I know it's just a joke, but

don't you think there is truth behind it?

I love eBooks

As most of you may know, I'm a strong supporter of electronic books. It's been two years since I bought my last paper book. Since then I've read tens of books none of then in paper.

My ebook reader is the Sony PS500, an old model that I'm trying to sell to get the new kindle - due sometime in the near future.

I have to say that after seeing this video, I'm not sure anymore if I will buy the Amazon reader. This ebook looks amazing. Who needs paper anymore?

I'm happy to know that another professor from Columbia is getting a Nobel Price

It was announced in Stockholm that Dr. Martin Chalfie, Chair of Biological Sciences, is sharing this
year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Chalfie joins an impressive list of Nobel laureates on Columbia's faculty in a diversity of fields, from literature and economics to physics and medicine.

He is being honored for discovering the use of the green fluorescent protein to tag individual proteins inside a living cell -- a discovery first published some 14 years ago. Scientists have since used the green fluorescent protein in the study of damaged cells in the process of diseases such as Alzheimer's, genetic disorders and cancers.

I cann't help it. I have to scream it: ARE WE IDIOTS?

I've just read on El Mundo: "Los promotores: 'Antes de bajar los pisos un 30 o 40% los regalo al banco'". The genius that makes such a statement also ask for collaboration from "Comunidades autonomas" to free up terrain to increase construction.

As I said, are we idiots? Let's take 5 seconds to analyze this:

- We have too many houses on the market and nobody can afford them (at least 800,000 new houses are unsold according to last year figures)
-House trading has fallen more than 60% (in the US, the house market is at a 60 year low in terms of trading)
- House prices have fallen for second year in a row in Spain (7% in 2007, > 15% in 2008)
- The real estate bubble is behind the financial crisis

THEREFORE

- We need to build more houses!

Simply brilliant!

I have to clarify all those comments

I never said that all PSOE/Republican voters where uneducated. I said that "they have a strong support in the uneducated base of voters". Let me said it again with different words: among uneducated voters PSOE represents a favored political option. Is that incorrect? I must be wrong but PSOE stand for Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Am I wrong?

A significant amount of Republican voters are well educated, highly sophisticated people; however noboby denies that a significant portion of the supporting base is uneducated americans. Same there back in Spain. Despite the fact that the PSOE has improved their presence in some wealthy regions of Spain, it still has his supporting base rooted in the working class - what is neither bad or good. It's just a fact.

Given this circumstance, political leaders within this party use all kind of word-games to avoid talking about real issues. Relying in topics, stereotypes ... is easier than working and solving problems.

Let's google declarations from ZP & Solbes in the last year: Spain will grow at 2.9%, Spain will grow at 2.5%, Spain will not face any economic downturn, Spain will grow more than 2%, Spain will grow more than 1.1%, Spain will have positive growth, ....

Who cares? Back then, when they started lying about the economy instead of thinking about how they must get ready, the IMF had already explained everybody that the forecast for Spain was at best ~1%. Once again, who cares? This is the political game!

To be clear, I don't think the alternative party has a good answer either, but they are not in charge now.

I've been watching "Spain, on the road again"

http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/

Mario Batali and Gwyneth P. have been traveling around Spain on a gastronomic route. During the last episodes, they have spent some time in Galicia and you can find in the webpage things like the recipe for "Caldo Gallego" or some references to the amazing qualities of the Albarinho or the Tarta de Santiago.

For first time, I have to recognize that I'm feeling a little home sick :-) I'm not an integrist of anything. I'm absolutely open to the beauty, the flavors, the quality of things from other places of the world. That doesn't mean that I do not appreciate the amazing things that Spain can offer. Those are some of my favorites:

1) White wine: it's hard to find a better young white wine than the ones that Galicia produces from Albarinho grape. The closest alternative will be a good Pinot Grigio but it's not quite there in terms of acidity and fruity flavor.

2) Red wine: Ribera del Duero extracts such amazing flavors from the tempranillo grape. It competes with the best Cabs from France and Chiantis from Italy. Great choice if you are looking for full body wines with sophisticades flavors: black fruit, ... They age quite well.

3) Seafood: where can you get better shellfish than in Galicia? I do not know. I have to recognize that San Francisco has a decent offering in terms of fresh shellfish, but it is not the same.

What we lack is the sophistication, the art of presentation and clearly the international marketing. We will get there someday. Maybe, I will help ...

