Don't act like I never told you:.

Last Thursday I finished my master's degree =). I passed the thesis defense, and I think it went pretty good. One of the best teachers I've ever had even said mine was one of the best studies he had evaluated so far, and coming from him, it really means a lot.

Now I'll finally take sometime for myself and think about my future in the short and medium term. For instance, one of the advisors talked to me about the possibility of pursuing a PhD abroad, and it certainly sounds interesting. On the other hand, it would also be nice to be back in the industry and deal with real world software engineering. I guess I could also do both =):.

Anyway, I'm enjoying what's left of this year, hoping next one will be even better =):.

Work it harder, make it better,
do it faster, makes us stronger,
more than ever, never over,
our work is never over.

For reasons unknown:.

The year is coming to an end, which is great because it also means I'm about to finish my master's degree. To be honest, I enjoyed most of this year and a half at school, though there are many things I'd change. Anyway, I think this is an excellent opportunity to stop for a moment and make some comments about things that have been in my mind for sometime now.

When I graduated from college five years ago, most of my generation was interested in software engineering and solving problems at a high abstraction level. Yesterday I went to a small conference at school, where the best projects of the computer department courses where presented, and you know what?, 80% of these projects were games!. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but I kind of disagree in giving such an emphasis in these kind of topics, and not so much on server side technologies and stuff like that.

Another thing, maybe related, we really need better programmers!. People who can dig into problems, manage the abstractions and come up with innovative solutions. Sadly, most of the programmers I've come across don't do that. And what's more, when you point out that their work is not good enough, instead of trying to improve it, they resent it and take it as a personal matter. The truth is I've also done that, maybe it's the huge ego inside every programmer =). The lesson here is to accept you're not always right, even if it takes you sometime to realize that.

I pack my case, I check my face
I look a little bit older,
I look a little bit colder.

Y te duermes?:.

It's really funny when you realize time doesn't mean anything at all. You could sit for what seems an eternity listening to someone ramble, and when you finally look at your watch it's only been half an hour, for God's sake!!. In my case these last two or three weeks have been exactly the opposite. It's like every Thursday night I stop for a moment and think, oh oh, it's almost the end of the week and I still have a lot of things to do!, why didn't I work on that before??.

This wouldn't be much of a worry if this weren't my last semester at school, for now, but it is, and I'm expected to finish my thesis work in less than a week!. Well, no more excuses, tomorrow will be thesis-day!!:.

Vivan las noches,
el sol, la sal.

Much brighter than all this static:.

Next Saturday I'll go to one of the best concerts of the year, if not the very best, the Festival Corona Capital!!. I know it would sound so cool to say I'm going because of Interpol or Pixies, but the truth is that, even though those are great bands, I'm really looking forward to see James!!.

Let me explain my self. First, I can still remember when I was first obsessed with 'She's a star', without knowing who was singing it. Without the internet it was really difficult to find a song when all you could remember were a few words from its lyrics. My hopes were on the radio...Then one day I went to this party where I came across the 'Now That's What I Call Music! 36' album, and on the second disc I found the answer to my music quest!!

Time passed, and as it usually happens I forgot about all that. Years later I listened to the 'The Best of James' album and it really rocked my world!!. There were some excellent songs in these discs that I didn't event know were from these guys, it was an amazing discovery..

Then again, I forgot about it, but during college I rediscovered James' music, and it sounded to me as good as those days when I struggled to live through high school. It seems that every time I rediscover their music, I remember parts of my life that I thought were long forgotten =):.

Whenever she's feeling empty
Whenever she's feeling insecure
Whenever her face is frozen
Unable to fake it anymore

My sign is vital, my hands are cold:.

I tend to have just two levels of attention for what I do, either obsession or complete indifference. Of course, this has brought me problems, specially when it comes to people, but that's just the way I am.

Well, I'm telling this because yesterday I took an exam of a class I don't really care about, with awful results. I hadn't felt that lost since I took the first Physics I exam, about 9 years ago!. However, I still don't care about that class, and I probably should:.

