Summer Journey

The semester is about to end. An extremely stressing week full of papers, projects and tests are driving me crazy. But after finals week comes summer time! I'm extremely excited for this summer, because I'm traveling with a group of friends to Europe. We are going to visit a couple cities such as: Paris, Madrid, London, Rome, Monaco, Berlin, Prague and more.

I've never been to Europe and this has been a dream for me. One of the reasons that his trip is very special for me is visiting the Santiago Bernabeu. This is the stadium of the professional soccer team of madrid called Real Madrid. I've been a huge fan of this team since I have memory. I watch every single game of them and suffer and celebrate their journey towards the championship every season. This stadium is one of the best soccer stadiums in the world has been the host of the most epic soccer games in history.

Beside visiting this collosal stadium I'm also excited to travel with my friends all over Europe. It's going to be crazy, a lot of flight connections and trains to catch. It's going to be pretty intense. I hope to take a ton of pictures and capture a lot of this unique moments. 

After Euope I'm going back to Colombia and share some time with my parents. It's always great to be back home. There is really nothing in the world like being at my house. I just can't wait for this marvelous summer time to start!! 

The worst but most satisfying week

The most stressing week of the semester is about to come. This is not just a normal week. During these chaotic days several tests could be a turning point for your final grade. People start losing a lot of sleep and everyone just seem angry and stressed.

A big sign that finals week is coming is that the library becomes the second home for most. People spend more time at the library than at their dorms or houses. It really doesn’t matter at what time you go there, you have to be extremely lucky to find an empty studying room. Also the Sunday before that week marks the starting of this chaotic week. You might be thinking why? Well, the church gets absolutely packed; even the second floor of the chapel has no room for more people. God is not going to make the tests for you, and those who don’t go often to church there is really no reason to go now. But if this makes you fill more confident for your tests, go for it.

I hope my tests go the way I want and my grades stay the same or improve. This is the worst but most satisfying week of the whole semester. After all the stress, no sleep, and even conflicts with everyone, when you finish your last test is the most satisfying thing to do. There is nothing like finishing that week. You are done and ready for the summer! Ready for some deserved vacations. Wish the best luck to all of you!!    

Share the words of a professional about finals week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKz1Uplirts

The most celebrated Death

Since Hitlers death the world has not been so happy to celebrate someones death. The confirmation of Osama Bin Lande's death shocked the entire world. One interesting scene was during the Mets vs Phillies game. The fans started chanting "USA, USA" in the middle of the game, and the game was stopped for a while. 

The breaking news of Bin Laden's death in an operaiton by the US army had a huge impact also on sports. Right after the news was delivered famous athletes were unable to resist the temptation and posted comment on twitter.



KingJames LeBron James

#WoW!! Obama words are earth moving and inspiring.

rudygay22 Rudy Gay

Ok so we killed Osama. Now all we have to do is find Waldo and Carmen San Diego! Then I will be impressed!!!!

mogotti25 Mo Williams

We got his ASS. Osama Bin Laden is DEAD...........wow Obama that's impressive

SteveNash Steve Nash

Since we caught Osama do I still have to take my laptop out at security?

RDupree12 Ronald Dupree

by NazrMohammed

RT @billmaher: Somali pirates, Gaddafi's son, now bin Laden - do NOT fuck with Obama, he's Gangsta!!

All this athletes celebrate this "accomplishment", but Chris Douglas Roberts (Milwaukee Bucks)
really critics this celebrations.

"Is this a celebration?? ... Always read the fine print. ... It took 919,967 deaths to kill that one guy. It took 10 years & 2 Wars to kill that...guy. It cost us (USA) roughly $1,188,263,000,000 to kill that...........guy. But we #winning though. Haaaa. (Sarcasm) ... People are telling me to get out of America now b/c I'm against MORE INNOCENT people dying everyday? B/c I'm against a 10 year WAR? ... What I'm sayin has nothing to do with 9/11 or that guy. I still feel bad for the 9/11 families but I feel EQUALLY bad for the war families. ... What I've learned tonight, athletes shouldn't have perspectives. But I don't care. We feel certain ways about things TOO".

MLB game celebration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35pfllMiLag

Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnn_nv0u-Ck&feature=player_embedded

Another Natural Disaster Strikes Madly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7T7GYl0xvg


This is not a Hollywood movie. Dozens of tornadoes roared as a colossal monster vanishing everything on their way. Tuscaloosa, Alabama unfortunately was the set of this tragic event. The video shows the deadly truth this place is facing. This is the deadliest tornado outbreak in almost 40 years, leaving at least 297.

"There's not a word for what you see," said Becky Russell, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army's Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi (ALM) Division as she surveyed the damage in Tuscaloosa. "This has to be close to what a war zone looks like. I can turn in any direction and there is nothing normal standing."

