SmOkiN' tEa With MamA Kin

MY FAVOURITE SUNDAY'S SONG....

2008-12-06T13:42:00.003+01:00

GOOGLE CHROME: El NUEVO OS DE GOOGLE?

2008-12-04T14:31:00.005+01:00

El pasado 2 de Septiembre GOOGLE lanzó su nuevo browser llamado CHROME. Muchos fans de mi blog ( concretamente uno ) me han dicho que echaban de menos un post sobre el nuevo navegador de Google, asi que después de unas semanas aqui está.

Primero describiré las características técnicas de este nueva herramienta de google:

1 - Es "Open Source". De forma que si te apetece crearte una extensión o un widget, ya sabes, te vas al carrefour, te compras unos litros de coca-cola y a programar.
2 - Es Multiproceso. Cuantas veces nos ha ocurrido tener varias pestañas ( o incluso ventanas ) abiertas simultaneamente y de repente una de ellas se queda "colgada" y por defecto se nos tuesta todo el navegador?. Pues con Chrome esto no ocurre al ser multiproceso, cada ventanita abre su propio Thread.

3 - Gestión de memoria. Tiene su propio "garbage collector" el cual optimiza el uso de la memoria. Por cada proceso que se abre, se le asigna un espacio de memoria, habitualmente al terminar el proceso, si no se hace un buen uso de la memoria pueden quedarse "punteros" referenciando a espacios "vacios". Esto a largo plazo puede ocasionar problemas. El garbage collector de Chrome gestiona este problema de manera muy eficiente.

4 - Gestion de tareas. Tiene su propio Taskbar!!!...al mejor estilo del sistema operatio Windows...de forma que si vemos algo extraño que no nos gusta...pues lo matamos!!!.

5 - Maquina virtual de JavaScript. Durante el proceso de desarrollo de Chrome, los chicos de google decidieron desarrollar su propia maquina virtual de javascript desde cero, incorporando una característica diferenciadora y es que el código javascript deja de ser interpretado, la maquina virtual genera codigo máquina que es ejecutado por la cpu del sistema. Quiero ser FRIKI!!!..

6 - Omnibox. En Chrome el elemento principal de la interfaz de usuario es la pestaña o " tab". El tab es el elemento superior del navegador y cada tab contiene sus propios controles asi como su propia barra de navegación, la cual se autocompleta solamente con palabras que el usuario haya introducido, no con paginas que el usuario haya visitado.

7 - New tab, New intent. Cuando abres una nueva ventana o pestaña en Chrome, automaticamente el navegador queda dividio en un frame principal que te indicará "tus nueve sitios mas visitados" y un frame a la derecha indicando "tus marcadores recientes" asi como "tus ultimas pestañas cerradas"...hasta aqui bien, pero lo intesante de eso es la velocidad con la que se muestra esto, no existe diferencia con respecto a una ventana vacia.

8 - Gestión de la seguridad: Malware & Pishing. El realizar un navegador multiproceso, que permita asignar una relación 1 a 1 entre tarea y proceso, la gestión independiente de la memoria y la creación desde cero de una maquina virtual de javascript ha permitido al equipo de desarrollo de Chrome implementar una política de gestión de privilegios muchos mas segura y

eficiente que complementa a la gestión que hace el OS. Respecto al Pishing, Chrome chequea la URL mediante una llamada a un servidor remoto que contiene millones de URL's tipificadas como sospechosas y muestra una advertencia al usuario.

9 - Gears. Google gears añade un API a Chrome, basicamente una extensión que mejora su capacidad. Su objetivo es estandarizar la creacción de aplicaciones web independientemente del navegador sobre el que corran.

Yo lo tengo instalado y he de decir que me he olvidado del Firefox y obviamente del IE (salvo ciertas aplicaciones coorporativas que solamente corren bajo este navegador), asi pues os invito a que os lo descargueis desde el siguiente link.

Y ahora dejemonos de frikismos y hablemos seriamente sobre la estrategia de negocio que muchos pensamos que google esta siguiendo. Al principio de su aparición publicaciones como ComputerWorld, TechCrunch o Wired... hablaban sobre la aparación en escena de google como nuevo competidor dentro del mercado de navegadores...

Pero, verdaderamente Google esta interesado en competir en este mercado? ( google sigue financiando el proyecto Mozilla, responsable del navegador Firefox ).

Google lo que acaba de lanzar al mundo es el comienzo del fin del Sistema Operativo como hasta ahora lo conocemos, apostando por que el browser sea una plataforma de aplicaciones web. Esto se complementa perfectamente con la estrategia que sigue la compañia con aplicaciones como Google doc y conceptos como el Cloud Computing del que hablaba en otro post de este blog y del que esta compañia es pionera.

Tras la salidad de Chrome aparecieron proyectos y empresas de desarrollo soft que están trabajando sobre este concepto, echar un vistazo a Cloud . compañias de hardware que están poniedo en el mercado equipos portatiles como Asus Eeee o el Acer Aspire ( muy asequibles ) y cuyas capacidades técnicas están orientadas a trabajar bajo web.

Cual es la necesidad de tener un "Sistema Operativo" como el actual si al final todo acabará centrandose en la web, no existirán aplicaciones cliente como tal y todo el mundo gritará PORTABILIDAD, PORTABILIDAD!!!!!....Lo veremos algún día?...yo creo que sí y muy pronto...

