CTitanic

Only in America - 1

2012-02-11T22:51:00.001-05:00

I took few days of vacation this week. The first one in more than 3 years if I don't count the days setting at home viewing movies but pending of my phone or email and fixing things remotely. I drove to Tallahassee to be in the Graduation from the State Trooper Academy of my soon to be son in law. Nice trip! I liked Tallahassee! Hills everywhere. South Florida is too flat.

Do you know that the government supplies every state trooper with a Glock and a shotgun? If they want to carry an AR-15, the trooper has to buy it! The same with the bulletproof vest, if the trooper wants the optional steel plate that offers a better protection, he has to pay for it! Unbelievable! The richest country in the world can not pay for the proper protection of those keeping our highways safe. The bad guys are armed with AK47s and our government can only afford and old and obsolete shotgun. The cheapest ones that you can buy in Walmart. Things you see in America!

Cuban propaganda and people's humor

2011-10-16T10:48:00.001-05:00

There are two things that foreigners find unusual in Cuba, well there are many others that I won't mention in this brief note, one of them is the amount of all cars in the streets of Havana. And when I said old cars I mean cars made before 1959. The second thing is the communist propaganda painted everywhere. They do not have paint for the houses of thousands of havanans but for propaganda they always find a pint of paint and an empty wall. But, sometimes those against revolution use the same propaganda to send messages.

Here is one of these cases.

There is an Uncle Sam in the left trying to scare a Cuban Soldier in the right. The Cuban Soldier is yelling "Misters Imperialists, We are not scare of you!". That was the government message. But, somebody with a little bit of imagination and humor added to the message "We are terrified of the Castros!"

I'm a lucky guy

2011-06-25T20:12:00.001-05:00

I was navigating the web yesterday searching for info about the town where I was born and I ended reading about 3 Cuban writers that I knew personally.

The first was Miguel Barnet. I never talked to him a word. At least that's what I remember. I was a child living few doors next to his house and that fact was enough to positively influence my life in the love for books and reading. His book The runaway slave is in my opinion a Cuban classic. From the 3 writers, he is the one better known around the world and the reason for this is his participation in the Cuban government.

The second writer was Dora Alonso. It was a night in the library of Santa Clara. She was signing books for a young group of "wanna be" writers. I was there and I left that night that library full of dreams, wise advices and her book Aventuras de Guille dedicated to me by her. A treasure that I later lost together with all the material things that I owned in Cuba. But I kept this memory, biggest and most important thing if you ask me. I never became a famous writer like I wanted but I never have forgotten her and all her good advices telling me to be honest and write from the deepest of my heart.

The last writer was Hilda Oráa Carratalá. I could not even find her name in the Wikipedia or the web. A search for my name results in more hits. Unfortunately in Cuba those who are more actively participating in the so called "revolution" are the ones most published around the world, unless you decide to try your fortune in another country. But Hilda was Hilda full of love and she could not have lived away from Caibarien, La Villa Blanca, the little and almost unknown town where she worked as a elementary school teacher. Her poems are from another time. Nothing compare. And her books, mostly for children are fool of sweetness.

So, this is why I feel lucky. I did not become a famous writer, that's true. But I learned from these tree cubans writers to love the beauty inside of any good book. I learned from 2 of them to write from my heart when I do that in whatever page online I'm writing for and about whatever topic I'm commenting. Without anybody censuring my words even when I was paid to write. I learned from one of them to teach giving love. So, yes, I'm definitely a lucky guy. I'm who I'm by my own decision.

I found online the blogs of few people that I knew during my young years in high school. Few of those blogs are originals. The rest full of the same words copied from the Cuban government newspapers. It's sad when you have to do that to maintain a plate of black beans in your dinner table. To those I say... Do not forget Yiya. Break the rules and censure writing about love. You will never get published by your government but at least everybody will remember you with the same love that I remember Hilda.

Castros secure the power for 20 more years

2011-04-20T20:36:00.001-05:00

Yes. I'm sure that you will jump to correct me saying that what Raul Castro said in the just closed Communist Congress in Havana was to limit the terms of those in political positions to a maximum of 10 years. Well, let me explain how I got the 20 years.

