MySpace.com: Where lads hang out and lurkers quietly watch

This post is based on an article I wrote that is getting published in our School Portal tomorrow.

========
You are having dinner with friends at an Italian restaurant, the type that has paper table cloths. The server is a funny and talkative young guy. You are having a blast the whole night and you keep teasing one of the girls in the table, telling her she should hook up with him, since he is studying film and she is an actress. You end up writing down her phone number and name on the table. She tears off her number but leaves her name. A few days later she gets contacted by the waiter through MySpace. He tells her "I told you I’d find you."

Scary? Funny? The girl that told me this story didn’t quite know what to make of it when her friend told her about this MySpace episode: she was the one who had written the phone and name on the table.

Last year MySpace was this place for people to make friends and for little known bands to reach new audiences. Today, with over 80.5 million users, if MySpace were a country, it would not be far behind the population size of Russia or Mexico (check back again tomorrow – while this story was being produced, the site gained almost one million users)! As anyone coming from a large city knows, one can expect just about anything to be possible in MySpace.

So what makes MySpace special, then? After all, it doesn’t precisely sport the friendliest user interface. Yet it has quite the following. People continue to meet their Mr. and Miss Right after patient searches through the millions of profiles and comments posted. Many old friends and networking opportunities too continue to stay in touch thanks to MySpace.

In spite of the site’s size, it seems to hold on strong in the hearts and mice of most of its core users. However, some who would rather keep on logging in are seeing their access to MySpace blocked at school, work or home. At the same time, others are voluntarily deleting their accounts pushed away either by potential stalkers or a feel that the site has lost the personal touch it once had. The mammoth sprawl of the site is starting to take a toll.

The downside: addiction, sexual predators and then some...
MySpace has easily turned into one of the most addictive online experiences since World of Warcraft. Some people can only be "found" on MySpace: they can only be contacted through their MySpace account and they only listen to music through MySpace. The site already has a reputation of ruining friendships and relationships, not to mention the loss of jobs, sometimes even before people get to an interview.

The addiction MySpace causes can get more frightening when those addicted are children, as it is increasingly becoming the case. Kids under 14 (the age limit imposed by MySpace) are spending hours a day surfing the site.

If only addiction were the only problem in MySpace. Like the story that opened the post showed, users are exposing themselves more than necessary. And this creates plenty of opportunities for potential predators, as the recent Dateline NBC report "To Catch a Predator" proved.

So, is MySpace the problem? Perhaps they can enhance their policing mechanisms (I don’t know they would want to do much about reducing the time users spend surfing their site, though). However, at the end of the day, no amount of monitoring and technology can instill a larger dose of common sense in users, to make them limit the time they spend logged into it or have them give out a little less personal information on the site that will make them an easier target for predators out there.

tags: web

Bootleg Radiohead recording - Live in Copenhagen 5-6-06

I've had the privilege of getting a chance to listen to a very decent bootleg recording of Radiohead, playing live in Copenhagen in the beginning of May. Not only do they still HAVE it (their classics sound as fresh as day one -Planet Telex, Lucky, Let Down and many others). They play a number of precious new tracks that still haven't seen the light of day on any of their records. As expected, they are continuing to move ahead, setting the pace for the rest to figure out.

La Matematica No Falla: Por que Brasil va a ganar el Mundial del 2006

1. Brasil ganó la copa mundial en 1994, antes que eso, ganaron el mundial en 1970. Sumen 1970 + 1994 = 3964

2. Argentina ganó su última copa mundial en 1986, antes que eso ganaron el mundial en 1978. Sumen 1978 + 1986 = 3964

3. Alemania ganó su última copa mundial en 1990, antes que eso, ganaron el mundial en 1974. Sumen 1974 + 1990 = 3964

4. El mundial 2002 Brasil repitió el campeonato, y es lógico, ya que si sumamos 1962 (donde Brasil fue campeón) + 2002 = 3964, por lo tanto, Brasil debí­a ser el campeón, y así­ fue.