I have to talk about tonight's debate

Today we saw the second debate between Obama and McCain and I can not let pass the opportunity to write something about it.

Once again, seeing both candidates answering questions, I have the feeling that something is clearly wrong with the democratic system.

Obama is not the perfect candidate but he has the ability to answer the questions that were asked. You may like them or not, but he knows what he wants to do.

McCain, on the other side, has no answer for most of the questions. I remember at least two occasions where McCain simply repeated Obama's answer including a couple of stupid comments for the show.

His biggest ideas for this debate were: 1) Using the phrase "my friends" all the time to look as somebody that is close; 2) Talking about his big idea to solve the economic problem - to buy the bad debt from people; 3) Transforming what Obama said into something that doesn't make sense and sound ridiculous.

I have a clear preference to support anybody that thinks about keeping the government role at minimum. However, this time, the republican ticket is simply a joke. McCain has no idea about how to solve the real issue that this country is facing: the economic downturn. Palin is an uneducated vicepresident which only credential is the fact that looks good on TV. Where is the party that Reagan reshaped during the 80s?

I just care about three things during those elections:

1) Who is going to take a reasonable action to solve the economic crisis?
2) Who is going to ensure that every single kid on this country has health insurance?
3) Who is going to guarantee that US will act as a force for good in the world in coordination with other countries and UN (e.g., avoiding catastrophes like Darfour, helping to bring democracy to Afghanistan, controling the access that Iran or North Korea have to nuclear power)?

Obama presents a more adecuate candidate now. Let's hope his advantage keep building.

Off topic note: I found fascinating to observe the similarities between McCain and Zapatero in my home country. Both candidates have a strong support in the uneducated base of voters, therefore they do not build real answers to the real problems of the country. They just go with popular answers and catchy slogans. Zapatero's response to the economic problem that Spain faces is giving money back to the people (400 euros if I recall correctly). McCain's solution to the health care idea is to give people $5000 back every year on tax deductions. Neither of them explained that those initiatives have no real impact on the problem and just aggraveate them by creating a distraction. ZP may be extreme left, McCain may be extreme right, but they are closer than you may believe.

NY Times talking about Galicia

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/travel/14explorer.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

NY Times talking about Galicia

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/travel/14explorer.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Emily

Even if you don't believe it, my dear Emily has been created by a computer. She is nicer, does not gain weight, does not have stupid super-star caprices, does not age, etc.

Welcome to a new world!

Spain or how we think that we know everything

Recently there has been a lot of "babbling" around the infamous picture of the National Basketball Spanish team mocking the Chinese. As Spaniard, I know that there was no bad intention behind this picture. However, it surprises me how insensitive we are to any other culture.

As someone that is living and working on a highly international place, I'm fully aware of the challenges that cross-cultural interactions have. As soon as I saw the picture, I was shocked. How can we do something like that? For a moment I even forgot that 4 years ago, I could perfectly be doing the same thing. Mocking the eyes of Asian people is considered extremely rude. It's something that shouldn't we done under any circumstances.

I can understand the mistake. What I can not understand is how the Spanish press keeps talking about the issue as a "British campaign to discredit Spain". We screwed it, let's recognize it and move on. Do not blame others for our own faults.

Pi Day

Today is Pi Day, July 22. Pi day is a tradition that started back in 1988 in San Francisco. It is a day to celebrate the number Pi that fascinates to so many people. There are several days accepted as Pi Day:

• March 14 at 1h59 am is the most popular one for being 3.14159
• July 22 is the second one as 22/7 = 3.142

What can I say, if people are willing to celebrate Saint Valentine, Pi Day sounds even more appealing to me.

Manhattanhenge

Known too as the Manhattan Solstice is a semi annual occurrence where the sun perfectly aligned with the streets of New York. The proliferation of glass buildings make the show breath taking with the sun rays reflecting in uncountable windows while following their path from east to west.

