Thursday, March 13, 2008

Dollar sinks even lower...


``Sentiment for the dollar continues to deteriorate very, very rapidly and if we're not careful this will turn into a dollar crash, said Mitul Kotecha, head of foreign-exchange research in London at Calyon, the securities unit of Credit Agricole SA, France's second-biggest bank."

"President George W. Bush acknowledged the U.S. currency's decline was not ``good tidings.'' The dollar's drop may prompt Middle East central banks to reduce dollar holdings, Greg Gibbs, a strategist at ABN Amro Holding NV in Sydney, said in a report."

Dollar Falls to 12-Year Low of 100 Yen on Carlyle Fund Failure
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8q2vC2.8OyU&refer=home

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Argentina's Great Cellphone Heist

Mexican Telecomms mogul and billonaire Carlos Slim -of TelMex fame battling Telefonica throughout LatAm, and his own Mexican monopoly infamy- got a truckload of cellular phones stolen in Argentina. Slim owns mobile provider "CTI" in the country, which has been and so far still is the most agressive and innovative -of the three networks available-, as I reported here.

Today, local news media reported a truck full of mobile phones and accessories imported by CTI into the country was STOLEN AT GUNPOINT by an unspecified number of armen men in three cars, right from the parking lot at the TCA Argentine Airfreight Terminal, right across the Buenos Aires international airport, Ezeiza. The value of the goods was reported at $800,000 greenbacks (USD), and it was stolen after it cleared the customs. There was no mention about the number or brand/model of cell phones, but if we assume a value of $200-400 USD per phone, it could be between two thousand and four thousand phones, which is an awful lot to sell on auction sites and street corners...

Horrible, broken, automatic translation, here.

Carlos Slim Image courtesy of Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency. Image released under the Creative Commons License Attribution 2.5 Brazil, and found on the WikiMedia web site.

PS: If you want to see what the *cough* high-security *cough* TCA parking lot looks like, well it looks like this on a busy day (notice the reserved handicapped space).


I had to go there a couple times when PR bunnies fail to follow orders and ship items via DHL, ending up stuck at the TCA customs depot.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Another Frankenstein M&A, this time in the Public Safety space?

The good thing about writing for the INQUIRER is that after years of practice (I started back in 2002) sometimes you find great news on your own. But even better, sometimes NEWS FINDS YOU, and in some cases, about companies you´ve never ever heard about .

In this case, people who prefer to remain nameless have expressed their worry and outrage about a probable M&A on the Public Safety space. The main source who sent me this rumor has been around public safety organizations for nearly twenty years and often hear rumors, most of those are mundane and without much consequence, but he swears this one is not that case.

From the heart of Texas... the rumor mill says the marriage from hell would involve tiny European EADS trying to match (or digest?) an unnamed West Coast public safety company several times its size.

--BEGIN OF RUMOR MILL--.

Here´s the first message I received, un-edited:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For nearly seven years, EADS - Security Networks - North America (a.k.a EADS-PS) has been educating American public safety officials about their multi-billion dollar parent company in Europe. EADS wants to escape their saturated market places in Europe, regarding Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems, where they have the greater market share in Tetra/Tetrapol based radio.

The only problem is that the non-Tetra/Tetrapol technology based Public Safety first responder folks in North American and USA markets want to see an installed working fully mature LMRsystem without flying to Europe. These same Public Safety first responder folks want to obtain P25 technology (APCO and TIA-based current technology platforms) and do not want to fork-lift out all their working legacy radio and dispatch equipment aka infrastructure like reporting software and computer aided dispatching software).

Instead, they want to evaluate a functioning Public Safety first responders turn-key, LMR system, integrated to dispatching equipment of various types, which includes emergency telephone answering points, records management systems, mobile data, graphics and other database systems and equipment - _ALL of which uses standard-for-USA radio RF and dispatching protocols.

Some background info:

Since 2003, the U. S. Department of Homeland Security has been passing out big checks to the regional and state public safety organizations who will install a P-25 protocol based system. Only problem is that there are really only two folks who can install a complete turn-key, end-to-end, P-25 system -- namely Tico MA/COM and Motorola.

So to overcome the deficiency of having only 25 percent of their competitors’ capability, EADS is talking about buying an American public safety company. How does a big fish (like EADS) eat a small fish (unnamed American company) and not get a belly ache? It is widely accepted that merging two companies is never easy.

Accenture is a specialist studying this problem. They have over twenty years' experience and have looked at over 400 mergers and acquisitions Accenture agrees with a February 2003 Harvard Business Review article which says the results for a merger are determined by what is set up at the beginning. The biggest factor which leads to failures of a merger is cultural differences between the companies. Now, a group of business people with European backgrounds needs to buy a public safety vendor in the USA for one of their smallest divisions. Where should they look for such a deal?

For EADS, that is a triple whammy. Their parent is as big as Lockheed and, like Lockheed, their bigger customers are government organizations. If EADS European headquarters asks their European bankers, who in turn will ask American bankers, they’ll probably end up looking at someone who is larger and has a polished offering. There are two locations in the USA where European companies most often go to look for this sort of an offering: Boston and Silicon Valley. That is where the big venture capitalist firms are located. These are the VC who specialize in finding that “something special in our portfolio that just might fit your needs.”