5. Y si se quiere pronosticar el campeón para Alemania 2006. Resten 3964 - 2006 = 1958... Ese año el campeón mundial fue Brasil, así­ que se escuchan pronósticos
para el 2006.....

6. Y LO MAS IMPACTANTE: Los fanáticos VENEZOLANOS tenemos también motivo para alegrarnos, ya que seguramente ganaremos el mundial en el año 3964. Porque 0 + 3964 = 3964.

O sea que ya sólo tenemos que esperar 489 mundiales para sercampeones! Eso equivale a 1958 años. En 1958 Brasil fue campeón del mundo. Así­ que la final va a ser contra los brasileños... ni se imaginan la goleada que les vamos a dar. Ahhhhh Pobres!


tags: FIFA World Cup, funny

Adivina la cancion

Gilberto me paso una cancion para arrancar un nuevo concurso. Seguramente sera del gusto de la mayoria de los MILES de visitantes de este "humirde" blog. :)

Escuchenla:

(tenganle paciencia... la vaina es medio lenta)

Y adivinen:
-Interprete
-Compositor, y
-Sobre todo, titulo de la cancion.

El ganador se llevara un premio especial que Gilberto tiene reservado con un valor de 25 tokens... whatever that means.

tags: music

Favoritos para el Mundial de Futbol: BRASIL para todo el mundo!!!

Que agradable epoca... se acerca el Mundial de Futbol. El que no esta coleccionando el album de Paninni esta viendo los especiales previos a la copa de la FIFA, para preparar sus predicciones.

Tantas y tantas leyendas del futbol vienen la memoria: Matthaeus, Maradona, Rossi, Beckham, Kempes, Rummenigge, Bergkamp, Tarantini, Lineker, Socrates, Laudrup, Hugo Sanchez, Boniek, Bebeto, Platini, Cruyff, Zidane, y tantos otros...

Con miras al comienzo de la copa, propongo que hagamos una encuesta a ver que equipo opinan ustedes que ganara el Mundial. Si necesitan ayuda, en el web site del mundial, hay una herramienta para ayudarlos a pronosticar los resultados. Es un archivo de Excel que contiene Macros. Lean la advertencia al pie de la pagina donde se lo van a bajar, para que ajusten sus parametros de seguridad en Excel.

Aqui pueden ver mis pronosticos. Yo le voy a una final Brasil-Holanda, ganando Brasil.

Superman Returns

If you haven't seen the latest trailer for Superman Returns, you have to. This movie is going to be the best thing to hit theaters this summer. I already heard numerous negative comments about X-Men 3. I haven't seen it yet, though. However, it's hard to imagine Superman Returns sucking after seeing the trailer... plus the movie has the great Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Yes!


tags: movie, reviews

Ronaldihno: El Juego Bonito

Si alguien tiene alguna duda del dominio de balon que tiene Ronaldihno, vean este video. Es mas alla de lo humanamente normal...

Notificacion a las esposas y novias previa al Mundial de Fútbol

> 1.- Les informamos que del 9 de Junio al 9 de Julio,
> se realizará el Mundial de Fútbol, así que lean las
> secciones deportivas y todo lo referente al evento,
> para que tengan tema de conversación; si no lo
> hacen, no se extrañen de que no les hablemos.
>
> 2. - Durante el Mundial la televisión es nuestra, a
> todas horas, sin excepción. El control, ni lo miren.
>
> 3. - Si tienen que pasar frente a la tele durante un
> partido no nos importa, siempre y cuando pasen
> gateando y sin distraernos.
>
> 4. - Durante los partidos estamos sordos y ciegos.
Pasaremos a ser como Shakira.
> No esperen que les oigamos, que abramos la puerta,
> contestemos el teléfono, llevemos los hijos al
> colegio, acompañarlas a mercar o ayudar en algún
> trabajo. Nada.
>
> 5. - Será bueno que siempre tengan pasapalos
y cervezas en la nevera, en abundancia y le sonrían y
> atiendan bien a los amigos que llegan a ver el
> mundial. En agradecimiento, les dejaremos ver la
> televisión, desde la media noche hasta las 6 de la
> mañana. o irse mudadas para el casino a jugar bingo.