It happens twice a year usually in May 28th and July 13th (evenly spaced dates around the Summer Solstice).

iPhone 3G, the hype is back

On September 2007, I wrote this article talking about what was missing on the iPhone. There were three things: 3G vs. EDGE; capacity; GPS; and applications. Clearly I wasn't the only one complaining about it because those exactly are the elements that Apple has change in the second version of the phone. Let's see what is new:

• 3G connection provides 2 - 4x faster page downloads
• aGPS combines phone-tower information with GPS data to give your exact position
• 16 GB of capacity increases the usability of the phone as unique computing platform
• App Store gives the iPhone more than ~500 applications to download including categories that go from games to productivity

I don't like the new plastic back but improves signal reception. More than 4 antennas are included in the device (i.e., EDGE, 3G, GPS, WiFI) what makes having a metal cover hard to justify.

Other than that, the device is basically the same. Minor tweaks were implemented: improved battery, a must requirement for a 3G device; warmer screen (~ 7000 vs ~ 8000 kelvin on the 1st generation); flush headphones jack.

Overall, the iPhone has redefined the concept of mobile computing - maybe it has created the concept and brought it to the mass market. For once, you can have on your pocket a complete computer that does what is supposed to do. Last weekend, we found the closest theater to watch a movie in the middle of the street. It was quick, reliable, on the go.

This is just the beginning, but I'm expecting more things to come. With more than 6 million users around the world now and 4 million more expected before the end of the year, developers will be jumping on the iPhone wagon to get a piece of the cake. Soon we will get a full GPS application (e.g., Tom Tom), maybe a presentation tool, VoIP calls (e.g., Fring, Skype), ....

Post edit:
I've just read that the App Store has received more than 10 million application downloads in the first 3 days with the number of applications rising from 500 to 800 during the same period.

Manifiesto por el castellano

Esto merece el uso de mi lengua nativa. Desde aquí me gustaría pedir a todos que firmaseis el Manifiesto en defensa de nuestra lengua. Olvidemos temas políticos y pongamos todos un poco para defender esta lengua que ha dado al mundo un sinfín de obras únicas de la literatura. Obras que por mérito propio son reconocidas sin comparación a nivel internacional.

No dejemos que el barbarismo localista que asola España, y confunde cultura con política, siga desterrando esta lengua de escuelas, calles, bares, cafés, ...

Estamos en pleno siglo XXI y cada vez más regiones de España viven bajo sistemas políticos que cortan la libertad de expresión. Increible? No por ello menos cierto.

Enlace para adherirse al manifiesto.

Defining innovation

As most of you probably know, Innovation is my true passion. It's great to see what can be done when conventional wisdom is challenged.

The tailor of Singapore

When traveling to Asia, one of the first things I always do is to find a good tailor. Savile Row is still years away, so it's hard to resist the opportunity of getting hand-made, tailor-made suits.

My recent trip to Singapore was a great surprise on this topic. A former partner of my firm was kind enough to suggest some places where he used to get his suits made. Joe Tailoring was my choice and I wasn't disappointed at all.

For some, tailor-made is about getting a copy of a famous suit/dress/shirt/... In my case, it's all about personalization. I want a specific size of the pockets, a specific number of buttons (btw, the ones on the sleeve have to be functional), a particular size of the sleeves, extremely fitted for American standards, etc. The list goes on and on.

Singapore set a new bar in terms of quality and customer satisfaction. If you ever go there, remember to visit Joe Tailoring. They are not a cheap alternative, but the result will completely shock you.

OE OE OE OE OE OE!!!!!

Hoy toca español! Qué alegría!

Comenzaba la tarde mal! El bar al que fuimos estaba lleno de alemanes, no tenía comida y estaba hasta la bandera.

Fieles al estilo Spanish! la mayor parte de la banda llegó tarde y desde allí decidimos tratar de crear ambiente en otro lado.

Acabamos en un restaurante con una gran pantalla. Faltaba algo asi que Caro y Maria se decidaron con una bandera a reclutar espa~noles en la calle. En breve teniamos mas de 30 personas.

Empezo el partido, llego Torres y .... el resto es historia!

Ferrari California - No explanation required!

NY Times: A Goya Tour of Madrid

One of my favorite readings is NY Times travel section on weekends. Today, they are covering a Tour of Madrid center on the figure of Goya. It's really worthy.

One of my passions

Since I was a kid, I always loved photography. It gives you the opportunity to freeze a memory forever; the opportunity of capturing that fraction of a second where everything happens; the opportunity of bringing your own creativity to the world changing the way it appears to the eye; the opportunity ... You know, unlimited opportunities.

I still remember the time where I took just one or two shoots trying to guess what is going to be result; where I needed to remember that each "click" was going to cost me more than 50 cents. Those times are gone, are gone forever.