Close your eyes,
clear your heart,
cut the cord.

I'm a twentysomething and I'll keep being me:.

After years of expensive education
A car full of books and anticipation
I'm an expert on Shakespeare and that's a hell of a lot
But the world don't need scholars as much as I thought

Maybe I'll go traveling for a year
Finding myself or start a career
I could work for the poor though I'm hungry for fame
We all seem so different but we're just the same

Maybe I'll go to the gym, so I don't get fat
Aren't things more easy with a tight six pack?
Who knows the answers? Who do you trust?
I can't even separate love from lust

Maybe I'll move back home and pay off my loans
Working nine to five answering phones
Don't make me live for my Friday nights
Drinking eight pints and getting in fights

I don't want to get up, just let me lie in
Leave me alone, I'm a twenty something

Maybe I'll just fall in love that could solve it all
Philosophers say that, that's enough
There surely must be more

Love ain't the answer, nor is work
The truth eludes me so much it hurts
But I'm still having fun and I guess that's the key
I'm a twenty something and I'll keep being me

I'm a twenty something
Let me lie in, leave me alone
I'm a twenty something


Jamie Cullum

Make revision to a dream:.

It's kind of sad to say this, but if it weren't for yoga I wouldn't have any interesting class this semester. The problem is that I'm taking two of the so-called core courses, that is, mandatory courses for everyone. This implies two things, not everyone has the same level/interest for those particular classes, and teachers only treat subjects in rather general levels. In other words, boring!!:.

For instance, if you have colleagues that can barely program their way out of a Basic program, you cannot expect them to have decent discussions about real world software engineering!!. If not even the teacher can understand a beautiful code when it passes right through his nose, you're wasting your time. What's more, if he can't even understand, let alone explain, topics he is supposed to teach you, you are not in good hands.

If a teacher spends most of her class showing you how to use some program, just a damn UML modeling tool, all hope is lost!!. If you combine this with unsupported claims against current trends like Agile Modeling, or avoid discussions just by claiming 'this is what's been used in the industry', you might as well just be losing your time.

I know that at a postgraduate level you are supposed to specialize in the things you like, and that courses like the ones I mentioned above are intended to give you an introduction to areas you wouldn't normally consider. Still, the quality of the particular courses I'm taking right now is way below the average!!:.

You need something for which to care,
saying, why can't we look the other way?

So let's set up and see:.

It's been two weeks since I came back to school. Truth be told, though I've enjoyed the courses I chose for this semester, the very best is not an academic one, but Yoga. I had my very first approach to Yoga precisely when I was about to graduate from college, and five years later I'm taking the same course, but with several improvements.

The thing I like the most is to be aware of the way you breathe. I know we're used to think about this process as something mechanical, but it can be more, much more, than that!.

Just looking out on the day,
of another dream.

Something touched me deep inside the day the music died:.

A couple of years ago I took my loyal Zen player, loaded it with a couple of excellent songs, and went backpacking across Italy for two weeks or so. It was quite an experience, but this all comes out now because now that I think about it, I'm not sure if one of those songs was Don McLean's American Pie.

This might sound silly for some, but I tend to think of my history by the songs I can remember from key points in my life. To listen to a song you thought forgotten, and be able to recall emotions, flavors, thoughts and much more, is just amazing!!:.

Be as it may, today I felt like listening to this song again =):.

And, there we were,
all in one place - a generation Lost in Space -
with no time left to start again.

And I've got a coat tail left to ride:.

If everything goes as planned this semester I'll be graduating from my master's degree. To be honest, I liked the whole idea of being back at school, and having academic challenges. In some aspects, it's less demanding than being in a work environment, but the advantage is that you've got plenty of time to specialize on the things that you find particularly interesting, even if they're not business wise. Research for the joy of research!!:.

Now the question is, what's next?. As Morpheus said, everything begins with choice, and right now the options are pursuing a PhD or going back to the industry. To be honest, there's one more variable, to stay in Mexico or to look for opportunities abroad. I haven't decided anything yet, but neither did Neo till the end of the movie =):.