> 6. - Por favor, si nos ven molestos porque nuestro
> equipo favorito va perdiendo, no nos digan "no es
> para tanto" o "en el siguiente seguro ganan"; harían
> que nos molestemos más.

> 7. - Pueden sentarse a ver un partido con nosotros y
> pueden hablarnos en el medio tiempo y sólo si hay
> comerciales. Tampoco abusen, dijimos UN partido.
>
> 8. - Las repeticiones de los goles son muy
> importantes. No importa si ya las vimos o no las
> hemos visto, las queremos ver de nuevo. Muchas
> veces.
>
> 9. - Que no se le ocurra a ninguna de sus amigotas
> bautizar al niño o hacer una Primera Comunión un
> sábado o domingo de partido del Mundial porque:
>
> a) No iremos.
> b) No iremos y
> c) No iremos
>
> 10. - Ni se les ocurra decirnos hace mucho que no
> vamos donde mi mamá , porque no iremos. Pero si un
> amigo nos invita un domingo a ver el fútbol Qué gran
> invitación!, Iremos sin dudarlo.
>
> 11.- Los resúmenes de la jornada Mundialista durante
> la noche son tan importantes como los juegos mismos;
> no se les ocurra decir "pero si eso ya lo viste.
> ¿Por qué no cambias?".
>
> 12.- Ojalá no nos pidan plata por estos días, pues
> este dinero lo requeriremos para hacer las pollas y
> para llenar el album de Paninni del Mundial.
>
> 13.- Finalmente, ahórrense expresiones como !Qué
> bueno que el Mundial es cada 4 años!....Estamos
> inmunizados contra esas palabras necias. Porque
> además, luego vienen la Champions, Copa América,
> Eurocopa, Liga Española, Italiana, etc.

>14.- durante los fines de semana, hagan que la carne
para la parrilla este bien sasonada y blandita, que los
carbones esten listos y la parrillera limpia, para no
perder el tiempo en esos detalles de mujeres.
> LEASE Y CUMPLASE!
>
> Nota: Les recomendamos fijar este aviso (edicto), en
> los lugares más visibles de la casa (cuarto
> principal, comedor, nevera , con el fin de que no
> digan después que no se les avisa con tiempo)


tags: funny, FIFA World Cup

Urban Art Show

Some of you may know in recent months (more specifically, since our trip to Barcelona) I've developed a passion for Graffiti and Urban Art in general. Recently I turned that passion into a new blog I've started. It's called Urban Art Show, and any contributions by anyone are very welcome. If you find any cool pieces of graffiti, stencil art, stickers or any other kind of street/urban art, please let me know about them.

In the meantime enjoy the ones I've already added.

WikiMapia - Full Sail

Today, I ran by accident into this web 2.0 site called WikiMapia, which basically lets people append metadata to GoogleMaps: things such as "Eckerd Pharmacy" or "Dangerous Corner -beware".

This is the metadata that I found it had for Full Sail, the school where I work.

tags: web

Darfur: Rwanda Part II?

I just finished watching the incredible movie "Hotel Rwanda". Upon researching some more about the character played by Don Cheadle in the movie, I found this article that he published recently in The Wall Street Journal. I am going to copy it here, in the event that it is taken off the site at some point.

=====
Darfur
In Sudan, the world ignores Rwanda's lessons.

BY PAUL RUSESABAGINA
Sunday, April 9, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

History shows us that genocides can happen only if four important conditions are in place. There must be the cover of a war. Ethnic grievances must be manipulated and exaggerated. Ordinary citizens must be deputized by their government to become executioners. And the rest of the world must be persuaded to look away and do nothing. This last is the most shameful of all, especially so because genocide is happening again right now in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the world community has done precious little to stop the killings.

