric distribution networks. This system provides a schematic and geographic presentation of the electric distribution network. Large DMS systems provide interfaces to SCADA Systems (Supervisory Control and Data Aquisition Systems), GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and OMS (Outage Management Systems). The product demo was conducted by Nenad Katic - the groups sales manager.


DMS Structure

The DMS provides a high-quality realization of all electrical engineering tasks in a DC, including monitoring, operation management and planning, optimization and incidents analyses, control and network development planning. SCADA was one of the first systems developed to enhance distribution automation. It consists of computer software, hardware and telecommunications equipment. SCADA is used for remote monitoring, centralized acquisition of substation data (measuring, alarms and statuses of switches), remote operation of switchgear and remote setting of local control devices (relay protection and voltage/reactive power control).

DMS software consists of DataBase, a DMS server that integrates all components, user interfaces and DMS analytical functions. Many DCs in Serbia and throughout the world now use DMS software produced by the DMS Group Ltd. (Serbia and Montenegro, office@dmsgroup.co.yu.). The system encompasses power analytical calculations and optimization, providing the tools necessary for efficient monitoring, management and design of distribution systems.

The DataBase is a software system necessary for operation of all other DMS software components, as well as for several other DC technical tasks, including maintenance and trouble call management. DataBase is implemented as a Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS) and consists of three basic parts:

  • Static data (electric parameters, history of the load, state and network topology).

  • Slowly varying data (changes of switchgear statuses, control devices settings).

  • Periodically varying data (values of state variable — measurements, alarms).

DMS Server is implemented as an Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) for Process Control (OPC) server. It integrates a real-time OPC server, an historical OPC server and an ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) gateway for DataBase access. The DMS Server provides multi-user operation for a large number of users over the same set of real-time data or DataBase data; open architecture of the system that offers full connectivity with different SCADA systems and DataBases; enhanced support for real-time operation and fully automated control room operations.

User interfaces are the software tools necessary for the application of DMS Software. The most important user interfaces are:

Distribution Network Builder (DNB) is the main front-end application for DB editing. This editor enables efficient editing and overview of all data about the distribution network. It provides a multi-user and user-friendly, fully graphical environment for DB browsing and editing. DNB is capable of editing alphanumeric as well as graphic data — schematic and geographic schemes.


Dynamic Mimic Diagram (DMD) is a multi-user graphical (schematic and geographical) user interface for visualization of the distribution system, and efficient managing and monitoring of the distribution system state. It is a modern replacement for the old wall-diagram schemes. DMD clients are provided with views of distribution network, SCADA view of all substations and technical data on every element.

DMS Analytical Functions System is the most sophisticated component of the DMS. Its foundation is the mathematical model of the distribution network, Network Model. It transforms the distribution network elements (transformers, lines and switchgear) into scaled, normalized equivalent circuits (mathematical models of elements) and graphs. These graphs provide efficient processing of the topology, state and performances of the distribution network. Network Model provides the basic platform for integration and running of all other DMS analytical functions. DMS analytical functions are classified into four groups:

  • Preparatory analytical functions (Network Model, Topology Analyzer, Load Calibration, Load Forecasting).

  • Analytical functions (Load Flow, Fault Calculation, Reliability Analysis, State Estimation, Circuit Breakers/Fuses Capacity, Performance Indices, Motor Start).

  • Basic analytical functions (Under-load Switching, Voltage Control, Relay Protection, Supply Restoration, Network Reconfiguration, Capacitor Placement, Energy Losses, Volt/VAR Control, Switching Sequence Management, Security Assessment, Maintenance Scheduling, Load Management, RTU Placement, Network Reinforcement, Network Development).

  • Composite analytical functions (Operation Improvement, Fault Management, Network Scanner, Dispatcher Training Simulator).


Source: Transmission and Distribution World Magazine

General Public License (GPL)

The GNU General Public License, often shortened for GNU GPL (or simply GPL), lists the terms and conditions for copying, modifying and distributing free software. The GPL was created by Richard Stallman in order to protect GNU software from being made proprietary. It is a specific implementation of his "copyleft" concept. According to Stallman, copyleft is a derivative from copyright law that serves "the opposite of its usual purpose: instead of a means of privatizing software, it means of keeping the software free." (The name was taken from a humorous slogan, "Copyleft -- all rights reversed.")

The first term of the GPL states that programmers may freely copy and distribute verbatim copies of a software program's source code, under the condition that each copy displays a copyright notice, disclaimer warranty, intact GPL notices, and a copy of the GPL. The second term of the GPL, which deals with modification and redistribution of software, requires the same conditions as the first, along with notification of any changes made to the software.

The GPL itself is under the copyright ownership of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), a tax-exempt charity organization founded by Stallman's GNU project in order to generate funding for free software development.

source: www.whatis.com

Java Learning Materials

Lately I was searching the Internet for learning materials on Java and I was brought to this site: www.javapassion.com. This site is maintained by Sang Shin, a Java Technology Architect. The site offers learning materials like presentations, exercises and more.
What I like with this site is that the materials are free for download! You can also take the online course (which is for a price) from this site and at your own pace. Not bad! This site has was created last March 2006, and already has more than 400,000 visits.
There are many sites that offers Java learning materials, but this one looks promising. The presentations are concise and clear. I have added this site in my links. Great work Sang Shin! Keep the Java passion burning!

Instant web searches

Performing web searches can sometimes become lumpy. First you have to type the search provider site (i.e. www.google.com, www.yahoo.com) and type your search key work in the search box.

So what? Thats only two steps. Yes, but step 1 can take longer if your internet connection is slow.
Good thing browsers today have Instant Search boxes. Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 offer this tool.
It allows you to perform web searches using your favorite search provider by entering your search keyword in a textbox within your browser toolbar. You can also choose you provider from a dropdown list and add more providers.

My Instant toolbar contains the following providers Google, Wikipedia and Dictionary.Com and more...

Anti-money Laundering Software (AML)

Anti-money laundering (AML) software is a type of computer program used by financial institutions to analyze customer data and detect suspicious transactions.
AML systems filter customer data, classify it according to level of suspicion and flags it for for inspection for anomalies. Such anomalies include any sudden or substantial increase in funds or a large withdrawal, and structuring - depositing multiple smaller amounts with in a certain period that sums up to a large amount.
The software flags these transaction. The software mines the data and flagged suspect transaction and generate the report, which is evaluated or will be subject for investigation and call the customer, if necessary.

Reference: http://searchfinancialsecurity.techtarget.com

Vista Reliability Monitoring Tool

Since I used Microsoft Vista last year, I have been exploring its features and tools. I am using Microsoft Vista - Ultimate in my laptop which is running on Dual Core 1.73 GHz and 2Gb RAM.

I came across a tool called Reliability Monitoring, which you can find in the Performance Diagnostic Console. There are several ways to run this tool.
  1. Type perfmon in the Search Box and click on the perfmon shortcut when it appears. or
  2. Open the Run Dialog (Windows + R), type perfmon and press Enter. or
  3. Click Start, Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Performance Rating and Tools, Advanced Tools, Open Windows Diagnostic Console.
For the past days my reliability declines rapidly. My Vista has suffered several problems lately like some program not responding.


I think this is a potentially useful tool since it allows you to monitor you systems reliability and performance. It has the ability to track and organize system events such as Software installations, Application Failures, Hardware Failures, Windows Failures and Miscellaneous Failures. This tool provides us useful information how our Vista is been doing and what unpleasant system events it has encountered.

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