Although my heart's in Mexico,
my muñequita,
abre tus ojos!

Let the music play:.

Well, let's recall what happened during these weeks of rest, first of all I went on a tour to the amazing state of Chiapas!. I had never been there and I must say it really surprised me, nature is simply amazing. But to be honest it disappointed me the way tourism is managed with all this mexican-curious idea. I specially didn't like the way children are taught to beg for money, and not because they don't need it, but because you can tell there's no innocence in the act, just mechanical repetition. Or when you visit a small town and have to pay for the privilege of taking a picture. There's so much potential there, both in the people and places, and keeping them isolated just to sell them as a curiosity is not fair:.

I've also been working on my master thesis project. Though the implementation is not yet finished, it's stable enough to show and discuss it with my advisors. This week I'll be writing down the motivations and details of what I've implemented so far, to be honest, it's more fun to program than to document what you've programmed =)

Next week I'll go back to school. First class of my last semester: yoga!!:.

I need something I can turn to,
something I can count in,
day and night, on and on.

Give me freedom:.

Back in college I met this guy that claimed you could get to know someone just by looking at their code. Back then I thought this was nonsense, but with time I've come to realize he wasn't so wrong after all. You obviously can't learn everything worth knowing about someone just by the quality of their code, but you can certainly watch out for patterns that can give you a better idea of the maturity and programming level that person is in right now. You can always brag about how many design patterns you know, your popularity in dzone.com, maybe even about the TV series and movies you've watched, but the truth is that when you show your code to someone else, there's no way to hide the real programmer in you!

I'm telling all this because today I came across some code programmed by a so-called leader of the Java community in Mexico, needless to say I was really disappointed:.

You define us,
Make us feel proud.

Try, wait:.

It's no secret that being in a small town like Texcoco has its rewards. For instance, I can go for a walk every morning and breathe fresh air while looking at an amazing sight!!. I can do this because I live next to some irrigated fields where the University of Chapingo conducts agricultural research, which is pretty good for me, because they have all sorts of fruits and vegetables in there, and the truth is that nowadays it's not that easy to find places like this, where you can see where your food is coming from.

I'm telling this because I recently saw some excellent documentaries, Food Inc, and The Cove. The idea behind them is really simple, do you know where food is coming from?. Most of us don't, and what's more, we don't even care. I truly recommend you give these movies a try, as with most documentaries they are biased towards one side, nonetheless they do have some interesting information that you deserve to know:.

I'm like the only one
You tried to save when you fell out.

My ship of hopes:.

Truth be told, for the last couple of weeks I've been doing nothing but rest. I really needed it, but now it's time to go back to work, that is, start programming!!. I said in my thesis proposal that I would spent summer developing the methodology for the topic I chose, maintainability verification, and well, that's what I'll be doing for the foreseeable future!!.

I also said that I'd like to travel this summer, so next month I'll spend one week traveling across Chiapas. There are some other places in my agenda, I'm really looking forward to visit all of them!!:.

And I can't fall asleep
Without a little help.

Get up, get up!!:.

Descubrí que mi obsesión de que cada cosa estuviera en su puesto, cada asunto en su tiempo, cada palabra en su estilo, no era el premio merecido de una mente en orden, sino al contrario, todo un sistema de simulación inventado por mí para ocultar el desorden de mi naturaleza. Descubrí que no soy disciplinado por virtud, sino como reacción contra mi negligencia; que parezco generoso por encubrir mi mezquindad, que me paso de prudente por mal pensado, que soy conciliador para no sucumbir a mis cóleras reprimidas, que sólo soy puntual para que no se sepa cuán poco me importa el tiempo ajeno.

García Márquez


Each secret you keep,
keeps me a bit far.

With the lights turned on:.

Every now and then I receive emails from my school regarding academic and life guidance. To be honest, I don't usually read them, but today one of these emails got my attention because it had a link to check your current academic status. Out of curiosity I clicked on the link and instead of giving me personalized information it redirected me to the general academic regulations, needless to say I was disappointed.