What is happening in Darfur is exactly what happened in my home country of Rwanda, which was left to choke on its own blood from April to July of 1994.

The United Nations took virtually no action during the genocide. A detachment of well-equipped peacekeepers, made up of less than one-twentieth of the American troops now stationed in Iraq, could have easily stopped the killings without risk and sent the powerful message that the world would no longer tolerate mass murders of civilians, a real expression of the phrase "Never Again." But this simple act was deemed, then and now, to be somehow beyond the power of the United Nations, the United States, NATO, the European community and everybody else with the real power to stop another holocaust.

There are now about 7,000 soldiers from the African Union stationed in Sudan, which is mostly an exercise in public relations. They lack helicopters, jeeps and firepower. More importantly, they lack a sense of purpose. There are no clear rules of engagement and many of the soldiers appear more interested in collecting their per diem payments than inserting themselves between the government-backed Janjaweed militia and their victims in the farming villages. The African Union recently said it will stay into September, and a handover to the United Nations may take place at that point. By that time, the genocide will have lasted for three years with a likely half-million dead, or more.

To be sure, part of the debate involves the fear of an Iraqi-style campaign of insurgence against any humanitarian or peacekeeping force deemed "too Western" by the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed thugs. But we should not let ourselves be cowed by these threats. Will we allow murderers to intimidate us away from doing the right thing and saving lives?

Historically, I am sorry to say, the answer has been "yes." When modern genocide has loomed, the United Nations has shown more concern for not offending the sovereignty of one of its member nations, even as monstrosities take place within its borders. Yet "national sovereignty" is often a euphemism for the pride of dictators. Darfur is just such a case. The world cannot afford this kind of appeasement any longer.

The real lesson here is that the United Nations is in need of not only reform but also a basic rethinking of its peacekeeping philosophy. World governments must agree that the extinction of a race is a crime worth stopping at any cost, and back up this sentiment with action. And the U.N. Security Council must create a tool that it has lacked for far too long--a small multinational "rapid response" force which can quickly airlift tanks, jeeps, helicopters and troops to spots where the evidence of genocide is overwhelming.

Such a force would not require endless dickering, delicacy and will-testing; it should be made up of no more than 10,000 troops and deployed only in extreme situations, because its real power is not in its gun barrels--it is in the message to genocidal regimes that the world will refuse to overlook atrocities. This would have stopped the Rwanda tragedy from happening, probably without a shot being fired. It could now stop Darfur from getting worse, with similar ease.

History offers us another lesson about genocides: The apologies, recriminations and resolutions of Never Again usually begin after the genocide is safely finished and it becomes safe once more to mourn the lack of action. That should not happen this time. The proposed extinction of an entire race should now be considered an override clause to the rule of national sovereignty. Rwanda is over and everybody mourns it comfortably. We ought not to wait until Darfur is over to start saying Never Again yet again.

Mr. Rusesabagina is the author, with Tom Zoellner, of "An Ordinary Man," published this week by Viking. The film "Hotel Rwanda," was based on his personal story as a hotel manager who saved the lives of numerous Tutsis by offering them refuge in the Hotel Milles Collines in Kigali, Rwanda. A recipient of the National Civil Rights Museum's 2005 Freedom Award, he lives in Brussels.

tags: current events

Music Discovery Tools

A while back, I shared with you my discovery of Last.FM. While that tool and Pandora alone can keep you busy, I thought you may want to learn about a couple more music discovery tools that are discussed in this article from Pitchfork. These are indeed interesting times...

Elmo con los Tres Morochos

IMG_0332
Originally uploaded by iamrafa.