CLOUD COMPUTING vs INFRASTRUCTURE OUTSOURCING

2008-12-03T17:47:00.007+01:00

El termino "Cloud Computing" hace referencia a la prestación de servicios de computación através de internet ( Nube ), de forma que usuarios remotos pueden hacer uso de estos, simplemente con un browser. Una de las características de este paradigma es que el "Cloud Computing" esta directamente relacionado con el termino " Cloud Storage" de forma que la información que es generada por el usuario, se almacenará de forma permanente en servidores remotos y temporalmente en memorias caché del dispositivo utilizado por el usuario.

Actualmente grandes empresas como Amazon, Google, IBM y recientemente Microsoft, están invirtiendo cantidades brutales de dinero en esta nueva tecnología. Por ejemplo Microsoft en su ultima conferencia para desarrolladores hizo publica su plataforma AZURE , la cual ofrecerá servicios de "Cloud Computing" basados en tecnología Microsoft: .Net Services, Sql Services, Sharepoiint Services...

Un ejemplo claro de este tipo de servicios orientado a un usuario no tecnico es el servicio ofrecido por google "google doc" . Simplemente mediante nuestro navegador, accediendo a la anterior URL, dispondremos de un editor de texto simple, para poder escribir nuestros típicos documentos y salvarlos en un servidor remoto.

Una de las grandes discusiones que esta provocando este nuevo paradigma es la "gobernabilidad de la información" almacenada en estos servidores remotos y su posible uso, ya que mediante esta tecnología los datos estarán almacenados en un/os servidor/es remoto/s, gobernados por grandes coorporaciones. En este link podeis encontrar un entrevista muy intersante de Richard Stallman hablando de este tema.

Es importante no confudir el concepto de "Cloud Computing" con un simple externalización de servicios de hosting. "Cloud Computing" va mucho más allá de DRP's, datacenter outsourcing etc etc...Si bien es cierto que los engloba, este concepto va más lejos.

Por ejemplo el otro día leía un articulo en CIO.com en el que se apuntaba erroneamente como "Preferred Hotels group" había dado el salto a la llamada "Cloud Computing" o Nube Computacional.

CHANGE.GOV cambia su política de Copyright

2008-12-03T14:02:00.003+01:00

La web del equipo de transición del presidente electo Barack Obama change.gov , ha cambiado su politica de Copyright, utilizando la licencia menos restrictiva Creative Commons BY , la cual básicamente permite a terceros distribuir, mezclar o construir contenido propio( incluso para uso comercial ), simplemente acreditando la fuente desde donde se obtiene el contenido.

Si bien es cierto que change.gov es digamos la oficina virtual del equipo de transición de un presidente aún electo y por lo tanto no tiene un riguroso caracter "oficial", sigue con la estrategía del uso de las redes sociales generalistas que tan buen resultado le dio durante las pasadas elecciones norteamericanas.

NUEVO VIDEO CLIP DE AC/DC en ASCII

2008-10-24T11:02:00.005+02:00

Increible obra de arte en ASCII presentada por AC/DC con motivo de su último álbum Black Ice.

Se puede descargar ( 3.8 Mb ) de su página oficial

"Ya sólo quedan 13 días de Bush, y 13 días pasan rápido" por Miguel Sebastian - Ministro de Industria de España

2008-10-23T21:08:00.003+02:00

Creo que las palabras del Ministro de Industria hoy en China, hablan por si solas y afirman mi anterior post, sobre la increíble inutilidad de los políticos que actualmente dirigen nuestro país.

Mientras el gobierno desde España hace lo que buenamente puede y sabe en labores diplomáticas con la Casa Blanca para España tenga representación en la cumbre financiera, a nuestro buen ministro simplemente se le ocurre soltar semejante gillipollez en su viaje por China, echando por tierra cualquier intento de acercamiento con el gobierno norteamericano.

Primero pensar que el culpable de la crisis es Bush es ser bastante mentecato, cuando aquí los que han montado todo el follón han sido las entidades bancarias y sus ejecutivos diseñando procesos de ingeniería financiera basados en altísimo riesgo y especulando, especulando. Los norteamericanos crearon la bases, pero bancos de todo el mundo se han unido a jugar esa partida...creando una pelota de dimensiones enormes. Asi que algo de culpa también tendrán los demás por meterse en suelo farrangoso.

Segundo...que eres un Ministro, coño, que no eres el carnicero.Que yo diga que Bush es un cateto en este blog mola, que lo piense el Ministro y se lo diga a su parienta cuando están en la cama mola, pero que sea tan capullo para soltarlo en una cumbre económica entre China y España es para que este tio coja su maleta y se vaya a vender chapas al retiro.

Vamos que llueve sobre mojado.

MAMI MAMI, NENE QUERE IR A CUMBRE MUNDIAL FINANCIERA.

2008-10-23T17:28:00.003+02:00

Hoy leía en el periódico las peripecias que esta haciendo nuestro querido gobierno socialista para poder “tener” una plaza en la próxima ( y primera ) cumbre financiera que se celebrará el próximo día 15 de Noviembre en Estados Unidos y que marca el comienzo de una serie de reuniones, cuyo objetivo es definir el próximo sistema financiero mundial al igual que ocurrió al final de la segunda guerra mundial.

Al parecer el gobierno Estadounidense y anfitrión de la cumbre no ha tenido en consideración la necesidad de la presencia de España. Muy amablemente le han dicho a nuestro ejecutivo que escucharán sus opiniones o más amigablemente que puede decir lo que le de la gana que nos limpiaremos el culo con sus propuestas.