According to Cuban News Webpages:

he [Raul Castro] suggested limiting the mandates of public office to a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms, a recommendation he considered possible and necessary under the current circumstances.

Here is my understanding of this part. Raul will be next June 3rd 80 years old. If the constitution is changed limiting the terms to two of 5 years each one then legally he can be president for the next 10 years. He will then 90 years old. Will he live that long? Well, this is the tricky and most important part. As long as he is alive during the last 3 years of his last 5 years mandate, he can be playing the same game that Fidel has being playing: a decorative figure. But this role is not less important because it guarantees the transition to the unimaginable.

Raul Castro, called on Saturday for guaranteeing the continuation of the Revolution and the systematic rejuvenation of the leadership of the party and the government...

... Castro stressed the need of having a reserve of well-prepared cadres as replacements to take on major duties.

The transition to what or to who? To the new generation of Castros. That generation that currently is not... "well-prepared" yet. They have been too busy living "la Vida Loca".

If everything goes has planned during the dinners conversations between the two brothers at Point Zero, we will be seeing Cuba under the Castro's Dictatorship for the next 20 years.

A very smart plan, do not you think? It guarantees the continuation in power but at the same time it sales the idea of "changes" in the Cuban political life. Those changes that many investors in Europe and USA want to hear coming from the Caribbean Island.

Save on Gas

2011-03-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

I decided this weekend to check the new WinnDixie card. The claim is that for every 50 dollars that you spent in this store you will save 5 cents the next time that you fill your car in a Shell gas station. The fact is that I saved this weekend 25 cents per gallon! I was supposed to pay $3.56 per gallon and I paid $3.26 that 8% less! The process is easy, just follow the instructions from the LCD Display at the pump. First you slide your WinnDixie Card and after that you slide your debit or credit card. That's all.

Airplane crashes in Cuba

2010-11-06T13:15:00.001-05:00

A few days ago 68 passengers died in an airplane crash in Cuba, including nine Argentines, seven Mexicans, three Dutch citizens, two Germans, two Austrians, a French citizen, an Italian, a Spaniard, a Venezuelan and a Japanese. 28 persons that came to Cuba attracted by the promises in Tourists Brochures that show them a Cuba that only exists in those pages and that only materializes for those that were not born in that Caribbean Island.

I'm not going to write here about all the technical data about the planes and the how the Cuban government keeps them flying in Cuba, or about how Cuban pilots rights are violated daily making them to work up to the exhaustion without a proper rest regime. You can find that everywhere and I'm not who should be talking about it. I'm here to tell you what happened to me and my daughter went we left Cuba in 1998.

There are not direct flights from Cuba to USA, direct flights are from Miami to Havana and are booked in Miami. Most of the time you have to fly to another country, usually Mexico, Bahamas or Cayman Islands in a Cuban Airline and then switch to any other country airline flying to USA. In our case we went via Cayman Islands and from there we took a British Airline to Miami.

It was a cloudy day since we left Cuba and very rained when we arrived to Caiman Island. The Cuban plane when we where approaching that island was trembling making all kind of noises. The noises that you hear when metal moves against metal. Everybody was sick around me, vomiting and praying when they were not vomiting. I was scared and prayed, prayed like I never have done it in my live. I'll never forget that feeling in my stomach every time that the plain moved down and up within the clouds, and the noises, those noises like somebody was tearing apart the plain.

In Caiman Island we rested for a few hours and then we took the British Airplane. My daughter was crying like I was punishing her forcing her to take that plane. An animal that she already hated it. The plane took off and little by little she started to calm down until she finally smiled, the most beautiful smile that I ever have seen in her face. Then she looked at me and said something that I'll never forget: Papi, this is a real plane.

If you are reading this because you already surrendered to a night of pleasure in Havana. Please, remember what my 10 year old daughter said to me. Fly in a real plane.

A quitar la foto de Fidel y poner la de Raúl o volará tu cabeza

2009-03-03T07:59:00.001-05:00

Con el permiso del ABC.es pero no puedo permitir que estas reflexiones del reconocido escritor cubano Carlos Alberto Montaner pasen a la historia inadvertidamente.

Acá se las dejo.