Se que no me lo van a creer, pero Elmo estuvo tomandose unas cervecitas con los dos morochos y yo. Lo que pasa es que no se le ve la mano con la cerveza en la foto. :)

Esta foto nos la tomaron el sabado pasado en casa de Rafa, por el primer cumpleaños de Eva. La pasamos super bien.

tags: funny, photos

Freakonomics

Always hard to put down and hard to accept at times, yet hard to ignore in the end.
I picked up Freakonomics by accident, which an almost embarrasing admission considering the level of hype the book and Dr. Levitt have enjoyed since the publishing of the book almost a year ago. However, somehow the title really turned me off (maybe it was the subtle mental association with "Reaganomics" that did that). Now I am happy I picked it up. Prior to reading the book, for a while I'd been doing some thinking about conventional wisdom at large and how things are not always what they seem like from the "outside". Having read Freakonomics, my doubts are not necessarily confirmed or rebutted, but rather I feel more inclined to keep up a healthy level of skepticism and continue to not take things at face value.

Some of the chapters are hard to swallow, I admit. While specific ones may have different effects on different people, and most of them are bound to generate opposing reactions depending on who reads them, two chapters particularly captured my attention: the one titled "Where Have All the Criminals Gone?" (where he exposes a theory linking the legalization of abortion and the drop in the US crime rate in the late 90s) and "What Makes a Perfect Parent?" (where he presents detailed reasons why he believes "obsessive" parenting behavior does little if anything to help children over the course of their lives).

In the end, while shock value may accomplish a powerful unspoken goal of the book, what you're left with is the same set of lessons he starts of the introduction with:
-Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life.
-Dramatic effects often have distant, even subtle, causes.
-"Experts" -from criminologists, to real-estate agents- use their informational advantage to serve their own agenda.
-Knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicted world much less so.

Regardless of how you feel about some of Dr. Levitt's views, there are quite a few lessons to be learned in this title. I highly recommend it.

tags: reviews, books

Happy Wines in Miami

Running into this article in the Los Angeles Times, I remembered about a nice finding this weekend. I went down to Miami to drop off "la familia". They were travelling to Venezuela for three weeks, so I stayed over the weekend with my friend Jose (luckily the same weekend was the 1st birthday of Eva, the youngest daughter of my friend Rafa, so I attended the piñata).

On Saturday night, Jose and his wife took me to one of the most fun places I've been to in a while. It's a little wine store located close to the intersection of 57th ave and 8th st (hope I got that right), called "Happy Wines". THe concept is very, very simple: the place sells wine and at night it turns into a sort of Spanish tasca, where people sit where they can, sometimes in plastic chairs around boxes that stand as improvised tables, sometimes in high chairs surrounding big barrels where wine once to be stored in.

The fun is hard to beat: Cuban music being played and sung aloud by most. But the best part of all is the prices. I was able to get a bottle of Marques de Caceres Rioja (pretty much my favorite wine), which sells for about $15 in Orlando, for only $8... so I got two! :)

I guess we'll have to come back again. It was definitely fun and inexpensive too!

El Chapulin Colorado

Más ágil que una tortuga,
más fuerte que un ratón,
más noble que una lechuga,
mi escudo es un corazón.

Quien no recuerda esa legendaria introduccion? El que haya crecido en America Latina en los años 70 y 80 al menos vio un capitulo del Chapulin Colorado en su vida.

Yo, en lo personal, fui un total fanatico del que fue mi personaje favorito de Chespirito. Incluso me llegue a poner mi disfraz de Chapulin una vez! Asi que llego el momento del concurso del Chapulin Colorado. Son solo tres preguntas:


1) Cual era el nombre de este villano, protagonizado por Ramon Valdez?

2) Completa el refran del Chapulin: "Mas vale solo que mal que ___ ____ __ _____." (cuatro palabras)
y

3) Nombra al menos tres armas del Chapulin.

El que responda primero todas las preguntas correctamente se llevara un chipote chillon virtual... ay! les di una de las respuestas! :P

Y si les pega la nostalgia, no dejen de chequear los episodios del Chapulin en DVD.

What Are Video Blogs?

This is an article I contributed to. It will be posted tomorrow in Full Sail's Student Portal (sorry, it's password-protected). The reference to the purchase of the iPod Video is not mine: it was the other contributor who bought it! :)

The image it is going along with was designed by Mat Giordan0.