I bought my first digital camera, point an shoot camera, and I kept since then as a precious memory the words of everyone telling me what a short future that new trend had: "digital pictures, who cares? people love to see paper". I still laugh remembering that :-)

A long time has passed and one month ago I started to update all my gear and the process is not over. This is my gear, I'm more than happy with all the elements, so I strongly recommend them to anybody trying to jump to more serious photography.

• Body: I replaced my Canon 400D XTi for the Canon 40D (semi-pro). I was thinking about the 5D Full Frame but price, weight and knowing that the 5D-II is coming stopped me.

• Walk through lenses: Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5. It's a fast glass that brings together a zoom and good aperture range

• Telezoom: Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. The image stabilization plays along with this great lenses. Some people call this a L lenses hidden on a EF price.

• Must have: Canon 50mm, f/1.8 II. It's a fixed lens that has an amazing quality for just $89. Who can resist it? It's a shame that 50mm with an APC camera is not so usable, but still it's worth any penny. Great for portraits

• Backpack: Canon EG200, great offeering for the money: a lot of space, good compartments, protected, ... It lacks some protection against water, but it cost less than $30

Now, I'm just longing for opportunities to use it.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. Today is considered a day of bad luck in all English, French and Portuguese speaking countries in addition to tons of other countries (e.g., Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, ...)

Spanish speaking countries have their thing with Tuesday 13 and Italians, as usual, have decided to honor a complete different number, Friday 17th.

It seems that the idea of bad luck came on the 19th century from joining two different concepts:

1. Thirteen is in general associated with bad lack as it's the first number that come after the magic 12 - 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 Jesus' apostoles, ...
2. Friday is, in Christian societies, a dark day. The day when Jesus Christ was crucified.

One plus one equals two. My question is, what the hell happen on Tuesday?

My first HDR picture

HDR is a new photographic technique that allows to capture higher ranges when taking pictures (High Dynamic Range). This is my first one. It was taking with a Canon XTi, 17-70 mm Sigma Lens from the River Cafe on Brooklyn.

Singapore sling

The Singapore Sling is a cocktail that was invented in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1915. The drink made by Ngiam Tong Boon was intended to be a ladies drink and became extremely popular over time.

The original recipe includes gin, cherry brandy and Benedictine (equal parts). The drink will be served on a glass after being shaken. On the glass club soda will be added to finalize it.

The picture shows the one that I drunk today on the Raffles Hotel. I know it's a ladies drink, but I really like it.

Note: do not order a Singapore Sling other than here. Every time I tried one, it's been awful.

Taxi fact pack and other things

I call TFP (Taxi Fact Pack) to the set of data that the first taxi driver tells you when you get into a new country. On Singapore I've got:

• Cleanest city in the world
• 0.05% unemployment rate
• 2.5 Million citizens (~70% Chinese, ~20 Malaysian, ~10% Indies & other)
• The city has pieces of New York (the skyline), London (the Eye), Las Vegas (they are building two amazing casinos)
• The harbor can move thousands of cargoes per hour competing with Hong Kong to become the biggest harbor on this part of the world

Cab drivers and shoe shiners are probably the two professions with more access to what people thinks. They deal with dozens of clients every day, and given the loneliness of their profession they tend to spend a lot of time listening. Great sources of information!

First thoughts (Singapore, day 1)

After 20 hours on the plane, here I am finally. The flight was quite pleasant, surprisingly. Singapore airlines provides great seats also on coach: space, great screens, a lot of movies, ...

How do you get ready for a 20 hours flight? There are some things that you need to pack:

1. Noise canceling headphones, my choice is Sony MDR-NC60. They are cheaper than other options and provide the highest noise cancellation available (87%).
2. iPod Video full of movies/TV shows. I used this trip to catch up with Battlestar Gallactica. I'm almost done with the first season. Note: after July, it will be a iPod Touch or iPhone with a bigger screen. I can't wait!!!
   
3. Extra battery for the iPod so you can play movies for more than 2-3 hours.

Singapore is so far one of the nicest cities I've seen. It's so clean that you can't believe it. It makes Tokyo seem dirty. It makes NY look like a latrine :-( People is nice and everyone speaks perfect English, with an accent but great.

