The Akashic Field Chronicle

Originally posted on: http://urriza.net/blog/2009/08/a-call-for-help/

The Short Version

I have been accepted to the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) Electrical Engineering Ph.D. Program and am about to start this Fall 2009 term with full financial support (~$50,000) for the 1st year. I have a ticket to LA scheduled to depart on August 30, 2009 and have also made a downpayment on a UCLA owned graduate student housing (1 year contract).

However, my service obligation to DOST prohibits me from leaving the country for the next 7 years without posting a bond amounting to Php 364,000. I do not have this money and have tried everything in my power to get around it, to no avail. The only conclusion left — I would have to raise the money in less than a month. If I fail… I would miss what I believe to be one of the greatest opportunities that ever came along for a a guy like me. I will not fail.

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Click here to read other Pick-of-the-Week (POW) entries

For this week’s Pick-of-the-Week, I’d like to veer away from consumer gadgets like my previous POWs. I mean, there’s only so much gadgets I can personally review (Oooh! Unless manufacturers start giving me samples! That would be neat.) and besides, that’s why there’s Engadget. This week I’ll be reviewing, what is in my opinion, one of the best free and open source, personal accounting software out there. The one I personally use and of course the one that I recommend that everybody should use.

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