Is the rumor true that EADS Public Safety has less than 40 people and that they are thinking about buying a West Coast company that has nearly 600 employees and five locations? The supposed West Coast company was created by at least four acquisitions since 2005. Hmmm, looks like there has to be multiple cultural dimensions for that West Coast company. Are all the hiccups of those multiple acquisitions completely worked out? The same Harvard Business Review article says that in the first year of a merger nearly 25 percent of the executives and other talented employees leave – three times the rate for a similar company without a merger. In the second year, an additional 15 percent leave, which is twice the normal rate. This high departure rate continues for up to nine years after a merger says Harvard Business Review. If you apply those percentages to that newly grown West Coast company with four mergers since 2005, it is probably a safe guess their best leaders and their brightest team members are probably already gone.

The goal of EADS Public Safety in Texas and their European headquarters, may be a good one, but the method of reaching it could leave them with more problems than they bargained for. Seems to me at this point, EADS Public Safety really needs to develop a clear plan for how they are going to integrate all these different cultures into their own giant European corporate culture.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

People from two affected companies see this as setting up a disaster which will hamper EADS over the long term. They think a completed buyout of PlantCML "would give backchanell info direct to Motorola". That "would keep Motorola safely in the drivers seat for controlling USA Public Safety even though that division is not profitable".

"It remains a part of the whole operation by having its low profitability folded into a larger division of Motorola." said one source.

Asked about why the disliking of Motorola, THE SOURCE told this scribbler that Motorola apparently has an arrogance problem "I have a long standing dislike of Motorola Public Safety telling cops and fireman that _only_ Motorola knows how tobuild Public Safety radio communications. This buyout will keep the USA on the path for non-world-side interoperability" he concluded "we have enough of that "not invented there" thinking in the industry now".

--END OF RUMOR MILL--.

Agree? Disagree with these sources? I admit in shame not being well aware of the U.S. public safety marketplace but I can surely identify with the "not invented here" syndrome which is and has been poisoning most IT firms I´ve known over the years, which a few notable exceptions.

So, do you have anything to do with public safety tech? Agree/disagree with this rumor and conclusions? Shoot out on the comments section.... Also if anyone from Hello Moto reads this and wants to comment, feel free as well. I´ll give equal air time to all positions.

Several warnings:

1. Take this as what it is, a rumor. It might happen, it might not. I´m just interedted in the "what if" factor. If what my source said is true, what will happen?.
2. I have to admit that I kinda agree with Mr. J in that in very few instances I´ve seen a small firm buy another several times its size. And he has a point with regards to the cultural differences (Mormon Utah based Novell and cold German Engineering based SUSE comes to mind).
3. I do not share my source´s contempt wrt Motorola. Well, I can´t speak about thier public safety division, but I don´t think Moto sucks, as a whole...

(OK, on second thought I do remember how they had the upper hand with the PowerPC and blew it)
4. I plan to buy myself a Linux-powered Moto A1200 soon. Wonder why Moto isn´t promoting these phones more. :-) :-(

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Pacino and De Niro go for an ice cream

I saw this on cable and while I didn't manage to record it, I looked it up on the Net until I found it.... Haven't had such a good laugh in a while. These guys are genius. ENJOY!.


Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year. Now let's work to make '08 the best

So... 2008 has already started. Now... enough with the partying and let's get to work.

I hope we can all make 2008 an even better year than '07, which for some of us was pretty good to begin with.

But let's all take things seriously... do not rush things. Let's take things slowly, nobody is chasing you. :-)



[ PD: Yes, it's a Honda CBR-600. Thanks, Gus. :) ]

Friday, December 28, 2007

Monday, December 24, 2007

Season Greetings.... or NOT

Geek Gaucho decided not to "celebrate" Christmas anymore.

Anyway, since most of you readers surely do, here's my "gift" for this modern pagan consumerist festivity.

After the ORIGINAL "Badger Badger Badger", and the remixed Trance version, came also a Christmas version of it. I discovered it today, but it might be quite old. In any case, Xmas is also old and that doesn't prevent everyone from repeating the exercise.

HERE IT GOES: CHRISTMAS BADGER!

http://www.purple-twinkie.com/FlashMovies/badgerchristmas-song.asp

[More about BadgerBadgerBadger on the Whackypedia.]



If you want to send me [or someone else you know] a gift anyway, here's an idea.

http://www.cafepress.com/apoplecticpress/3908122

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Installing dsniff in Fedora Core 6 / Blag 60000

apt-get install libpcap libpcap-devel libnet libnet-devel
wget -c http://apt.sw.be/packages/dsniff/dsniff-2.3-0.rhel3.dag.i386.rpm
wget -c ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/fedora/core/development/i386/os/Fedora/openssl097a-0.9.7a-9.i386.rpm
#
# create symlink
#
ln -s /usr/lib/libpcap.so /usr/lib/libpcap.so.0.6.2
#
# install dsniff ... now it can't complain about anything...
#
rpm --install --force --nodeps ./dsniff-2.3-0.rhel3.dag.i386.rpm > /dev/null

See? it works....