The picture was taken this morning on the hotel. I love how flowers on the water look on picture. My first stop will be Orchard Road for two reasons: 1) it's the main shopping area of Singapore and I need a couple of things; 2) the shuttle from the hotel takes you there, so it will be the easiest thing to do now that I'm completely groggy.

Second stop, find a great tailor. Remember my advise, never visit Asia without taking the chance to increase your wardrobe.

Black swan

In Nassim N. Taleb's definittion, a black swan is a hard to predict, large impact event beyond the realm of normal expectations. There are multiple examples of Black Swans just in the recent history (e.g., black Monday 1987 - largest one day stock decline in history).

The term Black Swam was selected by Taleb after the conception that all swans where white. Conception that was based on empirical evidence, before the discovery of Australia, there were no black swans in the known world.

The book is easy to read, so I strongly recommend everybody to give it a try. No so long ago, I heard a lot of people say "real estate prices will never go down". Black swans are all over the place.

Money makes you happier

Against popular culture or traditional sayings, money makes you happier. There is clear correlation and causality between income level and happiness. There is no other single factor that can increase levels of happiness as sharply as money can.

Freakonomics, one of my favorite blogs, has a interesting series on "The Economics of Happiness" where you can find data supporting this argument. The effect is observed in all the countries with a similar ratio.

I shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. Having a higher income carries as a consequence better health care, education, possibilities for enjoyment and relax, ...

Ready to flight

In 4 days, I will be traveling to Singapore. Close to Malaysia, Singapore is one of the few city-nation that still exists. During the late 80s and early 90s, Singapore became the prosperous city that linked business across cultures and continents. Fusion of old Asian tradition and old world style, Singapore has grown to be a amazing place where everything is possible.

I will be there two weeks on a training program. During this time, I will find the time to get to know the city, the culture and the food. The opportunity for this trip just came one week ago when an open spot appeared. As always, surprises come with trade-offs. In this case, I'm talking about the longest flight in the world. In just one shot, we will be covering all the ground between New York and Singapore- 19 hours in a plane. It may seem better than taking two planes, but I'm no so sure how things will work out on a plane for so long.

My only concern is the amount of fuel they are going to put on the plane!

The Onion: 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Made Into Feature Film

El metro en Japón

Las estaciones de tren y metro en Japón tienen personal asignado que facilita la tarea de cerrar las puertas. Increible pero cierto.

Por qué hay tan pocos solteros interesantes?

No puedo contenerme a copiar este análisis de la típica queja femenina: "los buenos están casados o son gays" desde una perspective de "game theory" (artículo original en Marginal Revolution):

...game theory predicts, and empirical studies of auctions bear out, that auctions will often be won by "weak" bidders, who know that they can be outbid and so bid more aggressively, while the "strong" bidders will hold out for a really great deal. You can find a technical discussion of this here. (Be warned: "Bidding Behavior in Asymmetric Auctions" is not for everyone, and I certainly won't claim to have a handle on all the math.) But you can also see how this works intuitively if you just consider that with a lot at stake in getting it right in one shot, it's the women who are confident that they are holding a strong hand who are likely to hold out and wait for the perfect prospect.

This is how you come to the Eligible-Bachelor Paradox, which is no longer so paradoxical. The pool of appealing men shrinks as many are married off and taken out of the game, leaving a disproportionate number of men who are notably imperfect (perhaps they are short, socially awkward, underemployed). And at the same time, you get a pool of women weighted toward the attractive, desirable "strong bidders."

Where have all the most appealing men gone? Married young, most of them—and sometimes to women whose most salient characteristic was not their beauty, or passion, or intellect, but their decisiveness.

Pro-bono work

"Six US companies and nonprofits are to receive Pro Bono Awards from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for their leadership in engaging business professionals in pro bono service to meet community needs.

McKinsey & Company is receiving the "Innovator" award for its decentralized approach to pro bono service which allows McKinsey leaders to select the projects that will have the greatest impact on their communities. McKinsey has a long tradition of pro bono service to local communities, and through its global Social Sector Office is working with leading nonprofit and public sector institutions to address challenges in economic development, education, and global public health."

From Consultants News

Eutanasia

Leo hoy que Francia se replantea su ley sobre Eutanasia después de lo acontecido con Chantal Sebire. Este tema realmente me interesa. Cuál es el problema? Por qué un individuo no puede elegir cuando morirse? Parece una cuestión de lo más sencillo.