Anyway, I'm telling this because I took the time to read the academic regulations, both of bachelor and postgraduate courses. It wasn't the first time I did this, back when I was studying my bachelor degree I had a little disagreement with some faculty members about some morale issues, and had to read very carefully those regulations to make sure I wasn't gonna have any serious trouble after all. Morale issues?, I know, it's not like we're living in the 18th century or something like that, but the problem is that in some aspects my schools is old-fashioned, mainly because it comes from a very conservative state here in Mexico. In the end, I didn't have any trouble, because truth be told, I did nothing wrong!!.

And I'll cross oceans,
Like never before,
So you can feel the way I feel it too.

Don’t let fear of feeling fool you:.

Languages are one of the things that have always amazed me. Ever since I realized that once you write something you are kind of saving a part of yourself, an image of your thoughts, something better than a picture because all those who read it will do it with their own inner voice!!, I just found myself dreaming with the possibilities of this kind of power.

This is one of the reasons why I like programming a lot, it gives you freedom to express yourself without the burden of natural languages. I mean, you tell the computer what to do without mundane information, just the facts!!. And when you read someone else's code, you get to see into his mind, his true intentions, just like Dumbledore's Pensieve!!:.

As for natural languages, I like the expressiveness they represent. The way I see it, they're not meant to be precise or concise, which helps you think and express yourself in a variety of ways. It's precisely this point what amazes me the most, different languages shape your thoughts in different ways!!. Think about that for a moment, this means that they way you see and understand your world depends, to some extent, on the language you use!!.

This different language-different perspective idea is what's been motivating me for years to learn some languages besides Spanish. I haven't always succeeded, but even if I learn just the very (very) basics of a new language, I like to think it will help me see the world from another perspective =):.

Do you know how to kill loneliness at last?
Oh there’s so much there to heal dear,
And make tear stains of the past.

To do each and every little thing:.

This week I started to read 'Cien años de soledad'. I know it's a classic book, and that I probably should've read it a long time ago, but it's never too late to redeem ourselves!:.

One of my hobbies has always been watching movies, and now I have plenty of free time to revisit classics and find new jewels. For instance, the other day I watched 'Wasting Away', totally amazing, one of the best zombie-movies ever!!. I truly recommend you give it a try. Today I watched 'Y tu mamá también', it just gave me more reasons to want to go to Oaxaca this summer!!:.

There's a light,
a certain kind of light,
that never shone on me.

The motion keeps my heart running:.

Today I officially finished the second semester of my master degree. Truth be told, I got very good grades, which is great, but let's remember that what I really care about is the master thesis, that's been my motivation from the very beginning!!:.

Well, now I can't wait any longer for a good rest in Texcoquito ranch!!:.

But I can't stop now,
I've got troubles of my own,
'Cause I'm short on time,

I'm lonely and I'm too tired to talk.

And I want your revenge:.

If everything goes as planned, next Winter I'll graduate from school. Considering this, I've started to analyze the possibility of pursuing a PhD in computer science, either abroad or here in Mexico. I can't deny it would be interesting to continue doing research in the software architecture area, I mean, there are many interesting topics that I'd like to get to study at a deeper level, but honestly, in order to do that I need time and guidance.

Next week I'll attend an informative talk for postgraduate courses in Japan. As they say, a long journey starts with the first step!!:.

I want your ugly, I want your disease,
I want your everything as long as it's free.

Oasis child born into a man:.

This weekend I was really tired, it had been long since I had such a tough week. In the end, I managed to finish projects, presentations and exams, and I even got time to go to one of the best concerts of the year: Beach House in the Lunario!!

Now it's time to get some rest, develop the system for my master's thesis, spend some quality time with my family, and last but not least travel!!. I'd like to take some eco-tourism journeys through mexican mountains, both in the south and in the north. I'm thinking, Oaxaca and Chihuahua, we'll see how it goes =):.