 

Natural disasters are occurring more often and even in bigger scales. Tsunamis, Earthquakes and now tornados strike mankind with no compassion. Millions of people have died and at least trillions have lost completely their home. For some the idea of the end of the world is just a myth, but as 2012 comes closer it seems that this myth could turn into a reality.     

Message in a Bottle

Thirteen-year-old Daniil Korotkikh was walking on a beach in Russia when he saw a bottle in the sand.

It turned out to be 24 years old, having been thrown by a young boy off a ship in the Baltic Sea nearly a quarter century ago. And it had a message inside, written in German.

The letter said: "My name is Frank and I'm five years old. My dad and I are traveling on a ship to Denmark. If you find this letter, please write back to me, and I will write back to you."

Daniil Korotkikh was uncertain at the begining about the legitimacy of this message. But although he had this feeling, he did not want to stay with the intrigue. So he contact the address of the letter. After a few days he got an answer, but it was from the parents of the author of the letter. He then was able to get in contact with Frank

Daniil found the bottle on a beach on the Curonian Spit, on the Baltic Sea coast, part of which belongs to Russia's Kaliningrad region and part to Lithuania. The boy said he found it hard to believe that the bottle was so old and theorized it had been buried in the sand the whole time. "It would not have survived in the water all that time," he said.

I really wanted to share this crazy news. How can the bottle survive 24 years overseas? What are the probabilities for someone to find it!?

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGZ-svdreIU

Season Sports

We are a couple days from the so desired opening day of the Major League Baseball. It's crazy how people are so anxious for this coming season. Fantasy line-ups, new strategies and lots of things that come before this great day for those who love Baseball.

The pre-season at the warm south has shown what each team has to offer. Lots of new players have shown their qualities and some old dogs keep showing they rule this game.

Its very curious to me how sports here are played just for couple months. The reason for this is obvious, and this makes every single sport gain even more attention. Football lovers can now watch some basketball or some baseball too. Back home we just play all year long, and basically thats what happens all over the world. 

For example, soccer is played almost the 11 months per year, whether it is on Europe, South America or Africa. Any way I think that this idea of selecting which sport plays on which month also helps advertising to focus even further. Since companies have only one or two sports to sponsor, they can use more time to be as efficient as possible with their messages to the customer and providing outstanding jobs.

For this season I hope another Colombian makes a great performance like Edgar Renteria did last year, not only winning the World Series with the Giants, but being the World Series MVP. 

Opening Day Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1U2KbUbG1Q

Positive or Negative Negotiation?

This idea has created lots of controversy. Some critics say that this alliance will create a great coverage taking away those old problems of loosing bar signal all the time. Also their spectrum will increase massively making internet faster, more applications and better devices. Also another thing that was said by the pro side was that prices will decrease. Now that they have a greater capital and become more efficient they will start cutting down some prices.

The wireless world has been shocked by the proposal of AT&T. They want to keep expanding and their new target is T-Mobile, the price, 39 billion dollars. One if their eternal rivals has now become the best opportunity to increase their spectrum.


On the other hand, some people are afraid of a monopoly from AT&T. This monopoly could skyrocket prices since they will keep on growing and control the whole wireless industry. After buying T-Mobile they could keep on buying smaller companies looking for personal benefits. Another negative aspect was that the customer services. The New York Times says it will not increase. "Bigger is not Better". These two companies are the top worst of customer satisfaction....

I hope this negotiation brings lots of benefits to everyone. I'm currently a user of iWireless which is an affiliate of T-Mobile. I hope that the benefits are also seen be their affiliates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1YUa0I71sk&feature=player_embedded

http://blogs.computerworld.com/18000/at_t_buys_t_mobile_usa_monopoly_merger_mania?ue

A Valuable Lesson

After the massive destruction of the tsunami in Japan last Sunday,  the wave of bad luck keeps covering Japan. They are fasing a huge dilemma concerning the nuclear plant of Fukushima Dai-Ichi.

An explosion at the power station destroyed a building housing the reactor, this created a radiation leak. The reactor's cooling system was damaged in the earthquake, but when water was poured on the superheated metal container of the fuel rods, it produced hydrogen which then interacted with the oxygen outside the reactor, causing an explosion. Luckily, the explosion seems not to have damaged the reactor, but only the building surrounding it.

We have a very important nuclear plant near our current location. The nuclear power plant at Palo, IA should really take on account all this problems that could happen from a possible meltdown. Having this type of plant requires lots of responsibilities with the community. The plant at Palo should take note of this unfortunate disaster and learn from these mistakes.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5raVVOLCCts&feature=player_embedded

Bad Weather for Lent

This Ash Wednesday comes with severe weather conditions. Iowa is going to face some snow storms and windy conditions. The temperature has dropped quite a bit also. It's sad that this significant day for us Catholics faces these severe conditions. This weather could create some difficulties when meeting with some family members or going to Church for mass and getting the ash.

