Entrepreneurship

So, this is it. After 3 years of hard work, the Master's degree is coming to an end. I am going to finish! I'm so glad, I got a lot of help, I really couldn't have done it without Martha, my sister and my friends. I am not done yet, it's a little early to break out the champagne.

I signed up for Entrepreneurship for Engineers, as my last elective. I knew I wanted to take it as soon as they started offering it about 3 semesters ago. They probably had it, but it's been available to Distance Learning since last year. The thing is, I've been thinking about that for quite a while. I have all these long term goals and one of them has been to start my own company. The only thing, well, not the only thing, but the main thing is that I don't have a vision, an idea that I feel will change the world. I want to make the money but that's not my main motivation. I want to make meaning. I want to do something that will make the world a better place. However, I have no freaking clue what that idea is. If one day I come up with an idea that I know is good I might jump on it, this class is giving me some knowledge about the process, sadly, I was more motivated to start something before I started the class, now that I see how much work it is to do it in pretend life, I can imagine how tough it is to do it in real life. So, should you start your own company? I say yes if you know what you are doing and you are smart, energetic and can handle pressure. I have more than one person that depend on me so I have to be a bit more careful when it comes to taking risks.

The Kindle

Martha in her awesome ways bought me a new Amazon Kindle. That thing is freaking awesome, I can now read all my pdf books, I have free access to a bunch of classics, and I can get new books instantly in their store, I can see myself using this from now on, which saddens me because I still have a lot of "real" books unread. I have like 200 pages left in "Anna Kerennina" I'd finish it quicker if I didn't have to do school work, work, sleep and eat, but it is what it is. I bought two new books with that Amazon special they had last week, I ordered Logicomix: An Epic search for the Truth a comic book about Russel, philosophy and math. I recommend it to all the geeks I know. It's my first comic book since I was 13, so we'll see how that goes. The other book is called "how to cheat your friends at poker" I am tired of being the sucker at the poker table every. damn. time. You are going down Ekoko! You know who you are. I have all these good books that I've had for ever, I don't know how I am going to finish them all, my intake rate is greater than my consumption rate. Who cares, it will work out someway. The thing is, I've got an e-reader, and now I'll be able to read all the important books I've been meaning to read, but can't because they were in a laptop. Most notably, I have SICP, code complete 2, and the red dragon compiler book, that I want to finish this year. I swear that if I do that, I'll put it in my PM record at work, all those technical books should count towards a promotion, dammit.

The Monkeys

Kids are amazing, they are a big pain in the rear a lot of times, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't. However, they make life so good. I can't imagine what life would be like without walking in from work and have both of them running full speed towards me, I know that's not Martha's favorite part of the day, when I get back home, because I make them hyper, I don't think it's me that makes them like that, I think that 5:30 PM is the gremling hour anyway, they turn to little monsters no matter what's going on.

I love it when they tell me their dreams, their concerns. I love it when I hear them talking. Anthony is a bossy older brother, who swears that he has everything figured out, Gaby looks up to her brother like, well, an older brother. I get upset with Anthony because he acts like a big jerk with his sister sometimes, I can now understand how much grief I gave my parents always fighting with my sister. She used to be such an easy target back then, now days she fights back, so it's not as fun. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

The kids are at that age where they are the most perceptive, they notice all kinds of things that adults don't pay attention too. They also happen to think I am the coolest person in the planet. That fact must be related to that perceptive stage thing. I know that won't last though. It's funny how Anthony and I are so alike and how Gaby imitates her Mom. Anthony and I wake up in a good mood, we're morning people, we make breakfast together everyday and he just loves to help. He likes to be in his own world, he doesn't mind being by himself. Gaby wakes up in a bad mood but cheers up after breakfast, just like her Mom. Gaby is a social butterfly, Anthony is anti-social, just like I was at that age. I remember back in K-garten I didn't like adults that much. That pretty much sums up Anthony.

Anyway, I've been writing for too long. I have to get some reading in before everyone starts waking up. So I am cutting it short.

Be good to each other.

JV

New Year

This year seems to have started well, it was a bit bumpy at first, but overall it looks promising. I am supposed to graduate in the Spring and that makes me happy.