Leyendo la noticia, me venía a la mente la imagen del típico niño marginado en el colegio con el que ninguna niña quiere bailar en la fiesta final del año o nadie le elige para jugar en el partido de football durante el recreo y que enrabietado se tira al suelo dando pataletas y llorando.

El hecho es que mirando el ranking de potencias económicas mundiales que expone el Banco Mundial, España es junto con Canadá la octava potencial mundial según su Producto Interior Bruto ( en billones de dólares):

1-Estados Unidos – 12,4
2-Japón – 4,7
3-Alemania – 2, 9
4-Reino Unido – 2,2
5-Francia –2,2
6-China – 1,8
7-Italia –1,8
8-España –1,1
9-Canadá – 1,1

Lo cuál bajo mi punto de vista la legitima para tener voz y voto en esta y demás futuras cumbres mundiales. Entonces, la pregunta es clara, por qué la octava potencia mundial no es bienvenida a la cumbre?.

Por su incompetencia, su falta de liderazgo, su incompetencia para proponer y plantear soluciones efectivas basadas en acciones concretas y no en teorías de chaqueta de pana que no valen pa tomar pol culo.

Representa ni más ni menos la inutilidad de un gobierno carente de inteligencia e incapacidad de reactivar las nulas relaciones que existen entre nuestro actual gobierno y el gobierno republicano americano.

Aún recuerdo el primer acto oficial del presidente de gobierno nada más ganar las primeras elecciones al Partido Popular junto con los presidentes de Francia y Alemania, mostrando una imagen de cambio, de vuelta a “Europa”, de alejamiento de las relaciones imperialistas transatlánticas que tan criticadas habían sido durante la presidencia del Partido Popular.

Pero si analizamos la situación de nuestro país con respecto a nuestros “amigos europeos”, vemos que aunque ellos criticaron abiertamente la política exterior norteamericana y tuvieron sus más y sus menos con Estados Unidos, son minimamente inteligentes para ser conscientes de la necesidad de tener unas relaciones estables y amistosas con la mayor potencia del mundo, PORQUE INTERESA, ES BUENO PARA LA ECONOMIA DEL PAIS Y FINALMENTE PARA EL CIUDADANO. Sin embargo nuestro país pasó de ser un “aliado” a un país “indiferente” en tan solo meses.

Nuestro gobierno parece más interesado en tender puentes con países cuyos dirigentes hasta nos insultan (véase el caso de Chávez, después de que fuese invitado a nuestro país por el gobierno socialista con todos los honores de Jefe de Estado y con dinero del contribuyente no olvidarlo), con dictadores (véase Cuba) o con políticos de muy dudosa reputación ( véase Argentina y su reciente nacionalización de las pensiones privadas…claro como los fondos de inversión donde los Argentinos invierten su dinero han bajado mucho…ya los controlamos nosotros para garantizar que el dinerito esta en buenas manos!!...Jaaaaaaaaaaaa esto suena a chiste en boca de un argentino, lo siento), y ya no hablemos de países del norte de África como Marruecos o Argelia.

España tiene y debe mantener relaciones estables y duraderas con los países sudamericanos y del norte de África, no solo porque históricamente España sea la cuna y puerta hacia Europa sino por todas las grandes inversiones que nuestras empresas tienen en esos países (Repsol, Telefónica, BBVA, Santander…) o por problemas como el de la inmigración que hacen la necesidad de elaborar conjuntamente políticas capaces de controlar este fenómeno ( y digo políticas no dar dinero del contribuyente para que los políticos corruptos se los gasten a su antojo ).

Pero su principal liga debe ser junto a los países más industrializados que forman la locomotora de la economía mundial, deben poner en práctica una política más inteligente y dejar de practicar un “todo o nada” con el próximo gobierno Americano, ya sea demócrata o republicano.

Aunque desafortunadamente mucho me temo que en este país, actualmente tenemos una clase política totalmente incompetente (desde luego el partido socialista lo ha demostrado sobradamente y al actual Partido Popular no le veo) lo que hace que el resto de países de occidente lo ignoren por su incapacidad para convencer y liderar...

Y QUE POR FAVOR EL PROXIMO PRESIDENTE DE ESTE PAIS HABLE INGLÉS!!!!...

NIGHT OUT IN PARIS

2008-10-22T13:47:00.003+02:00

Whoever that says PARIS is not the most beautiful city of the world is because never has visited PARIS before. I have gone many times there and everytime i get impressioned about the city. SIMPLY, IT IS JUST AMAZING.

I had the opportunity to spend 1 month ago a weekend in Paris, with my workmate and friend Antoine. It took us around three hours to arrive to Paris by car from Luxembourg, we arrived around 20:30 p.m. On friday night, i stayed in the MERCURE PAR ROYAL MADELEINE hotel for 141 Euros / Per night, i recommend this hotel because of its location, you are 10 minutes walking from Concorde and Champ's Ellises. I did not make anything special on Friday night, just a short walk from Concorde to Arc de Triomphe, taste a chesse and ham crepe (I LOVE IT) in the Champs Elysees and come back to the hotel.

