A week of mourning

All good things must come to an end. This is the case in the life of my father-in-law. He spent four weeks in the hospital, of which three weeks were spent in the ICU. He then left the hospital and was able to go with his family back home. His whole left side was paralyzed, but all of us still had hope that in the end everything was going to be fine. Two weeks after he came home, he started acting different. He started sweating a lot and saying things that did not make sense. This was on March 14, 2009, just one day before his 29th wedding anniversary. My wife decided to take my father-in-law back to the hospital. Unfortunately, on the way to the hospital, he suffered a heart attack, and the doctors could not revive him. It’s already been two weeks since that tragedy, and the family is still mourning his death, but everything seems to be getting back to normal.

D.E.P. Ing. Rodolfo Gomez Lozoya

A week of sadness

On January 30, 2009, me and my wife were supposed to head out of town and visit my family. That did not happen. On my way to her parents how to pick her up, she called me. She was crying and told me that she was in the hospital. It turns out my father-in-law had an aneurysm(a vain in his head busted). Since then, for over a week now, he’s been in an induced coma. He was supposed to have woken up las Sunday, but his kidneys were not getting rid of the medicine fast enough. The doctors thought he would need dialysis. Luckily enough, though, he woke up yesterday in the afternoon. He is a lot better now, but still in ICU. Now, it’s just a matter of time until he leaves the hospital. Hopefully sooner than later.

Ubuntu Saves Windows (Again?)

I got a call last week from my wife telling me that her work computer was poping up IE windows everywhere. Obviously there was no antivirus installed on her computer, otherwise this might not have happened. Her computer was not connected to the internet before, so she did not realize anything was wrong. But once that cable was pluged in to the back, everything changed.
First, i asked her to describe what she saw. After that, I checked online to see what type of virus she had and how to remove it. I went to her work, sat down, removed the virus and installed one of the best free anti-virus software. It was already the weekend so I left the a/v running.
Monday morning she called me again saying that now the computer would not boot up, someting about “ntldr”, or something like that. I was told by a “windows specialist” that the only fix was to re-install windows. Instead, I showed up and booted with the Ubuntu live cd and noticed that all of her files directly inside the c: drive where gone. I’m not sure if deleting the virus deleted those files, or maybe the virus infected those files and they where removed by the a/v, or it could have been that the a/v deleted them anyways just because.
I started my virtual installation in mu Ubuntu laptop, copied all of the missing files to a usb drive and placed them in her computer. After that her computer booted normally. I did not have to worry about backing up her files, re-installing windows or any of her other programs. So there you have it, once again windows is saved by Ubuntu.

Mi chavo esta creciendo

Pues mi hijo de un poco mas de dos años ya va creciendo. La semana pasada se descalabro por primera vez. Ya le dije que es la primera de muchas mas que va a recibir. A pesar que yo fui muy tranquilo de chico, si llegue a abrirme la cabeza unas 10 veces. Que tal ustedes que estan leyendo esto? Cuantas veces les paso? Se acuerdan de la primera vez? Cuantos años tenian?

Indecision 2008

Well, we are only two weeks away from election day, and it seem that the media already knows who is going to win. I’m sure the vast mayority already know who they are going to vote for, at least I already know. My guy, John McCain. I know, I know. By the looks of the polls, most of you out there are Obama supporters and I’m sure I’ll be hearing from you. But you see, I’m Catholic, and, like the official church doctrine, I’m a stong Pro-Life supporter.

I know that Obama will bring a lot of new and fresh ideas to our government.  There is a lot of good in having a “young” president. At the same time, I’m not sure that right now is the best time to experiment with new ideas, you know, with the war and the economy going on. He has only been in the US Senate for four years, not even a term, by this November. If it were not for that, I’m sure I would be thinking differently.

McCain on the other hand, already know the playing field very well. He’s been elected to the Senate four times already, so I’m sure he must be doing something right. At the same tocken, he is a little advanced in his age. I don’t wish any evil to him, but come on. If he where to become president, he would beat Ronald Regan by two years at being the oldest president. And if he where to serve both terms, whe would be 80 by the time he leaves the presidency.

One thing is for sure, by November fifth, we would have elected the first black or the first woman into the white house.

I’m sure I’m setting things up for a flame war, but I just want to say that I respect everybody’s decision. I just hope that before everybody starts with the insults, you can also accept mine. Regardles of who wins, it will be because WE made the decision to put him there, so that HE can represent us, our belives and our ideas to the rest of the nation and the rest of the world.