# /usr/sbin/dsniff --help

/usr/sbin/dsniff: invalid option -- -
Version: 2.3
Usage: dsniff [-cdmn] [-i interface] [-s snaplen] [-f services]
[-t trigger[,...]] [-r|-w savefile] [expression]
[root@m6810]#

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Racism can kill you

This is one of the funniest music videos I've ever seen. And the remixed song by Fatboy Slim is cool as well.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Pride: Argentina's telecommunications ranking

While the right-wing press who misses the "pro-market" State-free 1990s tries to smear the current administration day after day... we read some good news thanks to PRMinds's report on telecommunications in Latin America:

2007 Latin America Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Mercosur, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela:

"Argentina: Argentina has one of the most solid state-of-the-art telecom infrastructures in South America. Fixed-line teledensity is around 22%, similar to Brazil and Chile. Like elsewhere in Latin America, the shift is away from traditional telephony and towards mobility. While fixed lines stagnate, mobile telephony is booming, reaching a penetration of over 82% – a figure that is well above the Latin American average, trailing only Chile and a few Caribbean islands. All telephony services are open to competition, requiring a single licence for any type of service. The country’s incumbents Telefónica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina still dominate the country’s fixed network [it's time to end Telefonica's Local Loop monopoly, Cristina!], but long distance telephony is highly competitive [who calls long distance from a fixed line?]. Three mobile operators, Movistar, CTI Móvil, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for mobile market share. All three are planning network upgrades in 2007 to prepare for the launch of UMTS 3G technology. Argentina’s Internet market is the third largest in Latin America, and penetration is among the highest in the region."

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Fernando in South Park

Thanks to the amazing South Park Studio, here's a South Park rendition of me... ;)

I did my best... too bad they don't have a "total shaved bald" template for the head.


Thanks to fellow Argentine now-living-in-Euroland Open Kosmaczewski for the link!

FC

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Building MIMMS on Fedora Core 6 / blag Linux - Download mms:// streams !

PROBLEM: You want to download a mms:// video stream to your Hard Disk
You find about MiMMS but found no up to date RPM for your system, and soon find that compiling it is a total nightmare.

SOLUTION:
I'm posting this in the interest of helping folks running blag Linux or Fedora Core 6 to build the MIMMS client on their systems. MiMMS is a Free Software program that downloads MMS:// video streaming URLs to your hard disk.

EXPLANATION:
The original program is provided over here at GNU.org. The problem is that the build process (just running "make") will complain about AN AWFUL LOT of missing pieces and libraries, with no further help in finding what's missing.

Well, since I'm shaved bald, I've saved you from all the HAIR PULLING.

Here's an example of all the errors you might encounter (I'm pasting here so Google searches can find this entry).

Error #1: Missing QT4-make
===========================================================
# make
qmake-qt4 -o Makefile.qmake
make: qmake-qt4: Command not found
make: *** [Makefile.qmake] Error 127
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#
===========================================================

Error #2: Missing C++ compiler
===========================================================
# make
qmake-qt4 -o Makefile.qmake
make -f Makefile.qmake
make[1]: Entering directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
g++ -c -pipe -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m32 -march=i386 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -Wall -W -D_REENTRANT -DQT_NO_DEBUG -DQT_CORE_LIB -I/usr/lib/qt4/mkspecs/linux-g++ -I. -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include -I. -Ilibmms -I/usr/include/libmms -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I. -I. -o mimms.o mimms.cpp
make[1]: g++: Command not found
make[1]: *** [mimms.o] Error 127
make[1]: Leaving directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
make: *** [build] Error 2
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#
===========================================================


Error #3: Missing libmms development libs
===========================================================
# make
make -f Makefile.qmake
make[1]: Entering directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
g++ -c -pipe -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m32 -march=i386 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -Wall -W -D_REENTRANT -DQT_NO_DEBUG -DQT_CORE_LIB -I/usr/lib/qt4/mkspecs/linux-g++ -I. -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include -I. -Ilibmms -I/usr/include/libmms -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I. -I. -o mimms.o mimms.cpp
mimms.cpp:28:17: error: mms.h: No such file or directory
mimms.cpp:29:18: error: mmsh.h: No such file or directory
mimms.cpp: In function ‘int main(int, char**)’:
mimms.cpp:238: error: ‘mms_t’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:238: error: ‘mms’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:239: error: ‘mmsh_t’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:239: error: ‘mmsh’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:321: error: ‘mms_connect’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:330: error: ‘mmsh_connect’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:341: error: ‘mms_get_length’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:341: error: ‘mmsh_get_length’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:386: error: ‘mms_read’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:387: error: ‘mmsh_read’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:400: error: ‘mms_get_current_pos’ was not declared in this scope
mimms.cpp:400: error: ‘mmsh_get_current_pos’ was not declared in this scope
make[1]: *** [mimms.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
make: *** [build] Error 2
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#
===========================================================


Error #4: Missing glib.h
===========================================================
# make
make -f Makefile.qmake
make[1]: Entering directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
g++ -c -pipe -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m32 -march=i386 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -Wall -W -D_REENTRANT -DQT_NO_DEBUG -DQT_CORE_LIB -I/usr/lib/qt4/mkspecs/linux-g++ -I. -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include -I. -Ilibmms -I/usr/include/libmms -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I. -I. -o mimms.o mimms.cpp
In file included from /usr/include/libmms/mms.h:41,
from mimms.cpp:28:
/usr/include/libmms/bswap.h:25:18: error: glib.h: No such file or directory
make[1]: *** [mimms.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
make: *** [build] Error 2
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]# locate glib.h
/mnt/Windows/Qt/4.0.1/src/3rdparty/libjpeg/jpeglib.h
/usr/include/jpeglib.h
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#
===========================================================