I woke up pretty early on saturday around 8:30 a.m, i took a shower and went for breakfast in a little brasserie near the hotel. I took a capuccino, pain chocolate, orange juice and read "El Pais" for around 1 hour.I decided to come back to the hotel and checked out. After this, i walked around Louvre musseum, Notre Dame, Saint Germany Boulevard, Rue Rivoli, Place Republique, ...i do not know, i just lost myself for 4 hours and i realized again how cool is Paris, its architecture, its streets, its buildings...I met Antoine and his friend Alex ( who loves to speak Spanish, specially when he is drunk ) and went to have launch in a Brasserie close to Bastide, then we visited Antoine's brother who owns a music record studio. He gave us a Single CD that he recorded with a friend that i think it would be a great sucess in Chueca. It is basically a disco/gay song which lyric says: "If you want to marry me, you have to know, i practise blowjobs but not sodomie" :-)

After this we went to the Pompidou Center to have a drink There is a really nice bar on the roof with beautiful views of the city. We went back to Antoine's parents house, i could enjoy of a nice barbecue dinner there with his family. We took a shower and we went out to the opening of a restaurant / club located on the top of the Theatre des Champs-Elyees. I am not really fan of clubs / discos, but i have to say that we have a really good party, good music and the most beautiful / crazy girls that i have seen. It is really interesting to check how these girls love money. In this club the regular price of a bottle is around 200 Euros and you can order a bottle of champagne that cost 18000 Euros. More bottles in the table, more money you have to spend, more girls you have around you.

After this club we went to another located pretty close. It was around 6:00 a.m, had some more drinks and finished our night out eating one Kebac at 8:30 a.m in a turkish bar which opens 24 hours, soooooooo drunk!!!...We took the car and went back to Antoine's parents house...Alex slept in the car after 2 minutes ;-)

I woke up next day at 17:00 p.m, with a really nice hang over and a car waiting for me to drive it to Luxembourg.

Is there any country capital city in this world more boring than Luxembourg?

2008-09-14T11:42:00.003+02:00

I am living in Luxembourg since last July when I moved up from Madrid to Luxembourg with my company to work in a project for 6 months and although Luxembourg City is pretty beautiful, especially the neighborhood of Grund, this city is bored really bored.

Last Tuesday, after coming back from the gym, I decided to try dinner at one “Spanish” restaurant called “La Bodega”. I guess that after spending 3 weeks out of Spain I miss a little bit the taste of one good Spanish meal. After ten seconds I realized that as many “Spanish” restaurants which are out of Spain, the only Spanish thing they usually have are the name.

Anyway I ordered a Spanish red wine and one “tapita” of champignons I was sit closed to a couple of old guys, who immediately realized I was not either French nor Dutch nor Luxembourgish so one of them start to talk to me.

“Bon Apetit”.
“Thanks”.
“Where are you from?”
“I am from Madrid. I have just recently moved up with my company to work here for 6 months”.
“Ahhh from Madrid?...Well good luck…This city is dead”.

Yes, this city is dead. The first day that I arrived at my new work, my manager told me that I was going to be impressed about how the streets in the city center are empty at 8:00 pm. I could not believe that, but... the picture below is a photo taken last Friday at 21:15 p.m… ONE FRIDAY,…ONE FRIDAY NIGHT IN SUMMER!!!!!!.

Most of the people who work in Luxembourg commute daily from France, Germany or Belgium (aprox between 120 000 & 130 000 people comes into the city) which makes Luxembourg as a “work city”. You can immediately see that the infrastructures of the city are much bigger than the “real necessity” ( 80 000). All shops are closed around 18:00 p.m and many restaurants are just opened for launch.

The culture of work-home-home work differs with the Latin culture of living more “outside”…in the street.

It is September, end of the summer time, I just wondering how this city will be in December…!!!

Road trip to Brussels

2008-09-02T10:15:00.005+02:00

I have spent the last weekend in Brussels, which is around 2 hours by car from Luxembourg. The road trip is pretty easy and simple, you just have to take E-411 from Luxembourg.

I booked a room for Saturday night in Hotel Bloom, located in Rue Royale which is 15 minutes walking from "Grand Place". I really recommend this four star hotel. It was renovated some months ago. It is decorated in a trendy and minimalistic way. Alumnies from Bruxels Art Instituted and some renombrated belgium artists participated in rooms ambientation.

But that is not all, the lounge bar -restaurant is really cool, the free fitness center at the top of the building invites you to work out (you find free towels and free fruits in there). There is also free wireless access in all the hotel and if you do not have any laptop or wireless device to connect to internet there is a business center with some computers that you can use in case also for free.

I arrived to Brussels around 11:00 a.m, i did not have any city map ( Yeah..that's me!!! ), so when i entered the city i obviously found myself complete lost. I knew that my hotel was close to the "Grand Place" , so i followed with the car all the signs that i found in the streets that said " to city center " until i saw a book store and decided that if i want to spend my time efficiently and enjoy the city i should bought a map. Fortunatelly when i checked my situation i realized that i was not so far from the hotel :- )

I spent all the saturday walking around the city center ( with the map ). The most beautifull and also the most tourist part of Brussels is the " Grand Place", which basically is the main square of Luxembourg. The architecture of the buildings located here is amazing. This square dated from 12th Century but in 17th century was destroyed by French army. The only building that survied to this bombardement was the Hotel de Ville ( Council in French ) which ironic, it was the first objetive of the french attack ( Franceses!!!!!...).

Close to "Grand Place" you can find the Galleries St Hubert, which are composed by three galleries: gallerie du roi, gallerie de la reine and gallerie des princes. Actually you can find some books, music, clothes stores, coffee bars and famous chocolateries, like Port Royal, Godiva or Nahaus, the oldest ( but not the best ) chocolaterie of brussels, opened in 1857. I tried some "Pralines" from Port Royal( 6 pralines 6 Euros -> 1 Euro per praline) they were not bad but for that price, to be honest i expected more.