Por un Mexico libre de pirateria

No cabe duda que nuestro país va creciendo. Las casas siguen iguales pero nuestra forma de pensar, trabajar y hacer las cosas son mejor que antes. Ya no es extraño entrar a una casa, por mas humilde que sea, y ver una computadora. Tal vez sea una que nos paso algún familiar que ya no le estaba dando el uso, pero lo interesante es de que ahí esta.

Pero muchas de estas veces, las computadoras son tan viejas y tan lentas que tan solo para prenderla se puede tardar una eternidad. Encima de esto, nosotros queremos también instalarle el nuevo Windows Vista, Photoshop y cualquier otro programa que requiera de mas memoria de lo que tenemos, claro, pirateados como ya es costumbre para nosotros los Mexicanos.

Sin embargo, no tenemos porque vivir bajo esas condiciones tecnológicas. Existe otra opción que no tiene que ser tan severamente lento y que a la vez es una alternativa legal y gratis: Linux. Tal vez la mayoría de la gente no sabe de este sistema operativo, pero se que la gran mayoría lo ha usado. Linux se encuentra por todos lados, desde un celular hasta las grandes computadoras de grandes empresas e incluso las computadoras que hacen que el internet exista. Existen muchas versiones de Linux, debido a que es un sistema operativo conocido como “Libre”. Libre de de costos y libre de restricciones. Cualquier persona puede descargar una versión y modificarlo según sus necesidades. Hoy en día la versión mas conocida y mas usada es Ubuntu.

La palabra “Ubuntu” proviene de África, y aunque no tenga una traducción a otra lengua, se puede definir como “Yo soy porque nosotros somos, y como nosotros somo, por lo tanto yo soy”.Habla de que nosotros debemos ser individuos en una comunidad. Y eso es lo que se quiere lograr con esta distribución de Linux, una comunidad de individuales.

Existen varias versiones, o “sabores” de Ubuntu. Todos contienen lo necesario para poder usar una computadora como debe ser, como es Firefox (para el internet), OpenOffice (para escribir, equivalente a Office), Empathy (programa para chatear en Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AIM, y varios mas), Brasero (programa para hacer CD’s/DVD’s), GIMP (similar a Photoshop), y muchos, muchas mas.

Los “sabores oficiales” de Ubuntu son:

• Ubuntu – El original. Gnome es el programa que te da todo visual dentro de Ubuntu.

• Kubuntu – Es igual que Ubuntu, pero usa KDE en vez de Gnome. En pocas palabras, funciona igual pero se ve diferente.

• Xubuntu – Parecido a los primeros dos. La diferencia es que usa Xfce. Es muy parecido a Gnome pero mucho mas ligero. Normalmente se utiliza en computadoras que tienen menos potencia.

Ahora vienen las versiones especiales:

• Edubuntu – Basado en el Ubuntu original, pero con programas y juegos dirigido hacia los niños.
• Ubuntu Studio – También basado en el Ubuntu original. Este contiene programas dirigido hacia la gente que trabaja y modifica archivos de multi-media, como son los archivos de fotos, sonido y videos.
• Mythbuntu – Basado en Xubuntu, este contiene un programa para poder utilizar tu computadora como un centro de entretenimiento. Conecta la computadora a tu televisión (o usa tu monitor) y podrás ver tus películas, videos, escuchar música, ver tus fotos, etc. Incluso teniendo el equipo adecuado, puedes grabar tus programas de televisión, algo así como TiVo.

Otras dos versiones dirigidas a dos religiones en especifico son Ubuntu ME (Edición Musulmán) y Ubuntu CE (Edición Cristiana). Es el mismo Ubuntu pero programas especiales, como el Coran o la Biblia.

En todas estas versiones mencionadas, el usuario puede descargar el archivo, quemarlo en un CD (conocido como LiveCD), y usarlo sin tener que hacerle ni un tipo de modificacion a su computadora y sin borrar sus archivos.

Cabe mencionar que aunque Ubuntu es una excelente alternativa de Windows, no es para todos. Muchos programas de Windows pueden ejecutarse en Linux a través de Wine. Sin embargo, ciertos programas, como AutoCAD, aun no llegan al punto de poderse usar en Wine. Pero a la vez hay muchos programas que tienen una version para Linux, o minimo una alternativa.

El error que mucha gente comete al querer usar Linux es que quieren que sea Windows. Tienen que darse cuenta que Linux NO es Windows. Las cosas son diferentes, se usan diferente, funcionan diferente, pero tienen el mismo fin. Si logran superar esa mentalidad, podran hacer el cambio hacia Linux, sin duda alguna el sistema operativo mas seguro del mundo.

El que este interesado en empezar a utilizar Ubuntu, o tenga mas preguntas sobre su uso, por favor comunicarse son su GEEK mas cercano, o mandarme a mi un mensaje.