My New Schedule

This Master's degree has been a challenge for me, I get home from work so tired, and with so many things on my mind, that all I want to do is relax for a while, but no, the kids are hyper, the wife is also tired, and I would get stressed out trying to deal with the house and with the school work, it was easier three years ago when Gaby was just a baby and Anthony was still a Toddler, back then Anthony would fall sleep early and Martha dealt with Gaby, so the evenings were free for me to do school work. Last fall semester I found a way to take my evenings back. I still get home tired, but I do not worry about school, I concentrate all my efforts on just being home, the trick? I wake up two hours earlier, at 4:00 AM the house is nice and quiet, I get out of bed fully rested, and I can devote more quality time to the family, and to the books. It takes some getting used to at first, but I don't mind. This reminds me of a quote I read somewhere.

I feel sorry for morning people because their day just keeps getting worse

COP 5555

OK, I've been meaning to talk about this experience for a long time, I think I did a while back, but this is a course that I am never going to forget, just like I'll never forget those 12 weeks of Marine Corp Boot Camp at Parris Island, I'll never forget COP5555, it's one of those classes where can be summarized as "drinking water from the fire hose" I want to get a few things off my chest about it.

So, it's relevant to point out that at the University of Florida, a Computer Engineer has a choice to make when it comes to Graduate School, I was admitted to both the Computer Science Department (CISE)and the Electrical Engineering Department (ECE) they both have Computer Engineering degrees, but both have different emphasis. Initially I went for CISE because deep down I think I lack programming skills, so I want to get better at it. I also didn't think an Electrical Degree would help me so much at work, since my title is Software Engineering. However, I noticed that they had a Communications track, which had courses related to Radio Communications, since I am in the business of making Radios, I thought that would be good. I was undecided but I went for CISE my first semester. My first course in UF was "Distributed Operating Systems" and it was clear from the beginning that this was no easy A. There were crazy assignments every two weeks, tons of material, and difficult tests, I was used to getting A's in my undergrad, when I received my final grade of B+, I said, f*ck that and went to ECE.

ECE turned out to be tougher than CISE, that's the funny part, at ECE I took all this courses that required me to know Linear Algebra, Calculus and Probability in order to just grasp what they were talking about. After two years I became comfortable enough with the field to say that I had Mastered it, but it wasn't easy. Last summer all I had was elective courses to choose from. I was reading Steve Yegger's blog a lot, thanks to him I was interested in the subject of computer languages, specifically functional languages like Lisp and Clojure. I remembered back that a co-worker once asking me if I was going to take COP5555, I told her I was in ECE, and she said, "good, because this class was impossible", so, influenced by the internet, I found myself a challenge.

At first glance, COP5555 with Dr. Bermudez didn't seem that much different from other classes in grad school, there was a midterm, a final, a class project, and weekly homework. All the slides are available from the start.

The first lecture Dr. Bermudez was philosophical, he kept emphasizing that the goal of the class was for us to do a paradigm shift in the way we think about programming languages. I was glad I enrolled, I love it when teachers talk about the big, big picture. So I congratulated myself for having enrolled in this fruitful course.

The class was about Languages, computer programming languages, how computers understand it, how to design one, how to describe a new language in a non-ambiguous way. He starts the class with Parsing, Abstract Syntax Trees, Context Free Grammars, BNF notation, and a nifty little language called RPAL, so far, well, I thought I was good, but there were things that I wasn't completely clear. The slides were full of information, but upon going back to them after class, it was clear that the meat of the class was in what was said during the lecture. So in order to know what's going on, I had to pay close attention during the class.

Then came the project, holy cow, a parser! I had to write a parser, a program that read a file, one word a time, and was to decide whether it fit the syntax of the language. The output was an AST, (abstract Syntax Tree) which went to an interpreter that converts the AST to standardized the tree and computed the instructions. This is where the class lost me. I spent hours and hours trying to get this to work. I spent the whole 4th of July weekend in front of a computer getting this program to work. In the meantime, the midterm was coming up. I failed the midterm, but got a 95 on the project. I thought that if I did well on the final I still had a chance to pass.

The material that came after the midterm made parsing look like learning the ABCs. We were introduced to lambda calculus, we learned about how machines evaluate expressions, and then we studied Attribute Grammars and Denotational Grammars. Needless to say, I didn't make it.