SOLUTION: Use apt-get to install all the required libs BEFORE running make:

apt-get install gnu-c++ qt4-devel glib-devel glib2-devel libmms libmms-devel

That's it!. Now we type make and everything's fine:

WE COMPILE IT!:

# make
make -f Makefile.qmake
make[1]: Entering directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
g++ -c -pipe -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m32 -march=i386 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -Wall -W -D_REENTRANT -DQT_NO_DEBUG -DQT_CORE_LIB -I/usr/lib/qt4/mkspecs/linux-g++ -I. -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include/QtCore -I/usr/include -I. -Ilibmms -I/usr/include/libmms -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I. -I. -o mimms.o mimms.cpp
g++ -o mimms mimms.o -lmms -lQtCore -lpthread
make[1]: Leaving directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#

AND WE INSTALL IT!

# make install
make -f Makefile.qmake
make[1]: Entering directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/incoming/mimms-2.0.1'
install -m755 -D mimms //usr/local/bin/mimms
install -m644 -D mimms.1 //usr/local/share/man/man1/mimms.1

DOES IT WORK? YES!

# mimms -h
MiMMS 2.0.1 - MiMMS isn't an MMS Message Sender.
It's an MMS (e.g. mms://) stream downloader.
Usage: mimms [options] [output]
Options:
-c, --clobber Allow overwriting an existing file;
by default, this is not allowed.
-t, --time Record for the given number of minutes;
by default, record until the end.
-v, --verbose Print verbose debug messages on stderr.
-q, --quiet Don't print status messages on stdout.
-h, --help Show this help message on stdout.
URL Argument:
mms (MMS) i.e. mms://[:port]/
will try all supported methods.
mmst (MMS TCP) i.e. mmst://[:port]/
will only try TCP method.
mmsu (MMS UDP) Not currently supported; (poorly suited
for streaming downloads anyway).
mmsh (MMS HTTP) i.e. mmsh://[:port]/
will only try HTTP method.
http (ASX HTTP) i.e. http://[:port]/[.asx]
only the first supported URL is used.
- (stdin) i.e. look for an MMS URL on stdin;
only the first supported URL is used.
Output Argument:
none Streams to file named based on the URL.
filename Streams to the given file.
- Streams to stdout. (Implies --quiet.)
[root@m6810 mimms-2.0.1]#

FINAL STEP: WE TEST IT...


Monday, October 22, 2007

Fernando's outdoors adventure (Jungle computing)

Some people who know me personally have criticized me, saying I'm a home rat, a hermit, a computer geek inmerse in his private world of software and hardware... and in that sense, they have been for the most part right. Very few things force me out, besides the usual buying groceries, attending a show of some sort, or the evermore scattered- exercise walk.

However, that doesn't prevent me from embarking into journeys of dangerous exploration of the wilderness aka "the outside world".

Here's a pic of me yesterday, writing from what looks like the middle of a jungle (which is actually my parents' patio) to Mad Mike and some of our Mad Readers who chastised me because of my DELL opinion piece -and among other abuse, accused me of "not knowing that the dot is the decimal separator for currency amounts in Argentina" (of course, I was right, and he was wrong, as usual with the most vitrolic complainers who preach from their high horse).

[Click to enlarge]

Who said the life of a computer geek can't be dangerous?. Look at that pot above my head? It's about to crush me!.

FC
PS: In case you're wondering, it's a beatiful old Lemon Tree.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Music for a Saturday Morning

Turn up the volume... what a way to end the day a Saturday morning!. Just in case you don't want to fall asleep!.

Paul Weller doing "Sunflower" !!

I think he's a UK version of "the Boss" Springsteen, with a heavier voice..



Enjoy "dudes"!! ;)

PS: Any studio / tv set recording of this same song sounds much better. There's more on YouTube.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Bring back the 1920s

Public TV has a bonus, and it's that it's not subject to the influence of Hollywood and the special interests, and as thus can have a very broad view, and some gems that focus on history and true art, not just the latest-movie-of-the-week peddled by the film distributors.

Such is the case of Argentina's public TV channel, Canal 7. The only one that survived the privatization wave of the 1990s. Surely it's a long way from the Beeb, but it's been improving lately. Such is the case of "Filmoteca" a daily programme by film collectors, for film buffs.

Today, I had the pleasure of watching a series of Buster Keaton short films from the 1920s.


The best, IMHO, was "One Week", which you can watch on Google Video over here.


Buster and Sybil are newlyweds. Among their wedding gifts is a portable house you can easily put together in one week... but things won't be as easy as it seemed.




A great laugh and the amount of Busters' falls and hits is mind-blowing, specially considering he used no stunt performers. All the falls are real, and the programme presenters even explained that Buster Keaton broke a few bones several times during his career, only accepting to use a stunt performer on a jump once, because the length of a javelin jump would have been impossible for him to perform.

Thanks, Fernando Martin Peña, for letting us know about these gems from 1920s cinema.















[Fernando M. Peña and Pablo Manes host this daily view on the history of cinema]


I wholeheartedly recommend this programme dubbed "Filmoteca". It airs Mon-Fri after 01:00am on Canal 7 in Buenos Aires and its network of repeaters that spans several provinces (Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Cordoba, etc).