Raúl y su no tan nueva Cuba

POR CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER

Actualizado Martes, 03-03-09 a las 13:07

Raúl Castro ha completado el proceso de sucesión dinástica. La totalidad del gabinete ya le responde disciplinadamente, con la excepción de Ramiro Valdés, un comandante histórico experto en coger gente presa y maltratarla sin compasión, con el que estuvo enemistado por muchos años. Fidel, pues, es ya irrelevante, y su muerte, cuando ocurra, será un suceso político que no tendrá otra importancia que la curiosidad de saber si lo creman y esparcen sus cenizas en la Sierra Maestra, lo momifican y lo acuestan, como a Lenin, rosadito y dócil, en la Plaza de la Revolución, o lo entierran en Birán, donde parece que están convirtiendo su casa natal en un mausoleo rural con olor a bosta de vacas y cantío de gallos. Mientras tanto, el viejo Comandante, enfundado en un chándal, cuando las tripas y las neuronas lo autorizan, se entretiene escribiendo unos parrafillos tontilocos a los que pomposamente califica de “reflexiones”, en lo que el forense le notifica que se acabó el baile.

Los grandes perdedores en estos cambios son Carlos Lage y Felipe Pérez Roque, dos delfines que esperaban desde hace años su turno generacional para ocupar el poder, pero ambos cometieron el inmenso error de declarar en diciembre de 2005 que Cuba tenía dos presidentes, Fidel y Hugo Chávez, y que la revolución estaba dispuesta a sacrificar su soberanía y su bandera en la asociación con Venezuela. Raúl, naturalmente, les hizo la cruz. De gente así, tan lejana a él y tan cercana a Hugo Chávez, ese hombre que le da de comer, pero que le parece un cruce imposible entre Cantinflas y el Che Guevara, Raúl jamás podía esperar la lealtad que suele demandar de sus subordinados.

Las estrellas ascendentes, en cambio, son Bruno Rodríguez, abogado y nuevo canciller, hijo de Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, un viejo economista marxista y tercera figura del régimen hasta su muerte, ocurrida en 1997, y Marino Murillo, quien reemplaza a José Luis Rodríguez como Ministro de Economía, un reformista in pectore que murió virgen, porque en su larga vida burocrática nunca pudo contarle a nadie que el comunismo le parecía un disparate. Con ellos, y con los ocho generales sembrados en la cúpula dirigente, Raúl piensa revitalizar la exangűe sociedad cubana, mejorar rápidamente su miserable nivel de vida, y llegar al Sexto Congreso del Partido Comunista, convocado para septiembre u octubre, con el objeto de plantear las líneas maestras de su nuevo rumbo y sentar las bases para una transmisión ordenada de la autoridad cuando él también haya pasado a mejor vida (lo dudo).

¿Qué tiene Raúl en la cabeza? Algunos cambios económicos, inversiones extranjeras a raudales, preferiblemente en asociación con el gobierno, y mucha disciplina para aumentar la producción. De cambios políticos: cero. Raúl va a tratar de manejar a la sociedad cubana de la misma manera que manejó al ejército durante medio siglo: ordeno y mando.

Mucha vigilancia. Mucho palo y tentetieso. Raúl cree que el problema está en el desorden y el robo de los cubanos, como el pobre Gorbachov, que tampoco era muy listo, creía que el problema de la URSS radicaba en el alcoholismo de los rusos.

¿Nada va a cambiar? Sí: Raúl no está interesado en polemizar con Washington ni en hacer la revolución planetaria. El “Socialismo del siglo XXI” de su protector Chávez le parece una manera boba de perder el tiempo. Él ya pasó por eso. Él sólo quiere ser un dictador doméstico, eficaz y tranquilo, y dedicar los últimos cinco años de su vida a arreglar los desaguisados de los cincuenta que gobernó su hermano. Nada más.

La realidad del pueblo cubano

2009-01-20T19:49:00.001-05:00

Tomado de Tele Madrid.

We are making a difference

2008-11-03T08:50:00.001-05:00

I lived a long time in a country where elections did not mean anything. They were designed to maintain the only one party in power and a dictator for more than 50 years in the presidency. We were obligated to vote in the elections or we would have lost our jobs if we dared to do not vote. And I remember how at the end of the elections the authorities were publishing the rates of participation that were always more than 97% and how they compared always with the same rates in USA % which were always around 50%.