The Economy and Open Source

It’s out there, you’ve read it, you’ve seen it, you’re living it and I bet you are just tired of it. It’s the “world-wide bankruptcy” that seems to be falling upon us. Well, here is another blog about this so-called “credit crunch”, but this time, it’s focused on technology, more specifically, open source. 

It’s my opinion that open source is the way to help, not only individuals, but also big, multi-national companies, and even developing countries, get back on their feet.

From the individual point-of-view, it’s a no brainer. Open-source means not spending money to have the latest version of a program. Lets take word processing as an example. Office 2007 can cost you $150+, while the latest version of OpenOffice.org, which has the same functionality as Office 2007, will cost you exactly $0.  Sure, you can keep running Office XP that you bought a few years back, but not only are you missing the newest features, you are also missing the security fixes. That means that you are vulnerable to having your computer screwed up or giving others access to your personal files.

It’s not only word processing where you can save money. Almost any piece of software that you use will have an equivalent free alternative, right down to the operating system. Linux has been progressing a lot since it was first introduced more than 25 years ago. It is no longer for the geeks only. Anybody can download, test, install and start using any distribution of Linux out there (Ubuntu being my personal favorite) and before you know it, be using it just as you would be using your favorite operating system.

The same would apply to small businesses, as well as huge corporations, except their savings would be multiplied even more. Now for companies that make software, they can benefit from open source even more. By releasing their software to the public, they can save money on having to pay employees. Instead of having to pay hundreds of employees to build their programs, they can give the code to the world so that thousands of volunteers can modify it and make it even better, without costing the company as much. There are many examples of companies going the open-source way, IBM, Sun

Businesses everywhere are loosing anywhere from thousands to billions of dollars, depending on their size. By taking the open source approach, they can lower their budget or put that money where it is needed the most. 

But how about developing countries? Well, there’s plenty of ways that they can benefit. With the help of technology they can grow bigger, better, stronger and faster, and open source is the best way to do it. OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is an organization that wants to take technology to the most remote and poorest of countries, offering a $200 laptop. But we can all do our share. Donating your used computer, installing Ubuntu on it, and handing it out to the most needed will have the same impact. Giving citizens access to technology can make their own economy grow, giving that country a fighting chance in the globalized economy. 

By using open-source software, and living in the open-source mentality, we can give the vast majority the same opportunities to a better future.  There are many ways to help without even knowing anything about writing computer programs. Find an open-source project that interests you and become an active volunteer. Help new comers fix issues that maybe you’ve experienced before. Report bugs that you’ve encountered to make a better product. Help translating that software to a different language that you might know. Just imagine how many Africans could benefit if you where to translate a program to Fula.

UPDATE: As ubuntucat has pointed out in the comments. OpenOffice.org does not have the same functionality as Office 2007. However, what OpenOffice.org does is more than enough for the above-average user. The same applies to any other open-source program. I personally use Ubuntu 95+% of the time, but there are still a couple of programs that I cannot run in Ubuntu, not even under Wine, but for the vast majority, Linux will meet all their needs.

Hola Mundo!

Siendo mi primer post en mi propio blog, voy a darles una introduccion sobre los temas que se van a discutir aqui. El titulo lo dice todo “Familia, Tecnologia & Bi-Lingual”. Dependiendo del tema, y mi estado mental , escribire en ingles o español. Van a encontrar muchos temas relacionados a la tecnologia, algunos temas sobre mi familia (soy algo timido en cuanto a mi vida privada se refiere), un poco de arquitectura. Mas que nada, creo que la gente que entre a leer este blog van a poder leer mis pensamientos. Mucha gente (Luis, Chololo, etc.) me dicen “de donde sacas tanta informacion? Deberias escribir un libro.” La verdad no soy una persona que le guste escribir mucho, de hecho, tampoco leer. Pero hare el intento.

Existe otro blog donde, junto con otros usuarios, se escribe sobre cualquier tonteria que se nos ocurra. lacacadechango.wordpress.com es un blog que tiene casi el mismo tema que este, simpremente que el de alla esta dirigido a un mayor numero de gente, mientras que este sera un poco mas personal. Aqui usare un leguage mas formal, mientras que alla, no se sorprendan ver una que otra palabra “de grandes”, jajaja.

Now in English, for my non-Spanish speaking friends. Just to sum it up, this blog will be a bit more personal than the other post I share with other users, located at lacacadechango.wordpress.com (Spanish only), which has a broader list of topics targeted to a wider audience. Here, on the other hand, you will be able to read on a variety of topics related to my family, tecnology, architecture, or whatever else I might have floating around in my head.

Disfrútenlo/Enjoy.