Don't I know you better than the rest?,
all deception, all deception from you.

He kept dreaming:.

I've never been much of a social person. What I mean is that I don't really need to spend time or talk with people just because that's what I'm expected to do. That's not say I don't like to hear what people, that I find interesting, have to say about practically anything, I do that a lot. With time, I've been opening myself and have been trying to get to know more people, somedays are harder than others, but I think it's something worth doing.

Well, I'm telling this because today was a particularly bad day for me in these matters. It's just that sometimes you just can't pretend that you have anything in common with the people surrounding you. It's not like I feel superior or anything, it's more like looking from another perspective and seeing them for who they really are: arrogant, stupid, and a long etc. Don't get me wrong, I don't think all people are like that, but we can't pretend those groups don't exist.

Anyway, this semester I met some very interesting people at school. I do like to hear them, we get to talk sometimes, share some thoughts, we even had the chance to ate some tacos, and I really appreciate that. I think this is a good sign =):.

Said he's goin' back to find,
a simpler place in time,
and I'm gonna be with him.

But never mind that:.

Today I gave a presentation of my thesis proposal to some of my advisors. I realized there are still many things left to be done, maybe more than I was considering first, but this is the kind of input that's greatly appreciated, it let's you find key areas of improvement that you wouldn't notice otherwise...well, it's showtime!!:.

Regardless of the things in my past that I've done
Most of it really was for the hell of the fun .

If I wanted to:.

I thought I had at least two more weeks before the end of semester but today I was told that I have just one more week to go!!...I kind of freaked out because I still have plenty of things to do. Anyway, tomorrow I'll prepare the thesis proposal presentation for next Wednesday, that's what really matters to me at the moment:.

By the way, I still have a crush:.

My heart keeps breaking every morning,

my head keeps aching every night.

And you serve your time:.

I scheduled a meeting with two of my thesis advisors for next Tuesday, kind of a final presentation for my thesis proposal, wish me luck!!:.

Only three more weeks for Beach House's concert =):.

It's always good to see you again,
even if its coming to an end.

Such a cautious display:.

One of my thesis advisors is writing a book on AOSD, one of the core principles of my thesis proposal. This is really great because I didn't know it at the time I asked him to advise me, no pun intended, and from what I've read so far, it's really going to help me support some ideas for which the literature is rather ambiguous:.

Well, time to figure out how to extend some AO-ADLs!!:.

Remember, take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end.

Too late to turn to turn back now:.

This week it's going to be all about the thesis proposal. I kind of left it behind last week because of the other final projects, but I'm running out of time for the next week's presentation, so I better start working!!:.

Last weekend I went with a couple of friends to have some tacos, simply amazing!!. Now that I think about it, I had tacos for dinner 3 days last week, it might not be as healthy as having some salad and stuff, but I don't mind =):.

And hold me for goodbyes-and whispered lullabyes

And tell me I am still

The man I'm supposed to be.

Alterando la tranquilidad en mí:.

For the next couple of months I'll be giving some Java courses on Saturdays. Yesterday I started with the very basics and I'm planning on covering some interesting things about web development in general, and frameworks like Spring and Hibernate in detail, let us hope it all go as planned!!:.

As part of the final project for the Intelligent Systems course I'm proposing a maintainability analyzer for Java classes. The idea is to use the metrics from projects such as Dependometer and JDepend, along with change information between tags from SVN repositories, to train a Naïve Bayes classifier. Then, for a new project I'll use this classifier to predict those classes where the maintainability efforts should be focused.

I already programmed the SVN data collector in Scala, and the intent is to keep using this language. I truly recommend you give it a try, it certainly has room for improvement, but its functional features are more than welcome!!:.

Estabas ahí,
refrescando con tu risa mi razón.

I'm calling it my best move:.

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but as they say, here I am!!

Let's see, I'm in the last part of the semester, so soon enough I'll have to finish and deliver final projects. Right now what concerns me the most is the theisis work, the proposal is almost done, but i should really start coding if I want something useful by the end of summer. Phrasing a colleague, r u ready?:..