The streets that sorrounded the " Grand Place" are overcrowed of tourist restaurants, where people enjoyed of one of the famous belgium plate, Noveul ( Mejillones!! ) which tipically are cooked with Tomato sauce or with white wine and vegetables.

I walked around for more than 5 hours, so i decided to go to the hotel to rest a little bit, i took a short nap and went to the gym.

On Sunday i woke up early and went to the gym just for 45 minutes. I bought the Spanish newspaper and went to a coffee bar in Galleries St Hubert for breakfast ( Capuccino, Orange Juice and Croissant ). On my went back to Luxembourg i decided that i would not like to go directly thorugh the high way so for the first half of the way i drove through secondary roads. I stopped in Waterloo, where i saw one of the most visited belgium monument, a lion located in a top of a montain that remembers the place where it took the battle of Waterloo where Napoleon lost his empire and more that 300 000 from 7 different European countries fought.

The next stop was in Rocheford, famous because of its beer, black and pretty strong ( 10º), which is made by the monks who live in the little village.

Familiar Mediterranean Fever

2008-08-28T16:53:00.002+02:00

FMF ( Familiar Mediterranean Fever ) is a hereditary inflammatory disorder that affects groups of patients originating from around the mediterranean Sea. It is prominently present in :

* Ashkenazi Jewish people (descended from Eastern European Jewish people and also including most European and American Jewish people) have a prevalence of 1 case per 73,000 population, with a gene frequency of 1:135.
* Sephardic Jewish people (descended from Jewish people who were expelled from Spain, largely to North Africa, and also including other Middle Eastern Jewish populations) have a prevalence of 1 case per 250-1000 population, with a gene frequency of 1:8-16.
* Armenian persons (based on epidemiology among Armenian populations in Lebanon and Southern California) have an estimated prevalence of 1 case per 500 population and a gene frequency of 1:7.
* Turkish people (from one study) may have a prevalence of approximately 1 case per 1000 population.
* Arabic people (from one study) may have a prevalence of 1 case per 2600 population in children and a gene frequency of 1:50.

There are seven types of attacks. 90% of all patients have their first attacks before they are 20 years old. Most attacks involve:

1- Abdominal attacks featuring abdominal pain affecting the whole abdomen with all signs of acute abdomen. They occur in 95% of all patients and may lead to unnecessary laparotomy. Incomplete attacks, with local tenderness and normal blood tests, have been reported.
2 - Joints attacks occurring in large joints, mainly of the legs. Usually, only one joint is affected. 75% of all FMF patients experience Joint attacks.
3 - Chest attacks with pleuritis(inflammation of the pleural lining) and pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium). Pleuritis occurs in 40%, but pericarditis is rare.
4 - Scrotal attacks due to inflammation of the tunica vaginalis. This occurs in up to 5% and may be mistaken for acute scrotum (i.e. testicular torsion)
5 - Myalgia
6 - Erysipeloid
7 - Fever without any reason

FMF is a recessive genetic disease likely caused by missense and nonsense mutations in the MEFV gene that is located on the short arm of chromosome 16. This gene codes for the protein known as pyrin or marenostrin. This was discovered in 1997 by two different groups, each working independently - the French FMF Consortium and the International FMF Consortium Various mutations of this gene lead to FMF, although some mutations cause a more severe picture than others.

* Multiple mutations are located on the MEFV gene. Most of the mutations are in exon 10 of the gene between amino acids 680 and 761. One mutation in exon 1 at amino acid 148 may represent as many as one quarter of the known mutations.
* Although certain mutations are more common in particular ethnic groups, patients usually inherit different mutations from each parent.
* Homozygotes for M694V (valine for methionine at position 694) may experience more severe disease and may be more likely to develop amyloidosis.
* Patients with V726A (alanine for valine at position 726) may be less likely to develop amyloidosis.

The preeminent feature of FMF is the paroxysm, the classic onset of which occurs without warning. The paroxysms usually last 48-96 hours, with peak intensity occurring within the first 12 hours. A plateau with resolution follows, usually occurring more slowly than the onset of symptoms.