This year I felt proud to be on that line and stand for 4.5 hours to vote, no because I was afraid of losing my job or because I had a police car in the front of my house to obligate me to vote but because I believed that this year we have an election where we have the opportunity to make the difference.

All this probably many Americans do not see it, but the true is that for the first time in the American history the whole world have the eyes opened looking on what is going to happen in this elections. No matter who wins we are going to have the first woman in the Vice presidency or the first African-American as president. And that's something that 4 years ago I could not believe that could happen here in our country.

Many things have changed in the last 8 years and you can see that in this Presidential Elections.

Cuba, the cruel reality

2008-09-25T14:40:00.002-05:00

I found today this short video shot by an Argentinian that traveled to Cuba in his vacation.

It's really interesting to see how a foreigners react when they discover by themselves that Cuba Communist propaganda has been lying to them all these years.

Politicians in Cuba

2008-02-17T12:09:00.003-05:00

I was watching a movie "The man of the year" and there I heard this sentence: Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often. And in both cases for the same reason. Being a Cuban-American this reminded me to Cuba where politicians have not been changed since 1959. Then I thought, well, those diapers should be full of shit. Is not time to change them?

Florida

2007-07-23T12:16:00.001-05:00

In my gadget bag I always carry beside my UMPC a 6 Megapixels digital camera because living in Florida there are lot of chances to capture some good pictures like these:

Technorati Tags: Nature

My tribute to Glenn Beck, yes Glenn, stop bashing immigrants because that what you are to begin with.

2007-06-21T06:57:00.001-05:00

Glenn Beck is a smart guy. And I enjoy his program on CNN Headline news. But not all the time. When he speaks about immigration you can see in his eyes the hidden racism deep inside of him. So, when I read this wonderful article from Sex and the Beach, I could not stop thinking about him. Warning, there is a lot of cursing in this article so if you are under age 18, you better stop reading here.

Greetings, citizens of the world, far and wide. It has come to my attention that communication is a major issue in third world countries such as ~~Darfur~~ Miami. So Maestra Manola Finlandia, an expert in Spanglish who teaches at the Ritz Carlos School of Language, has taken on a philanthropic mission paralleled only by Bradgelina to teach the world the language of the new America.
Listen, screw all the news. Many of you bitch about Hispanics but none of you have paid any thought to this very interesting phenomenon: the hard-working, highly-intellectual Cuban-Americans raised in Miami who aren't some yahoos living in mud huts. My Cubanos ... you know who you are and I'm not talking about stogies! It's time we made a statement and flung some verbal frituras de bacalao out into the world!