Last summer for the first time in my life, I gave all my heart to something, and failed.

Failing for not trying is one thing, failing after giving it your best effort, while it sounds honorable, it feels crappy.

The day of the final my proctor didn't come to work, it was a Friday so I had an extra weekend to prepare, but because I turned in my test after the deadline, I was told my grade was going to be an "I" until after the break, which I was ok with it. I went to Key West for a little vacation with the family, then I found out about my C-.

A C- means that the class doesn't count towards graduation, that I had to either take it again, or take another class. I called Dr. Bermudez, we talked for a long time. We went over a bunch of options, and at the end, I re-took the class, well, since my grade was an I, he told me he can always change it. So I watched the lectures again, took the midterm and the final again. I passed, but I got a 75 and a 70 in the tests, and this is after a lot of studying and asking questions. In other words, I got my ass kicked. Plain and simple. My grade got changed to a B, I will graduate this semester, but damn, that was hard.

The takeaway?

-Personally, I am not as smart as I thought I was, and I didn't think I was that smart to start with.

-In General, don't give up. Perseverance wins. If you really want to achieve a goal, it pays to keep going. I can think of a lot cases where this doesn't apply, but for life, it's better to stick to your goals.


Wow, I wanted to write about my current class, but this post is getting way too long.
If I start proof reading I am probably going to delete most of it, so I am just going to hit the "Publish Post" button and submit this sucker.


That's all I have for now folks. Be good to each other please.

J.V.

Update

It's 1:20 AM, Martha and the kids are knocked out sleeping, the kids have been playing with their cousins and aunts and uncles all day, Martha and I went to Manhattan (here they call it "the city") to walk around, we basically did a big round starting at 59th and 5th Avenue right by the Plaza Hotel, we walked down 5th Avenue until 33rd then we stopped a Moonstruck for dinner where we saw the Miami Heat manhandle the Fakers, I mean, Lakers. Then we walked back up 5th Ave, hooked a left on 42nd, up to Broadway, checked out the stores and what not, and then walked up 7th Ave until 57th where we took the train back to Queens.

Walking around stress free just talking and relaxing makes me want to live in the city. The cold weather though, gets a little bit old after a while, but it brings character to the place you know? Speaking of the weather, we are expecting a lot of snow tomorrow. I can't wait, it should be a nice trip to remember for the kids. This is the stuff happy childhood memories are made of.

I've also been doing some reading. I am halfway trough "Open Veins of Latin America" a somewhat controversial book that was made famous when Chavez gave it to Obama as a welcome gift.

This book is about the history of Latin America from a socio-economic point of view. It bitterly narrates all the injustices that have been done against every other country in the Americas, I am not done reading but I can say that it is essential for everyone to be aware of what was done to our lands, and our people, just as it is important for everyone to know about the Holocaust. Basically, Latin America got raped from the day it was born. Now, I don't believe that the answer to the situation over there is to go to communism/full socialism, I do think that Brasil and Chile are going the right path, I don't think Latinos should go around with a chip on their shoulder asking for reparations or something. But it is imperative to know our history, know why things are the way they are, and to know what mistakes were made so that we don't repeat them, again, and again.

From my awesome sister in law, I got a book about Buddhism for non-believers, which is something I've been thinking about, I think that there are a lot of good teachings and interesting ideas behind it, I just can't get past the supernatural stuff, but I think is great to seek wisdom and expand one's horizons by studying other world views.


I also came across this article in Slate Magazine about David F. Wallace, which led me to reading this essay about him taking a cruise. I was glued to it, I will never think of a freaking cruise the same way ever again thanks to him. I don't know how to describe it, but it takes a lot of writing talent to associate a seven night cruise to Cozumel with existential despair, but he accomplishes that, and more. Good reading.

Anyway, I am wide awake, but it's getting late, I should get some rest, but I am so tired, I can't sleep. I am going to read some more hopefully I'll fall sleep soon, don't want to be tired tomorrow.

J.V.

Christmas Day

Spending it with family. Doing well. No time for blogging.

Day 2

I think this vacation is getting better by the minute. If only because it has been so hectic since the beginning.