* Fever
* Temperatures rise rapidly to 38-40°C (100.4-104°F). Temperature increases may occur before other manifestations.
* In mild attacks, fever may be the only manifestation.
* Peritoneal symptoms
* Almost all patients with FMF experience abdominal episodes. Patients develop abdominal pain that may progress to peritonitis, resembling a surgical abdomen.
* Patients frequently have symptoms consistent with appendicitis or cholecystitis, and they frequently have appendectomies and cholecystectomies because the abdominal episodes of FMF are not recognized as such.
* The symptoms may also mimic renal colic.
* Often, patients develop constipation during the attack and diarrhea after the attack resolves.
* Pleural and pericardial symptoms
* The frequency of pleural and pericardial attacks varies among ethnic groups, with 25-80% of patients reporting pleuritic episodes.
* Effusions may occasionally occur. Pericarditis may develop, but tamponade and constrictive pericarditis are rare.
* The rate of synovial symptoms varies from 25-75% in reported series. The episodes may resemble gout in their acute onset and intensity. Knees, ankles, and wrists are the joints most commonly affected. An arthritis that resembles seronegative spondyloarthritis may also occur.
* The joints are normal between attacks, and permanent damage does not usually occur.
* Arthritic symptoms tend to last several days longer than abdominal symptoms. Episodes can be protracted.
* Arthritis may be the only manifestation. FMF should be considered in patients with a family history of FMF or who live in an endemic area.
* As many as 50% of patients report erysipelaslike rashes on the lower extremities, particularly below the knees.
* Rash and fever may be the only manifestations of attacks.
* Recent descriptions more often include reports of severe myalgia lasting 3-6 weeks. These episodes do not respond to colchicine therapy.
* Symptoms are consistent with fibromyalgia.
* Pelvic symptoms: Female patients may have episodes of pelvic inflammatory disease.
* Scrotal attacks: In males, inflammation of the tunica vaginalis testis may mimic episodes of torsion of the testis.
* Vasculitis: An increased frequency of Henoch-Schönlein purpura and polyarteritis nodosa is reported in persons with FMF, even in children. Behçet disease is also more common.
* In a patient of the appropriate ethnic group, the typical progression is proteinuria, followed by nephrotic syndrome, and, inevitably, death from renal failure.
* One third of patients with amyloidosis may develop renal vein thrombosis. Nephrotic syndrome is reported in patients as young as 14 years. Despite the frequency and extent of amyloid deposits in the renal system, deposits in other organs are only rarely reported as significant.
* Prolonged survival resulting from colchicine therapy, dialysis, and renal transplantation allows additional manifestations of amyloidosis to develop. Some patients have intestinal involvement, which may lead to malabsorption and death.
* Some patients with a family history of FMF may present with amyloid nephropathy without ever having experienced an amyloid attack. Furthermore, some patients with otherwise typical FMF may develop renal failure without previous proteinuria.
* Temperatures can reach as high as 40°C (104°F), but, in most cases, rapid defervescence occurs within 12 hours.
* A boardlike or surgical abdomen is present with typical findings of peritonitis (ie, abdominal tenderness, decreased bowel sounds). Splenomegaly is common in response to the inflammation. Patients with pleural involvement may have shallow breathing and chest-wall tenderness, but friction rubs are rare.
* Joints show typical inflammatory changes, with warmth, erythema, or swelling.
* A well-demarcated, erythematous, warm rash, particularly below the knee, ranging from 15-50 cm2 may develop and be accompanied by swelling.
* Patients with painful myalgia syndrome may have tender muscles.
* Patients with symptoms mimicking pelvic inflammatory syndrome may experience pain upon cervical motion and may develop tender, enlarged ovaries.
* Unilateral, erythematous, and tender swelling of the scrotum occurs in scrotal attacks. The typical manifestations of Behçet disease and Henoch-Schönlein purpura may be observed.
* Amyloidosis is usually asymptomatic, with hypertension reported in 35% of patients late in the disease. Renal vein thrombosis may develop and manifests as loin pain.

Since the 1970s, colchicine, has been shown to decrease attack frequency in FMF patients. The exact way in which colchicine suppresses attacks is unclear. While this agent is not without side-effects (such as abdominal pain and muscle pains, it may markedly improve quality of life in patients. The dosage is typically 1-2 mg a day. Development of amyloidosis is delayed with colchicine treatment. Interferon is being studied as a therapeutic modality.v

I lost my flight back to Luxembourg

2008-08-26T21:24:00.003+02:00

I do not know what is going on in Barajas airport or Spanish airlines, but today i have lost my connection from Madrid to Luxembourg due to a delay in my flight from Santander to Madrid.

The IB 8875 flight to Madrid was scheduled to take off at 17:40 p.m, t it was delayed for "technical reasons" , the next flight from SAN to MAD at 19:35 p.m was directly cancelled.

A nice beach day in "El Pedrero"

2008-08-25T00:32:00.004+02:00

I would say that " El Pedrero" is definetelly one of my favourite beaches in Cantabria.
It is the most occidental beach bordering Asturias. It is located in the mounth of Deva river (in Tina Mayor ria) to Cantabrico sea. This beach is pretty calm, not overcrowded, perfect if you want to read and relax. Also one of its cool things is that you can swim in a salt marsh or if you don't want nitre, swim in the mounth of the river.

The Punzones EP Available

2008-08-23T19:05:00.006+02:00

Finally THE PUNZONES EP that we recorded last June is available in the following link:

www.myspace.com/thepunzones

IN MEMORIAN 13.08.2008

2008-08-23T17:56:00.005+02:00

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

In Memorian to Mr. Hryndza

How much i missed my GPS: Finding my hotel in Luxembourg

2008-08-06T20:24:00.006+02:00

Some weeks ago, i flew from Spain to Luxembourg after spending my weekend in Madrid. My plane touch down at 23:00 p.m on Sunday. That week i had to move from my first hotel, which was located in front of the main Luxembourg train station to a new one located around 8 Km from the airport. My company had rented a car for me that i had to pick up in the Airport agency.

Before flying to Luxembourg i print out some maps with the route that i had to followed in order to find my hotel ( It looks pretty easy )...Well i made around 80 Km by car ( the country has 60 Km of width for 90 Km of lenght ), i think i touch German and French borders and spent 2 hours driving.

Finally i decided to stop the car, call to the hotel and request a taxi in order to address me to my new hotel. I was so excited when i arrived to my hotel!!!!!!!!!!......