Here's a final draft of my thesis proposal, any comments will be greatly appreciated: Thesis_proposal

Now, for something completely different, I'll admit I have a crush on someone...I know, I know, how could it be if I'm used to define my self as a 'cold-hearted boy'?, but I can't help it. It's interesting and weird at the same time, and I'll enjoy it for as long as I can =):...it's all platonic, and I'm not used to care, but I do now:.

This summer I want to travel, and I'm planning on doing what I did for holy week in Spain 2 years ago. Go to the bus station, take whatever bus that departs at the time, the farther the better, stay one or two days, and do it again. That was quite an experience, but the problem was that Spain is not that big, not all cities are well connected, and they don't start working till late morning!!.So, sometimes I could just travel a couple of hours in the night, and then was forced to sleep at the bus station waiting for any place to be open....the good thing is that Mexico is way bigger that Spain, cheaper and people start working early morning, so chances are I won't have to worry about walking alone in the dark waiting for some damn cafeteria to be open so I don't freeze to death!!:...=):.

And songs are never quite the answer
Just a soundtrack to a life
That is over all too soon
Helps to turn the days to night
While I was wrong and you were right.

This one thing I know:.

Well, I'm starting that part of the semester where things start to get interesting. Projects need to be defined, and there's barely room for improvisation at all. For instance, this weekend I'll start writing the first chapter of my master thesis, by the way, you can find the Topic proposal here: Thesis-Topic-Proposal, any comments will be greatly appreciated.

On other topics, tomorrow I'll go watch the FIFA World Cup. I know I won't be able to grab it nor anything like that, but still, it's the closest I'll ever be to it!!:.

This is where I want to be
And this is where I want to be.

Y no tenías otro sitio a donde ir:.

Two good news:

• Beach House is coming to Mexico (sometime) this year!!
• Pure honey made music: http://happygarlic.org/audio/selma_hg.zip

Por las mañanas pongo siempre el mismo disco
y, aunque todo lo que dice es la verdad,
lo primero en lo que pienso cada vez que me despierto
es cómo no me había dado cuenta ya.

Swing like Barry Bonds:.

And one day you just wake up and decide to change =):.

Ok, now where was I?,
Prepared, was I.

I know the nervous walking:.

This week I saw one of those movies that don't necessarily need to win all prizes jut to make people talk about them, you know, those jewels that you happen to find when you're not looking for anything special. It's 500 Days of Summer, definitely one of the best movies of 2009. The story is not particularly new, it's the way they tell it what makes it really good. It's all about boy meets girl, but as in life, nothing is as simple as that:.

Anyway, even if it wasn't for the story, the movie is becoming a classic because of its soundtrack, simply amazing!!. Song after song, they keep this quality level that not many movies can keep up with nowadays. I truly recommend you watch it, you won't regret it:.

There is a wait so long,
you'll never wait so long.

In the sun:.

On a day like today, but three years ago, I took a plane to Barcelona in order to work for a consulting company. It was quite an experience, I was there for over two years, and though I had to sacrifice many things in Mexico, I don't regret it.

Anyway, I'm telling this because at that time I didn't go just by myself, the company hired another four colleagues and we became sort of good friends during the time we were there. Well, actually a week before taking the plane, we met at a Starbucks to meet each other, and truth be told we had a great time. So every year we would meet during these days at another Starbucks to celebrate another year of our adventure!!.

This year, I won't be there physically, but we'll still have our annual meeting tomorrow, I'll just use Skype!!:.

We all get to sleep sometimes everyday,
I'll just keep it to myself in the sun.

In my arms:.

A year or so ago I read this quote in the Watchmen comics. I know it might not be exactly what Nietzsche said, still, it's good enough for me!!:.

No luches contra monstruos,
conviértete en monstruo,

Si miras al abismo,
el abismo te devuelve la mirada.

Never too soon:.