FC


Friday, September 14, 2007

Blu-Ray PS3 wins in dollars/features ratio over HDDVD+Xbox360...

A lot has been written lately about the High-Definition standard wars of Blu-Ray vs HDDVD.

I only have enough money to buy a single console and HD movies player,
so I have done the math using prices from Amazon.com:

Sony PS3 (60 Gb) console: $499
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009VXAM0

Sony PS3 Blu-Ray remote $24
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000M17AVO

Sony PS3 cordless Media Keyboard $65
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MFLBBK

Total: $ 589

Storage: 60GB
Full-size wireless Keyboard: Yes
Runs Linux without mod: Yes, [4, afaik] Yellowdog for PS3 , Fedora-PPC, Ubuntu-PPC, Gentoo

vs

Xbox 360 - 20Gb: $349
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B43OY4

Xbox 360 HD-DVD player add-on: $180
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JHO4L0

Xbox 360 Media Remote: $20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B6MLSM

Tiny clumsy Xbox rubber mini-Keyboard: $30
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UN3UDQ

Total: $579

Storage: 20GB

plays HD movies: YES, but with Bulky add-on

You fund an evil corporation which is also a convicted monopolist: YES
Runs Linux without mod?: NO
Full-size wireless keyboard: NO

Game over, Sony's PS3 wins. :)

Price difference:
Sony's $10 more expensive, big freaking deal. :)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Another 9/11 - but in Chile

REMEMBERING SALVADOR ALLENDE, AND CHILE's own 9/11

When the new generations hear the words "September 11" they think about the attack on the twin towers in New York.

But there was another September 11 as painful -if not more- for Latin Americans...

Here goes my little homage to a man who valued and kept his words till the end. A man betrayed by power-hungry criminals because the Empire up North wanted to prevent him setting a "bad example" on the region.





















Last words of Salvador Allende (Spanish):

Get this widget | Share | Track details

[English translation here]

Some related reading... :

CIA acknowledges involvement in Allende's overthrow, Pinochet's rise
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/19/us.cia.chile.ap/

Herald Tribune: Former aide links Pinochet and son to drug trade
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/11/news/chile.php

CHILE 1964: CIA COVERT SUPPORT IN FREI ELECTION DETAILED
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20040925/index.htm

Colin Powell: U.S. "not proud" of 1973 covert action in Chile
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2003/02/dos022003.html

Riggs bank hid Pinochet's fortune
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50222-2004Jul14.html

Tinker Bell, Pinochet and the Fairy Tale Miracle of Chile - Greg Palast
http://www.gregpalast.com/tinker-bell-pinochet-and-the-fairy-tale-miracle-of-chile-2/

Chile's privatization failures
http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=NC&pubid=962

The fall of a myth - Chile reforms its privatized Education and Social Security systems [Spanish]
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:IKZMLcmjmhoJ:www.cep.cl/Cenda/Cen_Documentos/Pub_MR/Libros/Libro_2006/Libro_2006.doc+chile+cuenta+secreta+pinochet+barings&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ar

The Case Against Pinochet
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB125/index2.htm

New Evidence: U.S. OK'd Argentina's 'Dirty War'
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1204-01.htm














"-This is admiral Caravajal, ¡I want to speak to the President!

-This is the president speaking
After a few moment, the president's voice
lashed out like a whip:

-¡What do you think, you sh*tty traitors!... ¡Take your plane up your ass!... ¡You're speaking to the President of the country. And the president, elected by the people, does not surrender!

--Salvador Allende, under siege by the military coup, in La Moneda presidental palace, Sept. 11, 1973


[From "Salvador Allende: how the white house caused his death"].
[Published by El Ateneo. ISBN 950-02-7452-3]
















"History is not stopped by repression or crime. This is a stage that will be overcome. This is a hard and difficult moment: it is possible they will crush us. But tomorrow will belong to the people, will belong to the workers. Humanity advances to conquer a better life."

-Salvador Allende's last words message, from La Moneda, Sep-11-1973

(full translation at "Allende's Last Words")

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Humor: the "human age" of nations

[I received this as a chain letter. The original was in Spanish and claims to be written by someone by the name Hernán Casciari (supposedly from Argentina). Here's my attempt at an English translation]

THE HUMAN AGE OF NATIONS
I read once that Argentina is no worse or better than Spain, only younger.

I liked that theory so then I invented a trick to discover the true "mind age" of nations, taking the "dog system" as a base, and thus equaling countries' ages with human ages.

Since our childhood, we were told that to know if a dog was young or old, to get its "human age" we should multiply its biological age by 7. I found that to find the human age of a nation, we must divide its historical age by fourteen, to get the corresponding "human age" value.

Is it confusing? In this article I'll give you a few revealing examples:

Argentina was born in 1816, so it's already 190 years old. If we divide that age by 14, Argentina has a "human age" of 13 and a half years. That means it's a wanker, a rebel, questions authority, has no memory, answers everything without thinking, and it's full of pimples.

Almost all the countries in Latin America have the same age, and as it happens in that case, they get together, hang around doing nothing, and end up creating gangs.

The Mercosur* gang (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay) are a group of teenagers that formed its own rock band. They rehearse in a garage, make a lot of noise, and still haven't got any album released.

