Beyond Development

"This was what I dreamed about, this is what I worked for."

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:37:56 -0500

““This was what I dreamed about, this is what I worked for.””

- Evan Lysacek. Winning a Gold medal, or achieving dreams is a combination of hard work, faith and dreams. Never forget that, you need them all.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Theme – “I Believe”...

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:57:00 -0500

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Theme – “I Believe” by Nikki Yanofsky. Inspiring.

Today 9 pm EST the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games start. Go Canada!

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:22:54 -0500

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”

- Benjamin Franklin.

Happy Groundhog Day! Humor is good for the heart. If you...

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:46:00 -0500

Happy Groundhog Day! Humor is good for the heart. If you haven’t seen the movie, do your yourself a favor and watch it. So funny, and wise!

“We’ve always tried to be at the intersection of...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:42:00 -0500

“We’ve always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts — we want to make the best tech, but have them be intuitive. It’s the combination of these two things that have let us make the iPad.” Steve Jobs

Congrats to Steve Jobs for the innovation, starting a new category, and making again, a fantastic device. Inspiring, and at $499 really outstanding.

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:36:31 -0500

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although he was referring for war, I have found that on any important human project, planning gets us ready to face the unexpected.

In spite of disasters people of good heart always help. I...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:45:00 -0500

In spite of disasters people of good heart always help. I congratulate George Clooney and the more than 100 actors and singers on the Telethon for Haiti. Great performances, inspirational messages and a good cause.

Jesus said that every time we help those in need, God himself is grateful to us. Charity is a fundamental Christian principle (Matthew 25:31-46) and is also found in Judaism.

There are many ways we can help. One way is purchasing the show on iTunes.com/Haiti. All proceeds go to help the recovery effort.

Another way is going to the American or Canadian website supporting this effort and donating there. We can all help.

Social Media can help in any disaster to bring people together....

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:31:00 -0500

Social Media can help in any disaster to bring people together. Here MySpace helps The Red Cross help people in Haiti. Inspiring.

Fireworks are every new year best friend, and a sure fire way to...

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:27:42 -0500

Fireworks are every new year best friend, and a sure fire way to cheer men’s hearts. This is an unexpectedly good show from Seattle. 2010 is here folks, let’s make it a great one.

Seattle by Robynw - via bitchville:

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:56:38 -0500

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.”

- King Solomon wrote this paradoxical advice on his book of Proverbs (ch. 24 verse 11) and it is actually true, as recent research confirms.

Happy New Year! May 2010 be a year of victory and blessings to...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:49:00 -0500

Happy New Year! May 2010 be a year of victory and blessings to all those whose plans have goodwill toward men.

And remember: With God all things are possible. Alleluia!

via skysignal, lovemidori. Photo by © thelastdisco.

Merry Christmas! - A song from Tito El Bambino full of...

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:03:00 -0500

Merry Christmas! - A song from Tito El Bambino full of motivation to overcome the difficult year 2009 has been for so many. It literally makes you dance with optimism, and reminds you of the strength of faith and love.

Lyrics in Spanish - Letra en Español

Yo se que ha sido un año duro
Para muchos lleno de dificultad
pero mientras haya vida y esperanza
olvidemos todo y vamos a celebrar
pero mientras haya vida y esperanza
celebremos porque llego Navidad

[ Coro ]
Feliz feliz Navidad
pegaditos gozaremos mucho más
Feliz feliz Navidad
olvidemos todo y vamos a celebrar

[ Repetir Coro ]

Deja que te persigan
que las personas nunca terminan
no dejes que den problemas
te pasan por el “lao” y te sonrian
que vivan que vivan que vivan que viva
en el mundo la alegría
llena de fé tu vida
que la esperanza nunca termina
Que no que no abarque tu vida
vamonos pa’ la calle
y que viva la alegría
Que no que no abarque tu vida
vamonos pa la calle
y que viva la alegría

[ Coro dos veces ]

La vida es una y el tiempo se nos va
pegaditos gozaremos mucho más
sal pa’ las calles
vamos todos a bailar
olvidemos todo y vamos a celebrar