THIS IS FUCKING AMERICA, GET OVER IT YOU PASTY-FACED CHILDREN OF SLAVE OWNERS FROM TEN GENERATIONS AGO WHO ORIGINALLY CAME FROM EUROPEAN POTATO FARMERS! ONE-LANGUAGE SPEAKING XENOPHOBIC DOLT WHO CAN'T DANCE DOESN'T EXACTLY SPELL WORDLY SOPHISTICATION OR HUMAN WISDOM, EH? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WHEN THE PENINSULA IS SITUATED SO CLOSELY TO OTHER COUNTRIES? WAR, IMMIGRATION, EXILE, LINGUISTIC CROSS-POLLINATION, ETC; IS LIKE THE M.O. OF WORLD HISTORY AND CULTURE ALREADY! SO DON'T LORD IT OVER ME, YOU HONKY ASSHOLE!
Oh, but Maestra Manola Finlandia has enjoyed deep, rich irony in her life, such as the fact that she too is pasty-faced. Favorite line:
"You're Cuban? Really? I would've never thought so. I thought all people not from America were black and stupid and didn't speak English. Who knew? You're whiter than my South Beach bleached ass and have blue eyes. What's more, your English diction is more impeccable than the Oxford Dictionary tear sheets the Queen uses to wipe her ass on the royal toilet. How can you possibly be Cuban?"
See, apparently many Americans have an issue with Spanish. They get so pissed off about it, they even cancel blogs. Shit! It doesn't matter that the man who "discovered" America was a greedy Genovese (that's Italy, people) mother fucker who screwed the Queen of Spain to kill a bunch of Indians and deplete this continent of its natural resources just to fill his own pocket and masturbate to the cross while millions of Jews and Muslims were being slaughtered in a horrible inquisition.
He spoke Spanish, you say? Well, then that's it. Although not documented, it is said that Sir Francis Drake refused to clink his glass of calvados with Old Columbo! This may have had to do with the fact that one was dead, but heck, it was pirates in the Caribbean back then, and you know ... oh and less does it matter that the first fucking city in the territory currently know as the United States of America was St. Augustine, Florida, founded by a bunch of spick monks. Damn!
Oh and all those desperate English-speaking people who took the bangers-and-mash boat over from England to land in Plymouth because they hated their greedy, disgusting rancid-smelling fat pig of a king who dispensed with wives like he spit out peach pits inspite of all this Magna Carta crap, they were a bunch of mother fuckers also.
Y'all, half of them stayed sequestered in the Appalachians and came out with Pork BBQ and Southern twang, as well as a predilection for maudlin, melodious songs. All these idiots were followed by genocidal-crazy Germans who ended up killing a bunch of Jews (oh no! just broke Godwin's law!), lightbulb-challenged Polacks, pizza-tossing Italians and so forth, while all the peeps who used to live here were treated like shit.
And there you have it, the history of America in one fell swoop. IS IT ANY WONDER WE ARE A 231-YEAR-OLD COUNTRY? GOD BLESS AMERICA! MORE OR LESS THE SAME SHIT THAT HUMANITY HAS BEEN DOING SINCE DAY ONE IS GOING ON NOT JUST HERE BUT EVERYWHERE.
Conclusion: we are all a bunch of assholes from somewhere else and in spite of this, so many amazing people born here have made a positive dent in the history of the world. What would the earth do without the chongas from Hialeah going viral? I'm telling ya, there's hope yet!

sex and the beach

Why car insurance premiums are so high?

2007-01-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

Check this video and you will know why.

Lost City:A little bit lost in history

2006-08-27T18:51:00.000-05:00

Lost City is a movie directed by Andy Garcia, a tribute to all Cubans that today live outside of the homeland. I had a very hard time trying to contain my feelings watching the movie, and it's one of those movies that I would recommend to anybody who wants to understand Cubans in "Miami" and what they have suffered.

But... I don't know if Andy did any serious research about what happened on March 13 of 1957. According to Andy's Garcia Movie, Jose Antonio Echeverria head of the Revolutionary Directory killed himself after reading a prepared communique in the CMQ Radio Station (Radio Reloj). Well, Andy Garcia is completely wrong, Echeverria was killed by policemen when he was on his way to Havana University where he was planning to base his headquarter.

The fates decreed worse for Echeverria and the movement he headed. By chance, as he neared the university, his car collided with a patrolling police vehicle. He jumped out, firing his machine gun. The officers returned his fire, killing him almost instantly.

It's very sad to see this kind of mistakes in a movie meant to tell about Cubans and what they have suffered and still suffering. Cubans need our history kept alive but we don't need Hollywood changing our history.

I'm proud to be an American

2006-08-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm proud to be an American and more in these days when to be one could be even dangerous.

Looking for an air purifier?

2006-08-13T08:42:00.000-05:00

I have been looking for an air purifier for my Bed Room. I have to confess that Sharper Image constant advertisement on tv almost convinced me to buy one of those, but being an Internet heavy user like I'm my first step was to look online for more information. And here is what I found:

As you can see from the above chart published in Air Purifiers America the Sharper image Ion Breeze practically does not clean anything and on top of that produce Ozone which is not good for health.

Taking in consideration those results plus the results of the Air Purifier Performance to Price Comparison Chart, the air purifiers made by Alen offer the best results for your money. They have the T300 model and the T100 model for small rooms and offices which is on sale right now for around 150 dollars. I'm buying one of these T100 lit see how of works.

Tweaks2K2 Nominations this year

2006-08-04T07:46:00.000-05:00

Smart Phone and Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards in one of the most important events in the World of Mobile devices. Tweaks2K2 for Pocket PC - last year Winner - has been nominated for 5th time - consecutively - for this Award. But that's not all, the Second Member of Tweaks2K2 family, Tweaks2K2 for SmartPhone has been also nominated again this year, its second year as nominee. I feel honored to have these two programs nominated for this Prestigious Awards.