Venezuela, which just got its tiny tits, it's about to join them to do the chrorus. In reality, as happens in most cases, she wants to have sex... in this case with Brasil, which has 14 years and a big penis.

Mexico is also a teenager, but with Indian roots. That's why it laughs so little and doesn't even smoke a joint, as the rest of their friends do. Instead, Mexico chews peyote, and hangs around the United States, a brain-damaged spoiled 17 years old rich kid whose idea of fun is attacking younger, starving six year olds in other continents.

In the other extreme is ancient China. If we divide its 1,200 years by 14 we get a "human age" of 85. China is a conservative old woman, that smells of cat pee, and which spends all day eating rice because it still doesn't have -but soon will- enough money to afford the machinery to create herself her own false teeth.

China has an 8 years old grandchild, Taiwan, which gives her hell. China says Taiwan is a walking menace.

China has been long divorced with Japan, an old grumpy man, which is living with the Philippines, a young bitch that does anything for money.

Then... we have the countries that are just old enough to vote and which go for a ride in their father's BMW... for instance, Australia and Canada, typical countries which grew in the safety and protection of its fathers, the UK and France, with a strict and aristocrathic education, and whom are now living a fast life.

Australia is a 18 years old bimbo, doing topless and having sex with South Africa, while Canada us a gay child living on his own... exploring the option of adopting Groenland as a baby to form one of those "alternative" families so much in vogue these days.

France is a divorced 36 years old woman, a sex machine, but very respected in professional and intellectual circles. She has a 6 years old son: Monaco, which is still undecided between being gay, a ballet dancer, or both.

France sometimes goes to bed with Germany, a rich truck driver which is married with Austria, which knows Germany cheats on her, but doesn't care.

Italy has been a widow for a long time. She lives taking care of San Marino http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/2669927.stm and Vatican, two identical twins, with an uncanny resemblance to the sons of Ned Flanders on The Simpsons.

Italy had a second marriage with Germany... it didn't last long, but they had a child: Switzerland.

Italy would like to be as Belgium: an independent, professional lawyer, wearing suits and talking politics with the men. Belgium, in turn, sometimes wishes she could cook good pasta.

Spain is the most beautiful womam in Europe -probably on par with France, but France loses points by using so much parfume-.

Spain likes to wander around naked and is often drunk. Sometimes, she gets fucked by England... Spain allows that, but then has second thoughts and goes crying to the police to denounce it.

Spain has offspring everywhere -most of them around 13 years old, that live far away, in South America, all wankers. She loves them a lot, but it bothers her that every time the kids are hungry, they show up at her door, get inside without saying hi, and take food from her fridge.

Another country with lots of offspring is England. He sails off at night and fucks with teens far away, and nine months later there appears a new tiny new island. These new babys are protected by the mother, which maintains them from afar.

Scotland and Ireland are brothers of England, living upstairs. They live drunk and they suck at football (soccer). They're the shame of the family.

Sweden and Norway are two lesbians in their 40s. They're very slim and attractive, besides their age, but they are very self-centered and don't talk to anybody else. They fuck each other and work, because they have a good paying job doing... well... something. Sometimes, they envite Holland to a party (when they need weed).

Other times they show themselves to Finland, which is an androgynous 30 years old who lives alone in a tiny attic with no furniture, and cares only for his mobile phone. Finland's only purpose in life is speaking on its mobile, most of the time with South Korea.

South Korea: she lives a separate life with her schizoid sister, North. They're twins. But North Korea swallowed amniotic fluid at birth, and got brain-damaged and delusional. She spent her childhood playing with real firearms and now, living alone and secluded, is capable of going postal any minute.

The United States, the rich 17 years old dimwit, keeps a close eye on her... not because he's afraid, but because he wants to take all her guns.

Israel is a 62 years old intellectual that lived a shitty life. Some years ago, Germany, the truck driver, ran over her. Since that day, Israel went bonkers. Now, instead of sitting on a rocking chair and reading books, she spends her days at her rooftop, trowing things in Palestine's general direction. Palestine is a poor, uneducated and religious girl who's only trying to do her laundry.

Iran and Iraq were two 16 year olds who nicked bikes and sold those as parts. Until one day they stole the United States' bike and now they're going thru hell and repenting.

The World was fine as is, until one day Russia coupled with Perestroika -without marrying- and they had about a dozen children, all odd, some retarded, others schizoid.

A week ago, and thanks to some shooting with plenty of deaths, we the inhabitants of the World discovered that there's a new country out there named Kabardino-Balkaria. Another new country. With its own flag, president, anthem, and flag. And even people!.

I'm a bit scared to see so many baby countries appearing without notice, all of a sudden. That we learn about them by pure chance... and we have to pretend that we knew about them all along, not to be taken as ignorants.

And I ask myself.... Why are new countries being born, if the existing ones haven't managed to get their acts together yet?

:-)

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Note: I translated this as I received it. Before some moron without a sense of humor flames me, keep in mind it's a joke. I'm 90% certain the mention of Israel and Palestine will get emotions high on people without humor. If you want, feel free to switch descriptions around, and it'll be funny as well!. I didn't author this, just translated it.
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Saturday, August 18, 2007

Is the supply-side school downplaying the news about Argentina's continued growth?