Me temo que la solución sin embargo será complicada. Pensando en ello he recordado la frase de Les Luthiers: "El intento de suicidio está castigado en muchos países. En algunos incluso con la pena de muerte."

Inflacción

Mi gran amiga MD me manda esta foto de un hombre camino del supermercado para hacer la compra en Harare (Zimbawe). La inflacción del país roza el 100% lo que hace imposible la vida.

Zimbawe, siendo el país con mayor inflacción del mundo actualmente, se queda en una mera anécdota cuando se analiza la historia de Argentina (>1400% de inflacción durante varios años entre los 70 y los 90). Tal vez sea por eso que la hiperinflacción me ha fascinado desde siempre. Nunca he dejado de preguntarme cómo uno consigue sobrevivir en un entorno tal. La respuesta no es sencilla y tiene muchos matices.

La hiperinflacción conlleva una pérdida absoluta de valor de la moneda - la imagen lo dice todo. En dicho entorno la sociedad vuelve a un modelo de trueque para establecer relaciones económicas, por ejemplo cambiar unos zapatos por la cesta de la compra.

Sin embargo el trueque, solución temporal para el día a día, no aplica en el mundo de los negocios. Las empresas asumen una moneda fuerte internacional como referencia y se cancelan las operaciones en divisa nacional. Tradicionalmente el dollar ha sido el referente para este tipo de transacciones.

Las causas de la inflacción son múltiples y sus soluciones complicadas. Resulta fascinante entender los mecanismos de las políticas monetarias que están tantas veces en la raíz del problema. No conozco el caso de Zimbawe, pero nuestra querida Argentina es una ejemplo de libro.

Nuevo gobierno que promete estabilizar el país -->Para crear crecimiento incrementa la contratación pública --> Cuando las previsiones no se cumplen y no se genera suficiente para pagar la deuda se emite más dinero --> El dinero consecuentemente se devalúa --> La devaluación ocasiona inflacción de los productos --> El ente público emite más dinero para incrementar --> sueldos ...

Cuando te das cuenta estás en dos cifras de inflacción y es imparable. Como siempre en economía el problema es explicar las cosas al ciudadano de la calle. Hay una anécdota muy curiosa de la negociación en Argentina en los 90. El gobierno, tratando de controlar la inflacción, establece una mesa de negociación con los sindicatos más fuertes del país. La propuesta es congelar los sueldos del funcionariado para así parar la inflacción. Serán un par de años difíciles pero el país recuperará la senda del crecimiento.

La negociación fue un completo desastre y finalizó con subidas salariales astronómicas. El líder sindical, un hombre muy inteligente, lo explicó de manera muy sencilla: "si congelamos los sueldos, es evidente que la gente pierde con lo cual yo soy un fracaso y me despido del puesto aunque tenga un beneficio claro en todo el mundo al mejorar la economía"

"si incremento los sueldos un 50% soy un héroe, da igual que la inflacción se dispare un 200% y la gente pierda mucho más poder adquisitivo que con una congelación. Nadie va a culparme por eso"

Octopus, Galician Style

El bueno de JR me ha mandado este enlace al NY Times: Pulpo a la gallega!


La receta no está mal del todo. Para la próxima lo preparo en casa.

Manhattan (1979, Woody Allen)

"Chapter one.
He adored New York City. He idolised it all out of proportion."

Uh, no. Make that "He romanticised it all out of proportion. "

"To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town
that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes
of George Gershwin. "

Uh... no. Let me start this over.

"Chapter one. "

"He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. "

"He thrived on the hustle, bustle
of the crowds and the traffic. "

"To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys
who seemed to know all the angles. "

Ah, corny. Too corny for a man of my taste.

Let me... try and make it more profound.

"Chapter one. He adored New York City. "

"To him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. "

"The same lack of integrity to cause so many people to take the easy way out...
... was rapidly turning the town
of his dreams..."

No, it's gonna be too preachy. I mean, face it, I wanna sell some books here.

"Chapter one. He adored New York City, although to him it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. "


"How hard it was to exist in a society desensitised by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage..."

Too angry. I don't wanna be angry.

"Chapter one. "

"He was as tough and romantic
as the city he loved. "

"Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. "

I love this.