Tweaks2K2 has a 3rd Member in its family: Tweaks2K2 PC Edition. This program was specially designed having in mind the small screens of UMPCs/Origamis devices. And even when it's not that well known like its two "older brothers" for me is one of the most important tool that an IT professional in charge of configuring Pocket PCs can have. In addition to the usual PC Registry hacks, Tweaks2K2 PC Edition is armed with more than 75 registry hacks that allow to take full control and configure any Pocket PC without having to install any software on it. All is done from your PC using this program.

What is Castro's condition?

2006-08-01T15:04:00.000-05:00

That's the question that everybody is asking. Usually when somebody goes through that kind of operation the normal thing is to report back as soon as the operation is done how is the patient. But in this case beside the letter that was read yesterday in Cuban Television nothing has been reported about Castro's condition. That seems to me it's a sign that the operation results are not good or current condition of Castro is not clear yet.

The begining of the End

2006-08-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

In Cuba old people say, "There is not any illness that last one hundred years". And every time I hear that phrase the first thing that always comes to my mind is Fidel Castro. Because no doubt about it, Fidel is and has been the biggest illness that Cuba has suffered in the last 100 years. The Dictator now is 80 years old and his physical appearance clearly indicates that he will not last 100 years (Thanks God!).

Yesterday the Spanish TV Channel Univision 23 interrupted its normal programming to tell the World that Fidel Castro handed the full power of the country to his youngest brother Raul Castro. After that 1000 of Cubans went to the streets of Miami and Hialeah to celebrate this event that some of them have waited for 47 years.

At this moment it's unclear what is going to happen in the next years to come but one thing is certain, the beginning of the end has began. Fidel is dying and he will take with him 47 years of dictatorship.

Today is a great date!

2006-07-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

I just received a letter from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services with Form N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony that will be conducted the next August 18. In few words, my application for the American Citizenship was approved! For me this is one of the most important days in my life. I left Cuba 7 years ago, since then I have been living in USA. This country gave me everything that l was denied to have in my own native land. This land gave me the most valuable treasure for any man: freedom.

I'm proud to become an USA Citizenship. Thanks America!

We will have Vista next November

2006-03-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

According to Windows for Devices Vista, the XP successor could be released this next November.

"Microsoft Watch editor Mary Jo Foley quoted the blog post Tuesday morning as saying "Yes, Vista will be released in November of this year." By Tuesday afternoon, however, the November date had been replaced by the "second half of this year" language."

Many news media have criticized Microsoft for putting the UMPCs in the market before Vista was released. Many potential buyers of these new devices are asking the same question over and over: will be upgraded with Vista when this one is released late this year this first generation of UMPCs?

Disappointed with UMPC

2006-03-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Disappointed with UMPC

I have been lately following all news about the Origami and I have to confess that after the Intel Presentation I’m a little disappointed. I have the feeling that they have forgotten developers as a potential market for these devices. And I say this because what I have seen seems to me no powerful enough to support Visual Studio.

More about MS Security Implementation

2006-03-08T08:24:00.000-05:00

More about MS Security Implementation

I was asked a few weeks ago by one of Microsoft guys how this MS Security Implementation (I’m talking about locking part of the registry and denying applications access to some APIs) could affect developers, users and them too. Well, here and here you can find good examples that help to answer their question. Since the beginning developers have been fixing OEMs and MS mistakes a lot faster than patches that they release to fix this problems/mistakes. If MS/OEM locks devices how the heck we are supposed to do that? Paying the huge amounts of money for those ridiculous certifications? Listen, I have got the best certification than a developer can get: the trust and popularity among users! And for that, believe me, I never needed any MS logo or Signature.

Microsoft's Origami

2006-03-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

Microsoft’s Origami

I don’t have any doubt in my mind that the biggest news of this trimester has been the Origami. A new UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) that Microsoft has kept in secret for a whole full year. A picture of this new device has not been posted anywhere yet. An one-year-old movie leaked but MS quickly corrected rumors saying that that was just the concept that they were studying a year ago that the real Origami possible won’t look like the device in the movie.