I recently read an article by David R Butcher titled "Where the Offshore Outsourcers Offshore Outsource" and available HERE.

I had high hopes due to the title, and instinctively tried to read it while scrolling down to find what references about offshoring operations in Argentina were included. I was very disappointed, the word "Argentina" is not even there, despite the increase of Offshoring (IT, software and services) in Argentina, which surely added its part to the sinking unemployment rates and economic recovery the last four years'.

One paragraph reads: "where do India’s outsourcers outsource? China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Romania and Morocco — you name it. ". Well, I guess "you name it" also ought to include Argentina. In fact, India's TATA Consulting Services (TCS) arrived five years ago. And success stories of firms offshoring and investing in Argentina in the last four to five years are easy to find if you look hard enough. But no, not a single reference.

But it's not this writer's fault. (if you're reading this, it isn't about you, read on, it's just that your story and the strange lack of mention of Argentina kickstarted my thought process).

Thinking aloud:

There seems to be a strange "vacuum of good news" about Argentina on the English language mainstream media (and my standard for doing this is simply typing word pairs like "inversion, argentina" (investment argentina-unquoted-) into Google News Argentina (news.google.com.ar) then repeat the search with the same terms, this time in English language and into the international "Google News" search engine (news.google.com).

My unscientific tests showed that roughly nine out of ten times, all positive economic news about Argentina appear ONLY in the local Spanish language news sites, but those news stories are usually -and suspiciously- RARELY echoed in English for the global audience, while short-lived political scandals involving Miami millionaires --once against Chavez but then flip-flopped and doing business with Venezuela's PDVSA (until a few weeks ago)-- caught trying to enter with a bag full of cash ($800,000) into Argentina are regurgitated ad-nauseum as some sort of "further proof of Argentina's corruption and hopelessness". Hrmm ... smearing PR campaigns to weaken the ruling center-left coalition and impose a more "pro-market", "pro-White House" candidate..... where have I heard of that?.

Just for the record: In the last four years, the country's economy grew like never before, plummeting unemployment, the number of unemployed people receiving government unemplyment subsidies fell 50%, and the country has been enjoying for the first time in several decades (it didn't happen since the 1920s!) year-after-year consecutive growth coupled with simultaneous fiscal surplus and a trade surpluses, all this due in part to a competitive exchange rate for Argentina's industrial and agricultural exports.

So is the majority mainstream trade press talking about the "Argentina Miracle". Well, no. Or at least not that I could see. Only BusinessWeek ventured to say so back in 2002, but it was a timid article and the recovery just started back then. When the press speaks about the region it often says "Good times in general for Latin America" and then proceed to name Brazil and Chile, poster boys for "good behaviour" because they never broke paths with the IMF. Coincidence? Don't think so!. (OK, I admit I might be wearing my tinfoil hat now).

Before you accuse me of irrational flag-waving, oldskool right-wing nationalism let me be 100% clear that it's not about this. I'm complaining from the economic policy angle. The failure of ANY major English language mainstream media reporting about the economic progress in the country, and the economic policy angle.

Perhaps the problem for the US and other western media is that portraying that Argentina is doing very well by NOT following the path preached by the right wing think tanks and the IMF would set a "bad example" for the rest of the countries still suffering the anvil's weight of the IMF and its laisez faire policies?.

Think about it... a government with a more progressive, demand side economics policy, that doesn't ask Milton Friedman for advice. A country who asks world famous IMF-critic and long time Washington Concensus skeptic Joseph Stiglitz for advice.

To top it all the results have been good, getting fiscal and commercial surpluses for the last 4 years -and more importantly, doing so for the first time in decades-. BUT, here's the surprise: reading the western English language media daily and seeing Argentina's good news virtually "blacklisted" (other than Reuters' quarter figures for the specialized economics media and speaking usually nothing about the human impact of this growth).

Why is this? I have a theory. I think it's because we pissed off a lot of Wall Street, AEI and right-wing economics technocrats followers of the supply side school, with our debt restructuring, -we paid the IMF and sent them packing-. Also, -now drifting into the political field- I suspect the lack of any good positive reporting is because we are doing good business with Venezuela and supporting projects like Stiglitz' praised REGIONAL INVESTMENT BANK.

That's my theory of why Argentina's good economic news and its social impact ended up blacklisted : due to political and ideological reasons, as it doesn't fit the wire editors' economic psyche.... in other words "nothing good should be said about it, because it didn't sign FTAA, bow to King George, or break relations with Venezuela's Chavez". Is that it?

Fifteen years ago when the country was going downhill and getting deeper and deeper into a cycle of debt yet Argentina was portrayed by the financial media as the poster boy of the IMF and magazines wasted pages and pages on the positive "reforms" that generated an influx of speculative capital (in other words, "mergers and acqusitions", that is capital changing hands, not very much NEW investment in production of real tangible goods and manufacturing) while the gates of cheap imports were opened and it de-industrialized the country sending unemployment through the roof... and culminating in the implosion of the economy when the facade fell....

Back to the news reporting angle: do you think I'm too far from the truth? Am I allucinating? Have you found English language news stories that talk about the revival of industry, the increase in manufacturing jobs,the increase of non-primary (industrial, manufacture, technology and services) exports in the last three years? Where? and when you find it, does it tie these events to the economic policy? or do they just mask it under the usual "it's a result of the increase of commodities prices?