======
I couldn’t help myself anymore. I bought an iPod Video over Spring Break. After I was done copying all of my music, I decided to search for some video podcasts to watch on it as well. Without realizing it, I had joined a growing community that is further threatening the business model that the major TV networks are based on. First it was Digital Video Recorders. Now Video Blogs (or Vlogs, as they are known on the Web) are dragging people’s short attention span and giving everyone with a low tolerance for commercials a new reason to stare away from the big screen.

The first person to actually create a Vlog was Adrian Miles, in late 2000. At the time, the idea wasn’t something that the general public was interested in, or had been educated about, nor were there enough high-speed connections around to create a large enough market for this bandwidth-hungry content form. By 2004, technology had finally reached a level where Vlogs were easy to produce and distribute, with the iPod Video as the piece of hardware most responsible for creating the Vlogging craze.

From tech news to comedy, Vlogs like Amanda Congdon’s Rocketboom, Kevin Rose’s Diggnation and AskANinja.com rank at the top of the Video Blog crop, available in multiple formats for on-screen viewing or to take along in your iPod or phone. Some of the sites serve their own video content while others resort to existing aggregators such as Current TV, YouTube, and Google Video. These sites allow users to upload almost any type of videos (minus porn of course) and share them with the rest of the Net.

How Do Vlogs Work?
The concept is similar to that of a blog, but using video instead of text- (and image-based) posts alone. The Vlogger needs a few extra pieces of hardware: a camera and (preferably) a dedicated microphone separate from the one most cameras have. Extra lights help: forget about the dim-lit webcam shot where you can barely see the person’s face if you are going to get serious about this.

Once you’ve shot your video, you need to compress it and make it available for viewing. Pre-loaded software in Macs (iMovie) and PC machines (Windows Movie Maker) does the trick of getting movie size down to a reasonable point (except, of course, if you want to go pro, which may cost you more to get the better video encoders). For serving the movies, if you use your own hosting, you will need a VERY decent amount of server space over time, if you are to post a 30-40 MB video every other day. So, the inexpensive route is to go with YouTube or other video aggregators, like many of the most successful blogs do today, and embed the video in your blog using the HTML code they provide you with.

At the end of the day, when all technology questions have been answered, there is no substitute for a good story to be told… so your writing skills from your blogging days and your creativity will still remain essential. (Or, at the very least, you must be entertaining.) Proof of this is the success achieved by the Two Chinese Boys whose lip-sync performance of "I Want It That Way" and other songs have earned them world recognition and the über-famous "MySpace – The Movie" by David Lehre.

In the meantime, until you start your own video blog, if you have a favorite site or video podcast you want to share, post about it here.

Marie Antoinette Coming soon

The new movie by Sofia Coppola, with Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette and with music by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), coming in the Fall. Looks amazing. Check out the trailer!

The Dears

I remember thinking when I first heard "No Cities Left" by The Dears, how much the singer of the band sounded like Morrissey, why not admit it. But then I found moments in the album that reminded me of a thousand other things: David Bowie, Joy Division and even King Crimson... all of it, wrapped in a mantle that carries an unmistakeable flavor of French cabaret music with a raw feel, in the best style of the late Serge Gainsbourg.

Largely the result of the financial support of the Canada Music Fund, The Dears is the Montreal-based musical brainchild of multi-talented Murray Lightburn. Formed in 1995, "No Cities Left" constituted the band's second full length album. The album has an overall dark feel that carries a certain level of anguish in Lightburn's storytelling, typically aided by atmospheres driven by his guitar, along with changes in tempo in most songs and the overpowering presence of mellotron-like sounding strings that accompany the band's work through most of the album.

The Dears meld in so many influences that you can get almost tired of identifying them... plus it really doesn't do much to do so, since they have already carved their own special niche that will probably serve as a deep influence for generations of musicians to come. For now, enjoy "No Cities Left" and the band's scheduled August 2006 release, a song of which you can enjoy through their MySpace page. It is impossible to argue: with The Dears you are in for a very special musical treat.