"New York was his town and it always would be. "

HP 48GX

Pocas cosas se mantienen en el tiempo. Desde 1994 el mundo ha sufrido una de las mayores revoluciones de la historia: Internet, Móviles, más de 1,000 millones de personas han salido del grupo de pobreza, el terrorismo se ha convertido en una fuerza imparable que amenaza a todo el mundo, ...

Sin embargo, algunas cosas se mantienen igual. Si bien la fabada de la abuela ahora viene en lata, mi vieja calculadora HP 48 GX (más de 13 años la pobre) no solo sigue funcionando como el primer día, sino que todavía se puede conseguir en Amazon prácticamente al mismo precio que la compre en su momento: $240.

My new run

Qué vergüenza!

Hay muchas razones para sentirse orgullosos de ser españoles, pero todavía nos queda mucho por andar en decenas de frentes.

Es increible que seamos portada mundial en NY Times, The Times, The Guardian, ... por un problema de insultos racistas. Seguro que muchos tratan de restarle importancia con comentarios del tipo: "es cosa de unos pocos", "si siempre hay exaltados", etc. Sin embargo, la realidad es que acabamos de salir de nuestro rinconcito al mundo exterior y cada vez que vemos algo distinto lo insultamos.

Para los que vivimos fuera, es una pena que las noticias que veamos estén en dos grupos: bochorno o problemas económicos gravísimos. Vaya futuro le espera a los amigos que están allá! Suerte!

2 de febrero!

Hoy es el día de la marmota! Y Punxsutawney Phil ha visto su sombra hoy lo que conlleva a seis semanas más de invierno. Preparad el abrigo!

Super Bowl XLII: Giants vs Patriots

Muchos no sabéis de mi nueva pasión por el Football Americano. Hace unos meses decidí que era el momento de aceptar algún deporte americano como propio para ayudar en el proceso de integración y de paso disponer de un tema de conversación los lunes. Los Giants resultaron ser la opción perfecta – el equipo de NY.

Ha sido una temporada de lo más interesante. Ya en los Play Offs cada domingo escuchaba como mi querido equipo (nuevo, pero querido) carecía de ningún apoyo en el partido del domingo: “de aquí no pasan”, “si ya han tenido suerte llegando aquí”, “pero si tienen al peor quarterback de la NFL”, …

Contra todo pronóstico hace dos semanas los Giants vencieron a los Green Bay Packers por un puesto en el Super Bowl. Mañana es el gran día. Mi equipo se enfrenta al que puede ser el mejor equipo de la historia: los Patriots. Estos no han perdido un partido en toda la competición, algo único, y cuentan con el mejor quarterback: Tom Brady. Aun así confío en la victoria de los buenos J A ver que pasa.

Gomaspuminglish

Si es que así aprendí inglés yo!

Los mercados financieros y las sorpresas

Esta semana ha venido con los primeros golpes serios a los mercados financieros. No deja de asombrarme que mucha gente reaccione con sorpresa cuando estos ajustes vienen siendo esperados desde mediados del año pasado.

Existen ciertos estudios de neurología que demuestran que cuando se trata de la bolsa los seres humanos pierden la capacidad de racionalizar. Parece ser que la posibilidad de grandes beneficios activa reacciones nerviosas en el cerebro equivalentes a las que se desatan cuando se está hambriento y nos presentan comida. En otras palabras, nuestro yo más primitivo se activa dejando la voz de la razón de lado.

No es sencillo, incluso posible, predecir el comportamiento de los mercados en el corto plazo. No tengo ni la más remota idea de que va a suceder mañana y por tanto no me preocupa. Es por ello que de cara a inversiones recomiende siempre pensar en largo plazo y con dos dedos de frente.

El precio de una acción no es más que el valor presente de los posibles dividendos futuros que la empresa va a entregar; o lo que es lo mismo, los beneficios futuros de la empresa descontados al presente y divididos por el número de acciones. Si a uno le dicen que Google vale $700, dicha información no aporta nada. Si os digo que $700 significa que Google va a multiplicar por 4 sus beneficios durante varias decenas de años entendereis por que creo ese valor de acción es estúpido. Ahora vale $550 y todavía es cara, aún así espero pronto ver a gurús recomendando comprarla porque está barata a menos de $700. Personalmente, todo lo que sea más de $300 no me parece razonable, por ello nunca meteré un duro ahí.