I mean, it has been good, the family here has done everything to make us feel welcome. I feel kind of bad taking over my host's main bedroom and all that. It's just that for the first time I can see why I couldn't live in NYC unless I had massive amounts of money, and even then I wouldn't stay here the whole time. I'd have to leave the city periodically to regain my sanity.

It's the little things, like, you have to move your car if you have it parked in the side of the road. That in itself it's not really bad, but I can see how that can get old.

Yesterday, at the subway, we were on our way to the the Museum of Natural History on a Bronx-bound train, and this kid gets on the train, and I honestly cannot say whether he had a mental ailment, or if he was just ghetto-stupid, but he's singing a rap song on top of his lungs all off-key and off-beat, looking like he's trying too hard to be tough. I looked at Martha and she didn't seem to mind but, I was like, really? my kids have to see this? Now, he could be a head case, someone who really needed medical attention, but in any case, the guy needed help. Later that day, at the subway again Martha was freaked out by a creepy guy staring at the kids, that didn't bother me so much because I was right there to protect them so nothing was going to happen.

So we spent a day out in Manhattan, we walked around a lot, I admit that I made a mistake deciding not to take the stroller, because Gaby does not want to walk anywhere, so yesterday I carried her in my shoulder most of the time and must have walked at least 5 miles like that.

I like the cold, Martha loves the cold, the kids, not so much, and I sort of feel bad that they are not enjoying it as much as we are. So today we stayed here with the family, technically I am an outsider, but they are treating so well, I have nothing to complain about.


Martha's sister is watching the kids tonight, so we are going to go out tonight, hopefully we can relax and what not. If there's one things Queeners? know how to do, is party hard. I am OK with that.

J.V.

Vacation Time, Day 1

So we are here in NY. Queens, right off Queens Blvd, this is a family get together mixed in with some sight-seeing.

I took a picture in the highway right before you pass the Brooklyn Bridge, at night, you see the whole city's skyline, I must say that's about the most impressive sight in the east coast. Massive buildings, bright lights, it's just, beautiful. It was the climax of our trip, after stopping in MD to see Kamran, this was the culmination of our trip! The GPS had us 5 miles from our destination, so we had practically arrived. Except that in NYC traffic 5 miles means about 1 more hour to go. To Go from Brooklyn to Queens took about an hour in the highway.



We are about to go out to the city. Going to see the Museum of Natural History, and then we are going to hang out with family.

Obligatory End of Semester Blog Post

I write a blog post in my head at least twice a day. It usually happens on my drive to work, or when I am taking a shower, or doing the dishes or something. I think of a witty title, and I go over the structure of the post in my head. The thing is, I never have time to sit down and blog without the guilty feeling that I should be studying or "doing something productive" so I wait, and leave it for later, but later never comes. When I do decide to write here, all the ideas seem stale and I just stall. That's the case now. I have a bunch of things I want to discuss, but my head is drawing a blank right now, and that's ok i guess, I'll do it later.

I am just glad that the fall semester is finally over. I am excited about our trip to NYC. I am super thankful for miAmor who puts up with me. I am grateful for my awesome friends and for my not-so-awesome ones too. ;) you know who you are. Most of importantly, I love the fact that I am alive. I don't want to take anything for granted. I aim to enjoy my family, enjoy the kids while they are still young and still think I am the most important person in the world. Savor everything.

I am reading a few books at once, today I just finished Being Geek. It turned out to be a career guide for software people, which is not what I expected, but it turned out to be useful info. Glad I read it. If you write software for a living, you should give it a look. It's nothing about how to write better software, rather is a book about managing your managers and how to deal with office politics. Things that they don't teach you about in Engineering School.


Not have much else to write. I have a few side projects I want to complete. If I ever finish any of them I'll post about it here.

Be Good.

J.V.

Miami Book Fair

I took a break this weekend, (and gave the wifey a break as well) and I took the kids and myself to the Miami Book Fair. It was great, thanks Greg for inviting us.

There was a huge section for children which was a plus for us, I was surprised at the sheer amount of children's books available. It was a bit crowded but I think it was worth it. I saw a lot of interesting books. Many things caught my attention.

-I am starting to fall in love with Miami. I used to think this city was shallow. Boy was I wrong. Miami is one of the most cultured places in this country. I am very glad I live minutes away from it.

-You can get great books for little money. There were tons of good books for resale for $1.