 

But definitely the worst part of this severe weather condition is going to be suffered by the Mardi Gras celebrations. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit near New Orleans overnight, putting a damper on Mardi Gras just in time for the solemnity of Lent. There are more than 10,000 power outages in New Orleans.

Other states are being affected by the weather too, like Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Farther north, the Midwest can expect more rain and snow, adding to between six and 12 inches of snow around the Great Lakes.

Hope this weather changes soon....

The Big Winner of the Oscars

This last weekend was celebrated the 83th edition of the Oscars. The British film “The King’s Speech” was the King of the night nominated to twelve academy awards and winning four of them including Best Lead actor (Colin Firth), Best Film, Best Director (Tom Hooper) and best original Screenplay (David Seidler).

Firth plays King George VI, who, to overcome his stutter, is introduced to Lionel Logue, an unorthodox speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The two men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates, the new king relies on Logue to help him make a radio broadcast at the beginning of World War II.

One of the most amazing things of this film is that it has just been in Australia on December 23, 2010 and The United Kingdom on January 7, 2011. This historical film seemed to gain a lot of popularity and amazed with its scenes, characters, script and plot. It seems that they only needed these two places to become the most awarded movie of the night. After them came “Social Network” which has the favorite to get all of its nominations. Although they shined at the Golden Globe, this was not their night.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBo4Y78HznQ&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI4D6dyp_o

Young Athletes On The Command

Trevor Bayne became the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500. This historic race gives great stories after every single edition. Now we have the youngest winner with just 20 years old. Bayne was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in February 1991. He currently resides in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Bayne has placed a new record not only in NASCAR’s history but in the world of sports. Young athletes breaking amazing records for their age has become into a new tendency in every sport around the world. Nowadays athletes are becoming professional in their respective sport younger and younger. For example, the latest Formula One world Champion Sebastian Vettel is just 23 years old. Other sports such as Soccer, Basketball and Volleyball have tons of records of youngsters of even 16 years old.

These events make us aware of the new tendency of younger champions. This is also why famous brands like Nike or Adidas and also the respective professional teams are searching and developing young athletes. Massive profits for longer time. Just look Lebron James’s Nike story.      

"Kill Switch" Internet Bill against terrorist attacks

A new internet bill has been proposed to give the government control over the internet. This "Kill Switch" bill has brought up because of the recent situation Egypt experienced. The Egyptian government turned off their internet to prevent communications through this media.

This has created a huge debate in the U.S because people don't agree with the fact that the government is going to increase, even more their power and control. But in the other hand this could save millions of life’s and also millions of dollars. If the "Kill Switch" prevents a terrorist attack without a doubt people will feel pleased and protected.

"This is all about control, an attempt to control every aspect of our existence," says Christopher Feudo, a cyber security expert who is chairman of Security Fusion Solutions. "I consider it an attack on our personal right of free speech. Look what recently occurred in Egypt."

How good would it be to include this bill? Could the Cyberspace become into National Asset legislation? I personally think that if this becomes official it is not going to be as easy as in Egypt. Over there they had to deal with a couple internet providers, here there are hundreds of them 

Digital Valentine's Day

Yesterday everyone was excited for the Valentine’s Day. People were wondering what to buy to their love ones, probably some chocolates, candy, clothes or some nice flowers. But what about those people who were miles away from those who love? Well, on this globalized world there are no limits for you to stop sharing your love. It doesn't matter how far someone is there is always a way to reach them. Social media is one of the best ways to reach someone, and especially on this special day.

You can send images, photos or videos to your family and friends. Facebook, Twitter and all of these wonderful sites facilitate a faster conversation with those people that live far away from you. Another great advantage nowadays is Skype. These wonderful programs not only gives you the opportunity to talk with anyone in the world for free, now you can even see the person while you talk to them and even play some games together.

I know it’s hard to live so far from those who you love so much, but social media has made it easier. You now can express yourself without waiting for months for a letter to arrive. A post on a wall, an inbox or a tweet can make the day for your love ones.

Hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day!

Gop Proposes to cut Billions

I'm sure every single person in the United States wants to b entitled to food that isn't toxic, to drink water that isn't poisonous, to breathe air that is breathable, to work on a safe environment and to the money they put into Social Security.The EPA is very important agency for the United State citizenes because it helps all of these things come true. Although the budget cut is going to be about 1 billion from the 10.3 that is currently in the EPA, this will have an impact on their functionality. Looking at several blogs, people are very concerned mainly about the budget cut of the EPA, but there are other 69 bugets that are being cut that although they are not as popular and gigantic as the EPA they will also have a considerable inpact in case of an emergency. Some of these are the Flood control and Costal emergencies (-$30M), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy   (-$899M), National Institute of Health (-$1B) and the list could go longer. 

Every of this massive cuts will affect the functionality of the country. Does the United States really need to make this risk? There could be alot of after effects from this desicion that would affect every single person.