Otro de mis ejemplos preferidos, Apple. Me encantan sus productos, tanto que debería ser cliente preference: iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, iMac. Creo que los tengo/he regalado todos. Sin embargo su precio en bolsa es cuando menos extraño. Una valoración sensata de su negocio estar'ia en el rango de los $90, por ello $200 parece un precio un tanto exagerado.

Mi ultimo ejemplo, el sector immobiliario en Espa~na, no hay teor'ia econ'omica que no haya sido empleada para justificar por que el precio de la vivienda nunca bajar'a. 2007 ha demostrado lo contrario y sin duda 2008 pondr'a las cosas mucho m'as en su sitio. Nada se libra de las leyes de la demanda y la oferta. Y en cuanto a casas la oferta es enorme y la demanda cada vez menor, mas en tiempos de recesi'on. En resumen, que ahora es cuando tenemos que empezar a pensar en comprar. Cuanto mas leamos que es mal momento, mejor sera para conseguir buenas gangas. Aprovechadlo, al fin y al cabo estas cosas solo pasan cada diez a~nos.

Monopoly! World Edition!

El famoso juego de mesa ha puesto en marcha una iniciativa para crear la primera edición mundial en la que cada casilla representará una ciudad del mundo. La elección de las ciudades será en base a votaciones a través de esta página web: http://www.monopolyworldvote.com/en_GB/world

Entre las candidatas está Madrid y en este momento con cierto riesgo de quedarse fuera de la lista (está de 31 de 20 posibles). Mis otras ciudades ya están en el top: NY, Londres, Tokyo. Venga, que no sea por falta de interés. Que Madrid, tercera ciudad de Europa, ocupe el sitio que le corresponde.

Hablando de Turismo

El pasado año NY recibió algo más de 53 millones de turistas, cifra que no parece del todo mala pero que sin embargo las autoridades han decidido aumentar.

Entre otras muchas iniciativas esta la de crear cataratas de 120 metros de altitud en puntos significativos de la ciudad, por ejemplo en el puente de brooklyn. Habrá cuatro de ellas y estarán montadas este verano. Su coste aproximado es $15 millones con unos ingresos esperados por incremento de turistas de $45 millones. Parece un buen negocio.

La importancia de la perspectiva

Uno de los grandes recursos de los medios de comunicación consiste en el manejo de datos como pilar fundamental de la noticia. Quién osará cuestionar cuando los números así lo indican? El problema radica en que los números son articifios creados por el ser humano que permiten la comparación y a través de ella el análisis y la racionalización.

Permitidme que utilice algún ejemplo para arrojar algo de luz sobre esta idea. Iraq, el gran presente en los medios de comunicación, presenta cifras de muertos/asesinatos que cada mañana nos aterrorizan en las noticias. Sin embargo, no oimos referencias a nuestro nuevo aliado internacional Venezuela que presenta una tasa de asesinatos que duplica (si x2) los datos de Iraq. Ambas situaciones son espantosas pero una nos la encontramos en la sopa y la otra pues no.

Otro de mis favoritos, el poderío de China como potencia económica. Sabíais que económicamente el GDP de China es menos del doble del de España y que es inferior al de Alemania. Así pensado ya no parece tan apabullante. Ah, por cierto, el GDP China es un sexto del de Estados Unidos, la economía de Canada es mayor que la de España y Rusia es menor no sólo que nosotros, sino también que Brasil.

Unico recurso disponible, preguntarse siempre, este dato que nos dan como se compara con …

Premios Darwin 2007

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Vaya desde aquí mi más sincero agradecimiento a todos aquellos que año tras año ayudan a mejorar la raza humana. Se ha publicado la lista del 2007 y es pública en esta dirección.

Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft - CES 2008

Cada año Bill Gates presenta en CES las últimas tendencias en tecnología desde la perspectiva de Microsoft: Surface, UMPC, Tablet PCs, ...

Este año, sin embargo, ha tocado despedida (Bill abandona Microsoft para dedicarse a gestionar su fundación benéfica) y con ella un video en clave humor retratando el último día de Bill en su trabajo. De lo más divertido y con una estela de cameos de lo más impresionante: de Bono a Obama pasando por Hillary.

Feliz 2008!

Un nuevo año ha comenzado. Sin embargo, viendo los videos de la gente bailando en la fiesta me doy cuenta de que estamos muy cerca de nuestra querida Elaine!

Feliz anho a todos!