I've always believed that simple things are all you really need. There's no need for fancy wishes, or elaborated plans, what's gonna make you happy are just details. For me, this includes having a hot shower from time to time, and regular internet access. I could easily add having a good pair of headphones, clean socks, and the tune of a song I can hum all day. Of course, a clean cotton-swap, in fact this could be number one!!. Wait, number one is that feeling you get when you're back home, there's nothing like that, I mean, the calm, the change of environment, even the weather feels different. I don't know, it's like deep inside you know you won't feel as good as here anywhere in the world.

Today, I had this feeling =):.

Won't stop til it's over
Won't stop to surrender

Because you don't need anything:.

My master thesis is starting to take shape. This week, Dr. Rafael Lozano and Dr. Bárbaro Ferro agreed to be my advisors, I was really happy when they confirmed it!!. Now I know this is going to be really interesting, because anyone who has ever taken one of their courses won't let me lie, they're excellent teachers but best of all, they're really hardcore in they're speciality areas. It's going to be challenging, I didn't choose an easy thesis topic and I risk failure if I don't get my self together, but hey, that's what I came here for, a challenge!!:.

Last Friday I attended an excellent night of blood and war, it was so successful that next Friday we'll be having another one!!. I'll just keep in mind that the more I drink the less skillfull I am:..

In a matter of time, it would slip from my mind,
In and out of my life, you would slip from my mind,
In a matter of time.

By withstanding the indifference:.

Back when I worked in QuarkSoft I could afford two hours for meal, those were good times!. Anyway, a couple of friends and I used to have meal in just one hour so we could go to a nearby place to play Call of Duty 2!!, that was real life!!. After an hour of killing each other we would come back to work with renewed energy, which in the end was a good thing for the company. They wouldn't let us play in work hours, but one day we asked permission to use the work computers for a so-called night of blood and war, where we could play Call of Duty on a Friday's night. It was a huge success!!:.

Well, tomorrow I'll be attending a new edition of the night of blood and war, with two original members of the very first one. They have they're own company now, and best of all, they recognize the value of letting your employees relief stress by killing everyone else in a harmless videogame:...I can feel the adrenaline already!!:.

The loneliest people,
Were the ones who always spoke the truth,
The ones who made a difference.

Every streetlight a reminder:.

I'm still looking for a thesis advisor, nonetheless, today a great teacher accepted to be one of my co-advisors, Dr. Gutiérrez Tornés!!. Last semester I took his Software Quality course, and it was really good, he's got plenty of experience with Quality enforcement and Software Engineering in general. I'm really glad he accepted to work with me:.

I've been assigned my first programming homework, time to practice some Scala skills!!:.

I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,

I see your face and I let you unwind:.

If you fancy a good movie give Zombieland a try, it's simply amazing!!, definitely one of the best movies of the year. It could use some more zombies, but it's hilarious, I can't remember the last time I actually had a good laugh in the cinema:.

I'm still refining my thesis topic. I've found excellent papers describing the state of the art of architecture enforcement, and I'm pleased to see this area is not as immature as I thought it was, what's more, I feel there's a real chance I can be part of this community soon!!:.

Patience, patience,
It’s safer for you now.

Mentira que dude y que no quiera ver:.

These days I've been reading a lot of academic and scientific papers related to the Software Architecture area. I'm impressed by the huge amount of knowledge out there, but I'm more impressed by the gap between theory and practice in this field. I'm not naive, I knew the gap was there, I just didn't think it would be this big. Let me explain, I've been programming for a living for over 4 years now, I've worked for different companies, with colleagues from all around the world, developing software for a wide variety of customers, and in all this years there's been one constant, at some point chaos emerges!!, among other things because of the lack of a useful software architecture. I know this isn't how things are supposed to be, that's why my thesis topic is going to be all about architecture enforcement. The things is that there are some really good ideas and projects published out there, but to be honest, not easily available unless you're in the academia. If they're not read by the ones taking the design decisions out there, they just turn into anecdotes, which is really bad because in the end it's programmers who get affected the most:.

Esas alas que no acaban de llenarse de mañana
y te urgen siempre a continuar.