It’s known or supposedly known that it will run XP, presumably Tablet PC Edition. Nobody knows the processor, memory size, HDD size, video card type or anything else. The only thing that is a fact so far is that Microsoft has created a Web site called Origamiproject.org

If this device has the site that I have seen in the one year old movie, a processor, memory and HDD capable or running Visual Studio 2005 and a price range between 500 and 800 dollars… you can imagine the rest of what I was about to say, don’t you?

Wilma I hate you

2005-11-01T15:19:00.000-05:00

Wilma, I hate you…

One week and one day without electricity at home. For a geek guy like me that’s an eternity.

Thanks God, my house did not suffer any damage and my family and me neither. I also happy that Katrina made me buy a generator that I used only for 5 hours that time and that has been running all this week powering my freezer, a tv, my laptop, some fans and some lights.

The first few days after the storm it was a nightmare to find gas. The blindest of the Oil companies that have not supplied generator to their gas stations just surprise me. That’s the highest level of stupidity that I have seen lately.

Well, let’s hope that the electricity is restored soon.

Help Katrina's victims.

2005-08-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

We suffered the last August 25 a direct hit by Hurricane Katrina. We lost the electricity for 48 hours. Others here in South Florida still not have electricity and still fixing damages to their houses and businesses. But nothing compare to what is happening to people in New Orleans and other cities around that area. We are talking about hundreds of thousands people that have lost their homes and Jobs. Still unknown the number of deads.

The Red Cross has opened a Hurricane Relief Fund and is asking for help. Please, consider to donate what ever you can. Just think that people in that area have lost everything and every dollar that we donate could help them with water, food and other goods.

Here is the link www.readcross.org ... Please be generous

Frank J. Garcia

Maker of Tweaks2K2

Dear Frank J,

Thank you for your generous gift to the American Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund. This fund makes it possible for the Red Cross to help nationwide Hurricane disaster victims of 2005 with critical needs such as shelter, food, clothing, counseling and other assistance. It's because of the 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund that our response can be immediate regardless of its location or the community’s ability to financially support our efforts.

Your generous support means the most to the families who rely on Red Cross to help them through some of the most difficult times of their lives.

Please continue to visit us at http://www.redcross.org/ to see how we’re using your 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund donation to make a difference, and for the most current disaster updates and stories about the people being helped.

Together, we can save a life.

American Red Cross

Si ese mar hablara (If the Sea Could Talk)

2005-08-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

(A few words in English. The last August 17 a group of 32 Cubans tried to escape from Cuba in a boat from Florida that went there to help them in their escape. 32 persons was too much weight for the small boat that sank 20 miles from the Coast of Havana, Cuba. Only 2 women and one man were found alive August 21. The son of a very close friend of my family was in that boat. This is not a movie, it's just one more page of the Cuban History written with the blood of those who have died during more of 40 years of Dictatorship.)

El pasado 17 de Agosto un grupo de 32 Cubanos trataron de escapar de la Isla usando un bote que fue a recogerlos de acá de la Florida. El día 21 sólo 3 personas fueron encontradas, dos mujeres y un hombre. Según las autoridades cubanas a quienes fueron entregadas estas personas por sus salvadores, éste era un caso de contrabando humando, los contrabandistas sobrecargaron el bote y este comenzó a hundirse luego que los motores fallaran. Luego se formó el pánico cuando estos culminaron a los pasajeros a lanzarse al mar para aliviar el peso. Cundió el pánico, todos se aglomeraron en un mismo lado de la lancha que se volcó. ¿Es cierto? Pues sólo 3 personas lo saben y no creo que dirán algo diferente en largo tiempo.

Si ese estrecho de la Florida pudiera hablar seguramente muchos se caerían de espalda al descubrir cuantas vidas ha cobrado durante más de 40 años de Dictadura Castrista. Pero como seres humanos sólo reaccionamos cuando la pesadilla nos toca de cerca. El hijo de una amiga de la familia venía en esa lancha. Hasta el pasado Domingo (28) hemos sido testigos del dolor de esa familia que aún tenía esperanzas de encontrar al hijo único. El pasado Lunes esa madre se despidió con Flores lanzadas al mar de su ser más querido, de su esperanza, del apoyo que necesitaba en este país frio y extraño.