If you find any story with that angle, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, because I've never seen all these elements together in a mainstream, English language story.

To end this long babbling, I have to wonder if perhaps all this is due to the fact that most americans DON'T KNOW DIDDLY SQUAT about Latin America as a recent Zogby Poll found?. Or is it because the American economists establishment has VERY LITTLE TOLERANCE towards dissent when it comes to the supply-side Dogma, as has been recently warned by the progressive U.S. economists?.

Just my $0.02 or $0.06 pesos. :-P

Thoughts, comments, expletives?

Food for thought:

U.S. Economists question dominance of Supply-Side Ideas
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/11/business/economics.php

"Americans know very little about Latin America"
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/345149/poll_americans_know_little_about_latin.html

Tinker Bell, Pinochet, and the Fairy Tale of the Chile Miracle
http://www.gregpalast.com/tinker-bell-pinochet-and-the-fairy-tale-miracle-of-chile-2/

Bank of the South: Toward Financial Autonomy - Worldpress.org
http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2852.cfm

Chileans praise Argentina's economic wisdom wrt .IT policy
http://www.atinachile.cl/content/view/31289/Las_razones_que_explican_el_desembarco_de_Google_en_Argentina.html#first


There are the kind of stories NOT FOUND on mainstream US/western English language media*:

(*Spanish language stories, with titles translated by me):

AR: People receiving government unempolyment subsidies fell 50%
in the last 4 years
http://www.telam.com.ar/vernota.php?tipo=N&idPub=59388&id=143954&dis=1&sec=1

Spending by people with the lowest incomes grows in the farther/poorest BA city suburbs
LA NACION, Wed. 16/5/07
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=909024

quote/translation:
"The combination of union-management agreed salary increases for workers in the formal sector of the economy and the general drop in unemployment levels have begun to show results in the poorest areas of the greater Buenos Aires, which after the second semester of '2006 show consumer spending growth rates above the rest of the population"

Government launches tax reductions for tourism SMBs
http://news.google.com.ar/news/url?sa=t&ct=es_ar/1-0&fp=4626d4c2bd8b59cb&ei=9nMmRvicJZ_coQPyvbS9Cw&url=http%3A//www.adnmundo.com/contenidos/turismo/pymes_tu_180407.html&cid=1154259208

Air traffic between USA and Argentina grows
http://news.google.com.ar/news/url?sa=t&ct=es_ar/9-0&fp=4626d4c2bd8b59cb&ei=9nMmRvicJZ_coQPyvbS9Cw&url=http%3A//www.hostnews.com.ar/2007/sal/070085.htm&cid=1154211647

Google opens regional HQ in Buenos Aires, will hire up to 3,000
http://news.google.com.ar/news/url?sa=t&ct=es_ar/0-3&fp=4626fcdb3ae71ad4&ei=TnYmRtLHI5qKoQOg3ZW3Cw&url=http%3A//www.lagaceta.com.ar/vernota.asp%3Fid_seccion%3D8%26id_nota%3D202119&cid=1154204519

Argentina's Tourism sector now brings more dollars than grains and meat exports combined
http://www.diariohoy.net/notas/verNoticia.phtml/html/268469454/

17/4/07: Argentina's government launches fiscal incentives for the local software industry
http://news.google.com.ar/news/url?sa=t&ct=es_ar/0-0&fp=462657718885b933&ei=-3YmRq-1BoOSogP4z9GzCw&url=http%3A//www.infobaeprofesional.com/interior/index.php%3Fp%3Dnota%26idx%3D44640%26cookie&cid=1154211088

The latest boom: corporate software, made in Argentina
http://www.siliconnews.es/es/silicon/special-report/2007/04/04/boom-del-desarrollo-software

20/4/07 - Argentina's investment level the highest in the last 20 years
http://www.infobae.com/contenidos/310936-100896-0-El-nivel-inversi%C3%B3n-es-el-m%C3%A1s-alto-los-%C3%BAltimos-20-a%C3%B1os

Argentina widens trade surplus with the US
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/02/11/elmundo/i-03103.htm

Venezuela and Argentina duplicate its trade
http://www.adnmundo.com/contenidos/comercio/venezuela_argentina_ce_171106.html

"one of the most important aspects is the diversified nature of the current exports from Argentina to Venezuela. From (traditional products like) powder milk and meat to industrial goods like tractors, trucks, SUVs, pipes and valves for the oil industry, among others".

Consumer credit levels now above the historic highs before the crisis
http://www.infobaeprofesional.com/interior/index.php?p=nota&idx=44671&cookie

==========================================================

Two notable exceptions to the "information black cloud": BusinessWeek (US) and the IHT (FR)... two lone positive stories, but one is very dated by now, and the other too short (imho).

Argentina: doint it their own way - 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/28/opinion/edweis.php

Argentina: reversal of fortune (BusinessWeek) - 2002
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_19/b3932098_mz058.htm

The following, while good and positive spinned, are not from what I'd call "mainstream media", actually one is a progressive magazine's blogger and the other a little Italian news portal:

Argentina Heads Region's "Human Development" Index
http://www.portalino.it/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13215

Beat the Press: Argentina's strong growth among Most Important news of '06
http://www.prospect.org/deanbaker/2006/12/most_important_economic_news_s.html

Thoughts? comments? Expletives? ;)
FC