-They placed the Muslim Association of America Booth right next to the Israeli Culture Booth. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. If you think about it. Think about it.

-Someone from the Muslim Booth offered me a free Koran. I accepted it. I might even read it again. Can't turn down a free book. I would have taken a Bible for that matter.

-Speaking of religions, I had a nice chat with a guy from the Buddhist Books. Although I will never tag myself with any particular religion. I think that Buddhism has many good teachings. It's more like a philosophy of life than a religion per se. I must say they have sparked my curiosity. After all, Buddhist are so happy.

-I love meeting writers. I think they are the most interesting people to talk to. Too bad that I couldn't get enough time to really chat because the kids would either run away or start beating each other up.

-The place is really kid friendly. There were lots of people dressed up in costumes from children's stories. Gaby wanted to take a picture with the monster from "Where the Wild tings are" but wouldn't get close to it. She's so funny.

-I met Michael Moore! He was walking in my direction in a crowded sidewalk, and nobody seemed to notice him. I was like "Hey, isn't that Bill Moore" and he looked at me and was like "How you doing?" I don't know if I said anything, it wasn't until a little later when Greg asked me if it I meant to say Michael not Bill. Somehow, I didn't feel like I needed to take a picture with him. He's not that important to me I guess.

-I am glad there was a big turn out, after all, it was an event for books.


That's all I have. Back to studying now.

J.V.

Study, Work, Life, Study

I have not posted anything in this blog because I am busy, is not that I don't have time, is just that I'd rather spend the few spare time with the kids and the family. I'd feel guilty otherwise, so in a sense, it's true. I don't have much time to sit and pour my thoughts out, it's a shame because I miss it. However it's too crazy right now, I get up at 4:00 AM to study, Anthony wakes up at 6:30 AM, I get him ready for the bus stop, then it's time to go to work. At work I never stop, the pace has become so frantic that one day feels like it's not enough to get anything done. Then I get home, attempt to help out as much as I can, I put the kids to bed, and then depending on how tired I am, I try to study some more. Somewhere in between I browse reddit and facebook. I try to keep touch with my friends and family. In a nutshell, I don't expect to write much until I graduate. In May, if everything goes according to plan.

J.V.

What Android Apps to get?

A friend of mine recently got an Android phone, he just asked me what Apps he should get, that's like asking a chef what a person should eat. The answer can be very long and very short.

It just depends on what you want to use it for.

I'll tell you the apps that I use all the time, the ones that I think are awesome but never use, and some website with recommendations.

The app I use the most for sure is my gmail app, I get my UF and personal email routed there, so I always get my email that way. The thing about Android is that there is more than one version, so I have an old version of Android, (hey, I got it free, and early on) but the newer version probably has the gmail thing set up.

The other apps that I use are the Opera mini for web browsing, swift, a twitter app,the reddit app, and the wiki app. I also would use the google news app, but it's super slow on my phone. I would also use the google maps to navigate, but it's super slow on my phone, (I don't have a 3G phone, ) I have a weird hybrid, it's a nextel phone that runs Android.

I really like Shazam, it samples a song, and lets you know it's title, something very useful if you ever hear a song on the radio or out in a bar and you don't know the name of the song, this comes in handy for techno songs, since they don't usually have lyrics to speak of.

There is Calibre, an app that lets you read ebooks, but some reason, I don't use it that much. I have a ton of ebooks that I want to read, but my phone screen is too small to read a book, If I had a tablet, it would be a different story.

I hope this helps.

The Marathon

It's a long run, not a sprint.

So tired, need rest, can't for another six weeks. 8th course, two more to go, then Master's is done.

left foot, right foot,

one more home homework this weekend.

left foot, right foot,

write the compiler due in two weeks.

left foot, right foot,

midterm June 28th

left foot, right foot

study lambda calculus

left foot, right foot

keep trucking, next semesters Ad Hoc Wireless networks

left foot, right foot

Spring Algorithms

left foot, right foot

Is that the finish line up ahead? Will I make it until next May?

Keep moving, don't stop, pace your self.

left foot, right foot.

Second Diaologe, Part I

A-Hey Corporal, you look depressed, you got a Dear John letter or something? what happened?

J- Nothing Ali, I just, been thinking...