Iris, nuestro corazón y plegarias están contigo.

Propuestas

2005-08-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

(A little note in English. This topic is in answer to some friends that have been asking to work in their pages, writing in Spanish about Pocket PC. As many knows, I worked for around 3 years in TodoPocketPC.com but like we said here, everything has an end, I'm not working any more for that page and I'm not willing to work for any other page at this moment, that's the main topic of this note)

He recibido varias propuestas para continuar escribiendo en Español sobre Pocket PCs, sobre todo la Sección de Trucos Semanales que tanta popularidad ganó en Todo Pocket PC. Estas propuestas han venido de proyectos formidables y personas que considero entre mis amistades y digo esto para que quede bien claro que si mi respuesta ha sido negativa la razón no ha estado motivada por la calidad de los proyectos ni por quien me ha hecho la propuesta.

He decidido seguir el método que llevo en la comunidad inglesa que es ser totalmente un Freelance o lo que es lo mismo alguien sin ataduras de ningún tipo que escribe lo que le parece y cuando le parece y lo publica donde le parece. Mi página cuenta con una sección de trucos en Inglés y Español donde seguiré publicando de forma esporádica los trucos y consejos que vaya encontrando atractivos.

Sobre los motivos de esta decisión irrevocable. Pues son muchos. Me entrego por completo a una causa como lo demostré por casi 3 años, y me compenetro tanto con la causa que llego a sentirme dueño del proyecto y como tal exijo cosas que están fuera de los intereses de los verdaderos dueños y esto causa inevitablemente conflictos que me convierten en una persona indeseable a pesar todo lo que contribuya. Por otro lado, en los últimos tiempos aprendí que a pesar de la gran mayoría que te apoya y comprende siempre hay quien no te aprecia y esos que no te aprecian revisarán cada letra que escribes buscando de donde agarrarse para cambiarle el sentido a tus palabras y usarlas en tu contra.

Por todo esto... Me perdonan, pero no estoy disponible. Como le dije ayer a un amigo, amo mi página donde escribo lo que quiero, como quiero, cuando quiero y donde tengo control absoluto de lo que pasa o pueda pasar. Fuera de ahí no hay otro lugar donde pudiera encontrar eso. No en futuros proyectos o páginas y No en otros proyectos o páginas por las que he transitado.

4th of July

2005-07-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

The Impendence Day is without any doubt the most patriotic holiday in USA. And one of the most impressive things of this Holiday is the Fireworks. They are for sale in everywhere and starting with the nightfall they begin to illuminate the sky with many colors... and noise.

But none of all Independence Days that I have seen can be compare with the 4th of July of 2002. Right after September 11. It was like all neighborhoods wanted to send a message, a clear message that could be seen from the other side of the Ocean. And I believe that they got it right.

There were so many Fireworks that day that the smoke from them filled the air creating a dense fog that did not allow you to see things 100 feet from you. And the smell of gunpowder was really, really intense.

I will never forget the 4th of July of 2002.

Mi relación con España

2005-07-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

España siempre ha estado cerca de mi corazón, en una relación interesante y sorprendente. Desde niño la música flamenca me hace arder la sangre, no puedo pensar en unas copas que no sean acompañadas por un buen chorizo español y cuando extraño a un país, extraño a España aunque sólo haya estado en el areopuerto de Madrid por unas horas.

A todo esto súmele que mi única relación con éste país sólo estuvo junto a mi unos pocos años de mi infancia y que yo era tan niño que sólo recuerdo su forma de tratarme cuando me llevaba de la rienda mientras yo me sentía el hombrecito más importante del mundo sobre aquel caballo viejo y manso que él traía desde muy lejos los domingos para pasearme. No recuerdo su voz. Y si me habló de España simplemente tampoco lo recuerdo. Esa persona era mi Abuelo, Luis García quien era de Burgos.

Por eso creo que mi amor por España viene en la sangre. Es algo hereditario. Y como todo lo que se hereda por esa vía es algo imposible de cambiar.

My blog

2004-08-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, I think that is time to start my own blog, some kind of spanenglish mix ;) currently under construction.