Luxembourg - The Grand Dutchy

2008-08-06T20:04:00.004+02:00

WOW!!!. I have not written anything within my blog since 2 months ago, and a lot of things have going on since then. I have recently moved up to Luxembourg, in order to work for RBC Dexia Investors Services Bank. I am going to be there until December 31st at least.
Luxembourg city is a little "Pueblacho" in the middle of Europe, beautiful but a "Pueblacho". The city has a population of around 90.000 people, however during labour days the population can be around 120.000, because many people commute from Belgium, France or Germany. In fact, this is my third week in Luxembourg and i still have not know anybody from the country.
Actually i am living in a hotel ( Parc Hotel ), which is not really confortable, at least for me. It is good that you do not have to worry about cleaning or thing like this, but after sometime i start to fell a little bit tired and i just wondering to have my own place.
But Anyway, I arrived here last July 16th. I took my flight from Madrid at 20:10 p.m. It is a short trip, just 1 hour and 50 minutes from MAdrid to Luxembourg city. I picked up a taxi and went to the hotel ( During my first week i stayed in Mercure hotel close to Train station ). When i said to the taxi drvier the address, we looked at me and told me:

Taxi Driver: " You know, the hotel is not bad, but it is loceted in the worst street of Luxembourg".
Me: " What do you mean, by the worst street?"
Taxi Driver: " Well you know...Prostitution ,drugs...things like this..."

So i was like.. " Ok, well done man ( for my current project manager, who was in charge of finding a place an booked a room ), it is going to be funny"... And well, yes although Luxembourg city is a pretty safe place i checked that it was not the best street in the world, specially at night. My hotel was sorrounded by some Cabarets, street hookers waiting for sex partners...just a little bit "Montera".

So WELCOME TO LUXEMBOURG!!!. Fortunately before moving up to Luxembourg i got in touch with one workmate from Paris office who is also expatriated here in Lux and work with me in the same project. He is a cool guy and my best friend in the city :-D. I met him the next day after my arrival in the main train station. It was pretty helpful because i work at 25 km south from Luxembourg city, close to Eszch - sur - Atlzetch, so he showed me the way to arrive work.

During my first day, i met all my workmates ( Clients, Manager ( The one who made my reservation ), Senior Executives..). I got introduced briefly to the core business of my client and i spent the next days just reading tons of documents.

It is here: Mozzilla Firefox 3.0

2008-06-18T09:19:00.010+02:00

Mozilla Firefox is a open - source web browser developed by Mozilla Corporation. This company is the taxable subsidiary from Mozilla Foundation , a non profit organization which supports and provides leadership to Open Source Mozilla project.

Currently Firefox web browser is the No.2 with nearly 18% in market share terms. Microsoft Internet Explorer is undoubtedly at this moment the winner in this battle with a 75% of the market, not because Microsoft's browser is better but because it is integrated within Windows, where Microsoft is the leader with a 95% of the Operating system market share. However during the last yers Firefox is collecting more supporters:

Looking at the "browser trends" graphic above from Market Share , since 2006 Microsoft's browser has lost around 7 points from nearly 82% to 75%, while Mozilla browser has increased its market share from 10% to nearly 20%. In 2006, Mozilla obtained revenues of $66 Millions, most from Goggle inc.

Yesterday was the big day for the official delivery of Mozilla Firefox web browser release 3.0 . There was even a campaign named "Download day", in order to "set a new Guinness World record for most downloads in 24 hours". The goal: Deliver 5 millions copies of the browser.

I was one of them :-),in fact i am already writing this post using Firefox 3.0 , this is what i found interesting within the new release:

1 - First thing i noticed was the performance improvements in order to load pages.
2 - The "Awesome" bar which suggests sites that you have visited before. These suggestions are made based on your bookmarks and history, order by frequency and shown in a rich text format.
3 - New features against malware and phishing. Even when you download a file, Firefox runs an anti-virus for security checking purposes.
4 - Download manager improvements, now Firefox lets you resume your downloads.
5 - One click bookmarking.
6 - Bookmarks can be indexed by tags.

The Punzones recorded during last weekend their EP

2008-06-16T11:38:00.020+02:00

The Punzones spent the last weekend locked in Tema Studio" in Madrid, recording our first EP. It was not easy; however it has been a gratifying and a terrific experience.

Our first approach was to meet together on Friday evening just to get ready, prepare the drum set, tune guitars, bass, microphones and warm up a little bit...Unfortunately it was not possible. So finally, we met on Saturday morning around 12:00 p.m.

It was great to arrive there on Saturday and find the drum set assembled. However, Carlos our "Producer", configured it for a right-hand drummer, which is not my case. Therefore we had to disassemble and assemble it again; which means placing all microphones around the hit-hat, crashes, ride, toms :-(

Basically my drum set was formed by one hit-hat, two Roland electronic crashes, one ride, one drum bass, two toms and one snare...pretty standard!!.

I sat behind the drum set, put on my headphones, adjusted all the different pieces, and we began to measure the volume levels for recording drums. After me, Sergi, Sete, Dani and Fernando did the same...so finally we were ready at 2:30 p.m.

Normally each instrument is recorded independently: 1)drums, 2) guitars, 3)bass, 4)vocals, 5)chorus...However we decided to record all the music together and then work on adding vocals, chorus and other stuff like tambourines...: 1) It is our first EP 2) It is more fun 3) We want to capture "improvisation" essence 4) One weekend is not really long...

We spent around 8 hours just to record the music. We had to repeat some songs, specially "Creep" and "Sexy y Barrigón" until we found their tempo and taste :-). After this we added some more tracks where Sergi and Sete recorded some guitar solos. I also recorded some additional tracks for tambourines and latin percussion. We also had a special guest ( Paloma ) who helped us add some clapping to the "Proud Mary" cover.

At 12:00 a.m, we finished recording all music for our main four covers( although we decided to give a second round on sunday morning to "Keep on rockin...", trying to find out a more powerful and hard version).