Sin pararme en los detalles:.

...

Tú no tienes alma,
Y yo no tengo valor para ver cómo te marchas.

Y descubrí un mundo nuevo y fácil:.

Well, though it's only Wednesday and I've only attended to two of the five courses I'll be having this semester, I'm really tired!. Truth be told, I've also been doing some research for my thesis, well, trying to define the theme actually. I haven't been assigned an advisor yet, let us hope I find one soon!!. If you're interested, here's a link describing my goals, any comments will be greatly appreciated: Thesis Proposal

Let's talk about music. I truly recommend you listen to the 31 canciones de amor y una canción de Guaripolo and Yo Nunca Vi Televisión albums, you won't regret it!!:..tu tu ru tu, tu tu ru tu, tu tu ru tu tu....

Con el control ejercitaba solo el dedo,
no me bañaba y comía porquerías,
hasta que un día explotó el televisor.

The winner takes it all:.

Two weeks ago I went to the theater to watch Mamma Mia!. It was either that or go watch Luchas at the Arena Mexico, needless to say my family voted for the play, though I protested. At first I was skeptic because I had seen some scenes from the movie and I didn't like them at all, I was afraid the play would be just like that, boring. I must admit I was wrong, it's an excellent play, with some great songs, though sometimes the actors were out of tune, but nothing serious. Without a doubt, the best part is when they sing 'The Winner Takes It All', that's actually ABBA's best song. You really feel sadness and despair in the singer's voice:.

The loser has to fall,
It's simple and it's plain,
Why should I complain?

And all my instincts, they return:.

These days I've been much more grumpy than usual, maybe it's because I'm starting a new semester at the University and there are still things left to be done, most importantly, left to be decided!!. First of all, I'm taking the pre-thesis course and the first thesis course at the same time. I know, it's weird, but it's the only way I'll be able to finish the master degree on time. It's a different kind of pressure, not like the one you get at work, but for me this is really important because I'm not here just to pass some damn courses, I'm here to figure out ways to apply what has been my passion for the last years, Software Architecture. I can't fail!!:.

Then, there's the little inconvenient of my slowly-dying machine. I'm not sure how much more I can rely on her, but it's replacement is not ready yet:.

Without a noise, without my pride,
I reach out from the inside.

With one deep breath, and one big step:.

One year before I graduated from college I bought my second Thinkpad. It could've been an unwise decision, being that I had already passed most of the hardcore courses and wouldn't probably need a very powerful computer for the courses left. Five years later, watching my loyal computer finally giving up, I can tell I made the right call then. Everywhere I've been, she's been with me, (almost) never failing. People come and go, but I tend to think of my machine as my constant, just like the guys from Lost.

I'm looking for a replacement, but it's not that easy:.

I check my face,
I look a little bit older,
I look a little bit colder.

I just disguised it in a song:.

It's funny how simple things from your childhood remain with you no matter how old you get or where you are. For instance, on the summer of 2008 I went with a couple of friends to Aegina, a Greek island, and there I found the impossible, a cookie that tasted exactly like a Cochinito, a pig-shaped Mexican cookie that's specially delicious in my home town, Texcoco. It was quite a discovery, and it brought back so many good memories. Today I had a similar experience, but now with a Rosca de Reyes made with Guava...simply amazing!!:.

And songs are never quite the answer,
Just a soundtrack to a life,
That is over all too soon.

Underneath and unexplored:.

For the last five years or so I've read comments all over the net bragging about Java's slow death, and for what it's worth, it's still here, perhaps not as sexy as ever, but still!!. For me, the future of the platform is not in the Java language per se, but in the JVM and the community support that took plenty of years to be built. Considering this, one of my short term goals is to master, to some degree, Scala, using it as my main programming language. It was either Scala or Groovy, but despite Groovy's advantage in the framework area, my humble opinion is that Scala will prevail in the long run!!:.

New year, new hopes!!:.

Islands and cities I have looked,
Here I saw something I couldn't over look.