And if you like what you hear, check out their concert from July 5, 2005. It's got excellent sound and video quality!

tags: music, reviews

Alfa Romeo?

>>Se encuentran dos chinos:
>>- "El otlo día me comple un coche."
>>- "Ah si?"
>>- "Si, mila, es ese de ahí."
>>- "Y que malca es?"
>>- "Un Alfa."
>>- "¿Lomeo?"
>>- "Lo meas y te lompo tu alma pelo cochino"

Russian Dolls

It's not what you think. It's the follow-up to "L'Auberge Espagnole". Too bad it's not playing in all markets... but it will sure be a great rental, when it comes out on DVD.

In the meantime, here's the trailer to keep you happy.

Carlos Mencia Wetback Mountain

This was TOO funny!!!

Diabetes group, CalorieKing.com and more...

Yesterday I did one of the best things I could do for my diabetes since I got on the pump in July 2005. I went to a meeting of insulin pump users that I learned about by pure coincidence.

What an incredible group of people!! About 20 in total, most of them had been diabetics far longer than I had been (10, 20, 30+ years). Some of them had been through a lot (a lady I met had had numerous painful laser procedures to help her through retinopathy, a heart attack and now was having kidney problems, with only 16% of her kidney function left), still the spirit in the room and the optimism and joy that everyone shared was like a breath of air into my soul. It felt amazing to be surrounded if at least for a couple of hours a month, by people who TOTALLY know what you go through, because they've "been there, done that." :)

I gathered SO many tips and pieces of useful information that I was having a hard time telling Andreina about all of them after she picked me up with the baby. One of the cool things I learned about was a web site called CalorieKing.com, where (guess what!) I found a PocketPC software that has a database of foods, to eliminate part of the guesswork out of eating out! I almost cried tears of joy when I realized that something like this could be available... Go figure! I should have have imagined it was! :P

Anyway. What I can say is, though my BG (blood glucose) values are as good they can be now, I know I will do everything in my power to not miss these monthly meetings.

Amigos Invisibles play in Coachella 2006

Details here...

The Big Blue

Today, I read news about a new world record for variable weight free-diving (without breathing). The new record belongs to Venezuelan deep sea diver Carlos Coste, who got to 140 m of depth (459.31 feet).

Mucho orgullo!!!!

Mantra...

Zooming inside a lily
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez.

This is a lovingkindness mantra I learned last week. I wanted to share it with you:

May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be content.
May I love myself completely
And with great kindness
Just as I am right now
No matter what happens.

New fence

New fence
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez.

We are one step closer to being able to let Santiago run freely in the backyard! We hired a handyman to put a fence to the sides of the house. Today, he finished the left side. Tuesday, the right side will be done.

Tip for Orlando people: get your supplies in Fence Outlet. Good quality and the prices are MUCH better than Home Depot's and Lowe's.

Living With War

You need to say little after you hear the streaming version of the coming Neil Young album (his second in seven months), one where he's aiming directly for G.W. Bush and the Irak War. The sound is very raw around the edges (not sure about the final release, since it's still not out at the time of this writing) but the lyrics don't need fine polished, over-produced music to highlight them. You can also read them on Neil Young's web site.

Hello, I'm a Mac

I can relate with Apple's "Restarting" ad from their new Get a Mac series. Our computer has been "at it" the past month or two, giving us the "blue finger" every other day or so... We even considered getting a Mac, but we feel a bit hardpressed because we need to be able to run AutoCAD for Andreina's work, so... we may stick with a good ole Dell Optiplex... however, it's hard to not feel attracted to a Mac these days. ;)


tags: funny

la la

A while back, I posted about Pandora and Last.FM, two new music-discovery services I ran into. Since then, I hadn't run into anything too exciting until I discovered La La. I was reading about the service in a Business 2.0 article over the weekend. The concept seems sweet (quoting from the site):
"'la la' finds members that have the CDs you want. You pay only $1 per CD received from other 'la la' members (plus standard shipping charges). The number of CDs you receive will depend on how many CDs you ship to other members."