It was a long long day, and we felt really tired, but we were happy...

On Sunday morning we met together at 12:00 p.m. We tried again "Keep on rockin in the free world". I have never played drums as hard as that day. After 4 rounds i was exhausted and close to suffering from hyper-ventilation (and Sergi and Sete who shared the room with me, were close to having a heart-attack...sorry guys!!!), but we did it. All together we found that powerful cover. Pure rock!!!

Then we were jamming a little bit and recording our own songs, in order to work on them during next weeks: 1) Euro tirado, 2 ) Patio Cerrado, 3) Teniente Dan.

In the evening, It was time for Fernando, our singer. He did a great great job and performance :-) applying felling and style within the lyrics.

After Fernando finished his work, we recorded some choruses and completed a review of all the cover songs. Fernando, Carlos and I will meet in the following weeks for mixing process and to deliver the final master.

We were happy and satisfied with the result, we made it, we played and... Now it is there, it is real, ready to be listened to, ready to be shared...

HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!!!

The Black Crowes: Freak 'n' roll...into the fog DVD

2008-06-13T14:13:00.012+02:00

I bought last wednesday at Fnac store The Black Crowes "Freak 'n' roll...into the fog" dvd, a live concert recorded in 2005 at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco CA.

The Black crowes is an American rock 'n' roll band formed in 1986 by the brothers Chris & Rich Robinson. With 7 official studio albums, The Black crowes has sold more than 20 million albums and was named " The most rock and roll band in the world" by Melody Marker magazine.

In 150 minutes this DVD gathers the purest and essencials forms of southern rock music, six talented hippies musicians performing brilliant jams. Powerful guitars, amazing vocals, brilliant back-up singers, trumpets, saxs and trombones define from the begining to the end what a ROCK and ROLL band must be.

Accenture community dinner

2008-06-13T02:19:00.005+02:00

We have today our Accenture community dinner. This year, the event took place at "Pedro Larumbe" restaurant. I have to say that i expect much more of it. Definitely i would not recommend this restaurant to any friend. The best thing of the night was not neither food nor service but.... People.

Dinner with an old friend from The University of Deusto

2008-06-11T23:53:00.007+02:00

I had the opportunity to share a great dinner with my old friend from The University of Deusto Borja Sotomayor. Nowdays most of his time Borja lives in the US, where he is getting his PhD in computer science within The University of Chicago. In addition he works as teacher assistant and also he is an active blogger

We shared a nice chat related to grid computing (finally i understand what the hell are you doing on the other side of the ocean, THANKS!!! :-))and also enjoyed a great dinner in one of my favourites places Bazaar restaurant located in Chueca neighborhood.

Web 2.0 Part I - What does it mean?

2008-06-11T09:12:00.006+02:00

"...Web 2.0 is like porn. I could not define it, however i can recognize it at first sight."

Web 2.0 term was borned in a brainstorming session between O'reilly and MediaLive international in 2004. It describes the trend in the use of word wide web and web design in order to enhance information sharing and collaboration between users. Altough web 2.0 could suggest a new version of the WWW, it does not refer to any update to any technical specification ( no my friend, although your website cointains AJAX, it does not mean that is a web 2.0 application), but to changes in the way software developers and end - users uses the web.

Now the end - users are not just "information consumers" but also "information providers", using the "web as a platform" in order to add content and share it.

Web 2.0 has numerous definitions and also numerous criticisms:

"…an idea in people's heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what is emphasised. In other words, genuine interactivity, if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download." said Sthepen fry.

"…the philosophy of mutually maximizing collective intelligence and added value for each participant by formalized and dynamic information sharing and creation.".

"…all those Internet utilities and services sustained in a data base which can be modified by users whether in its content (adding, changing or deleting- information or associating metadates with the existing information), or how to display them, or in content and external aspect simultaneously.".

But what really means "web as a platform"...to be continued

23andMe.com when genetics just got personal.

2008-06-05T20:37:00.009+02:00

www.23andMe.com introduces the first personal genome service. For $1000 this "Start up" offers something never sold before to the masses: YOUR DNA.

" The mission of 23andMe is to offer a secure service in where users can explore, share and improve their knowledge about their own genome", said Linda Avey, Co-founder of 23andMe.com.

After providing a saliva sample using a home kit, some interactive tools are available in order to:

1 - Discover how genes may affect your chances of developing various diseases and conditions, as well as traits such as athletic ability.

2 - Compare your genome to populations around the globe.

3 - Trace the inheritance of different traits in your family, from food preferences to sleep habits. Find out which grandparent to thank for your athletic talent, or blame for your lactose intolerance.

4 - Compare yourself to your friends and family either across all your genetic data, or only in groups of genes affecting certain traits.

You can take a look at some screenshots posted by Michael Arrington at
TechCrunch.com

Why IPhone is not Enterprise ready?

2008-06-05T19:35:00.005+02:00

It is undeniable that Apple IPhone took the customer when it was released last year, but why IT departments ( CIO organizations ) refuses to support it:

1 - IPhone can not be locked or wiped remotely as it is made for example with BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
2 - The IPhone does not allow data on the device to be encrypted.
3 - The Iphone does not support natively "Push" coorporate email or wireless calendar syncing ( It must be done via USB port ).
4 - For global organizations, the iphone has limited carrier support.
5 - Iphone battery is integrated within the phone hardware, so it does not offer any possibility for batteries replacements.
6 - Iphone is very expensive compared with other smartphones.
7 - It is a first generation device.