No no lo dejes caer
tu que así quieres vencer
que la vida nos enseña
que el amor lo puede todo
y nadie lo puede vencer

No no lo dejes caer
tu que así quieres vencer
que la vida nos enseña
que el amor lo puede todo
y nadie lo puede vencer

Celebra, Canta con ánimo
Celebra, Ven cantate algo
Celebra, Canta con ánimo
Celebra, Ven cantate algo

“Don’t Do Things That Don’t Matter. Don’t waste your time,...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:34:00 -0500

“Don’t Do Things That Don’t Matter. Don’t waste your time, because in the end that is all you’ve got on earth. Instead Focus on doing what you love, and bless people with your talents.” Joseph Hurtado

Photo credits: Tony Verdú.

"Simplicity like elegance is so easy to spot, yet so hard to achieve or create but is the only true..."

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:12:57 -0500

“Simplicity like elegance is so easy to spot, yet so hard to achieve or create but is the only true sign that we are beholding genius.”

- Joseph Hurtado.

Why Privacy is a Basic Human Right

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:17:00 -0500

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has unfortunately confirmed the suspicions of many, and has made our previous warning on not over sharing even more important. You can read his appalling declarations on the loss of our personal privacy here. He basically says that Google will show anything that anyone posts anywhere about us, and we are solely responsible for whatever information they show on us.

This rationale by the CEO of the largest search engine on the web requires a response. First, I do recommend you start using another search engine instead of Google, since they record a lot of your activity. Asa Dotzler explains this further and surprisingly suggests Bing. (Google’s privacy policy is here, and here is Bing’s.)

Second do not ever over-share, it’s definitely better to be careful not sorry now. And finally, on the ethical, and philosophical reasons of why this loss of privacy is wrong, Bruce Schneier, a renowned security expert has written here a compelling argument on why we must defend, and demand privacy as basic human right. An argument I fully agree with and share an excerpt here:

Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we’re doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance…

For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness…
This is the loss of freedom we face when our privacy is taken from us. This is life in former East Germany, or life in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. And it’s our future as we allow an ever-intrusive eye into our personal, private lives.

Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy.” The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that’s why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.

“The power of the blank page is a world of possibilities....

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:36:26 -0500

“The power of the blank page is a world of possibilities. Whether it is code, verses, or prose writing creates worlds were imagination finds us and we discover how much fun creativity is.” Joseph Hurtado

Photo credits: Chris Blakeley

The magic of Black and White never fades, it’s the best...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:07:57 -0500

The magic of Black and White never fades, it’s the best palette to capture people. (via sabino)

FACEBOOK PRIVACY UPGRADE LOOKS LIKE A...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:53:00 -0500

FACEBOOK PRIVACY UPGRADE LOOKS LIKE A DOWNGRADE.

Facebook’s new privacy settings are truly worse than all the previous ones. Behind the apparent simplicity lies the clear push of the social network to make you “upgrade” to share with “Everyone” more of your private life. Notice that the defaults shown on the screen shot above, are all about less privacy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation agrees, as does Jason Kincaid from Techcrunch. So just beware when you update your settings, most likely the old ones were safer. It’s ironic my previous post was precisely on over-sharing, now the social network is doing all it can to tempt you to fall in the trap.

Not all is bad however, there are some good news like per-post sharing to particular groups of people in your friend list. Just be careful, and do not click too quickly this time.

The big problem with Facebook and social media is that people...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:33:00 -0500

The big problem with Facebook and social media is that people over share, and Social Networks do encourage over sharing; because having more data on each of their members makes them a marketing data-miner’s paradise!

So next time you feel the urge to tell the world about that crazy fun you had in Vegas. Don’t. Remember this rule:

Over sharing on a social networks + evil people in the world = Tragedy in your life.

As the lady on the picture above would say, Shh! Don’t over share!

Happy Thanksgiving America, enjoy the humor =) Cartoon Credits.

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:03:07 -0500

Happy Thanksgiving America, enjoy the humor =)

Cartoon Credits.