I am going to ship my first CD soon...

Along with Bookins, which does the same for books (and to which I also subscribed, though I found their selection to be visibly more limited than the one offered by La La), they are part of a handful of companies entering this media-swapping space. All of them on a per-invitation basis, but it took little time after I registered for an account for the invitation to arrive in my inbox.

So far, supposedly my first book is on its way (I haven't paid a penny so far). It's Freakanomics. I will let you know how the experiment goes! :)

The Diableros

From the US, you can only get their music through iTunes or streaming via the band's website.

I just learned today about Canada's The Diableros. GREAT stuff... Kinda Interpol meets Arcade Fire. Love it!

Thanks for the tip, Chris!

Zillow: Look at Other Homes From Above

If you type in your address in this web site (US only), you can take a close look at your place from above. It's almost scary. I won't post my address here, but I can say I could tell from the shot shown what car was parked outside that day...

El Reloj Cu-Cu

Demasiado bueno. No he parado de llorar de la risa desde que lo lei hace un rato.

>> >>Anoche me invitaron unas amigas a una reunión.
>> >>Yo le dije a mi esposo que regresaba a la casa a las 12 en
>>punto.
>> >>"Te lo prometo" le dije.
>> >>Pero la reunión estaba muy buena, y había mucho trago, por lo
>> >>cual obviamente se me fue la hora. Resulta que llegué a la casa
>> >>a las 3 a.m., completamente ebria. Apenas entré y el "jueputa"
>> >>reloj cucú hizo 'cu-cu' tres veces.
>>
>> >>Al darme cuenta que mi esposo se iba a despertar por
>> >>ese sonido, grité 'cu-cu' otras 9 veces.
>> >>Me quedé tan orgullosa y satisfecha por haber tenido de pronto,
>> >>aunque borracha, una idea tan buena para evitar el pleito con mi
>> >>esposo.
>> >>Me acosté de lo más tranquila pensando en lo inteligente
>> >>y lista que soy.
>> >>Temprano por la mañana, durante el desayuno, mi esposo
>> >>me preguntó a qué hora yo había llegado y le contesté que había
>> >>llegado a las 12 como le había prometido.
>> >>Él, de momento no dijo nada, ni me pareció desconfiado.
>> >>Qué bueno! ¡Qué salvada! -pensé yo.
>> >>Entonces él me dijo:
>> >>Debemos cambiar nuestro reloj cucú.
>> >>Le pregunté, ¿por qué mi amor? y me dijo:
>> >>"Bueno,... anoche el reloj hizo 'cu-cu' tres veces, luego no sé
>> >>como, gritó "mierda"... después hizo 'cu-cu' cuatro veces más,
>> >>y tosió luego hizo 'cu-cu' otras tres veces... se cagó de la
>>risa,
>> >>y otra vez hizo 'cu-cu' dos veces. Salió corriendo, pisó al
>> >>gato,quebró la mesita de la esquina de la sala, se acostó a mi
>> >>lado, se tiró un peo y se durmió...!!!


tags: funny

Google profits from your typo... too

If this was some other company, I guess I would have not been too surprised. But, after realizing that even Google has a limit for how far it's willing to take its "Do No Evil" motto (think Google China), maybe I shouldn't be too surprised.

Up to today, the whole world of people who bought hot domain names for the sake of it and populated them with directory-like content to supposedly serve users (read, to make money off of users who prefer to type in a URL, instead of using a search engine), was sort of dark... seemed almost like talk about a porn site. Almost.

Today, I learned (thanks for the tip, Mat!) that Google is no better than "them". While Google bans the practice of accepting trademark-infringing URLs in their paid ads, they are just fine with serving up their million-dollar-making Google AdSense ads on hundreds of sites... with trademark-infringing URLs!

Dissapointed? Some. Surprised? I guess not... Not any more. Double standards continue to plague Google-space.