A- Oh boy, here we go...

J-See that's the thing, people misunderstand what I've been saying.

A-No, I think you made your point clear from last time we talked

J-no, but when you called me an atheist, you were merely learning something about what I don't believe in, but you know very little about what I do believe in. You make a bunch of assumptions, and but at the end you have not heard what I am supposed to be about.

A- I guess that's true, so what's the big deal?

J- well, for starters, I don't define myself as an atheist, many people think that I am obsessed with the subject because I am willing to speak about the things nobody else wants to talk about. But the reality is that I spend my time worrying about many other things.

A- like what, staying alive?

J- yes, that and my wife back home, I wonder how my life will play out once I get out of here, but in the meantime, this war is teaching me a lot about the nature of human beings. I am shocked at the fact that after all the cultural differences how much we are all the same. We have more things in common with the people we fight that we like to admit. I think about that and about how amazing it is to be alive. If I make it out alive, I will not make any excuses, I will live my life trying to improve myself, living to my full potential.

A- what do you mean? what's your full potential?

J- I don't know yet, but I am going to go to college, and I will educate myself as well, getting a degree is not bad, but that's not the point of educating myself, I want to sharpen my intellect, I also want to raise a family, if I make it back I am not going to leave my wife's side any more. I am going to get out of the Corps, and I am moving back to my hometown to be close to the rest of my family.

A- well that makes sense, that's pretty much what we all want, right?

J-well, I don't know about everyone else, but yes, I have these goals, I want to sharpen my mind, I want to cultivate my efforts on spending time with people I actually like, and I want to exercise my freedom, I want to seek wisdom to the best of my knowledge.

A- All these things you are saying, don't they sound self-centered?

J- well, when all individuals try to improve themselves, society as a whole benefits.

A-I see

J- so that's it, I hope you understand that, I don't go by any label, I don't stand for being anti anything. Hell I don't even consider myself a member of any political party, I just decide on my own which things make sense, whatever seems like the right thing to do, you know?

A- I guess so, it's just so much easier to leave the thinking to someone else, you don't actually get things done if you just sit there pondering

J- I know, words without actions don't mean much. But raw power with dull intellects are the true enemies of humanity.

A- Corporal, I see that you've been reading Nietzsche, that's what happens when you get into that crap.

J- who's the hater now?

Recharged

Just got back from a nice, relaxing vacation with the family. What I loved the most is that the kids and Martha were very happy. Although Anthony thought that the animals you see from your window at the Animal Kingdom Lodge were "boring", I had to laugh at that one, damn, they have no idea about how good they have it.


I have been reading that book "Founders at Work" Stories about startups' early days. I have learned a lot from it. I know a few things about starting something. However, I know that I am not ready from the technical point of view, to take the plunge, I might do it someday, everything depends, I am glad I don't have an MBA though, business types think that the hard part of a business is the analysis, figuring out if there is a market for something, all these things of course are important, but the thing they don't get is that they think that implementing something is trivial, that the execution part is straight forward and the programmers are in the back just doing their thing while they (business people) run the company and make it rain or something. The fact is, that the engineering matters. Making a high-quality product that matters is hard. Good programmers that know how to write quality code quickly, who understand the business and the technology, those people are invaluable, that's what I am planning on becoming. I am more than a code monkey, I understand the customer, the business, the product, the science and the math. Having this knowledge yields the power to start a whole industry all in one person. That's how strong an engineering education is. I know that I can get there, that's why I keep investing in my education, because this gives me the freedom to create whatever I want.


Anyway, right now I must focus my energy and effort to COP5555, one of the projects is to write a lexical analyzer ,which I knew it was coming, but the challenge seems good, I feel ready for this battle, all I have is the summer, the fall, and I'll be graduating in the spring, FSM willing.

Some thoughts here and there

I finally get to blog! I have been meaning to write this whole week, but every single day something keeps coming up. I had three birthdays this week, and there's always something to do around the house. Plus this week I've been getting up early to go to work early, and I am really tired by the time the kids go to bed, which is when I usually have some spare time to do these things. But I've had these thoughts about these things I want to share here and so here it goes.

Philosophy is for everyone

So last week I finished reading Plato's Republic. Now, that sounds so...intellectual or something, right? well no, it is not, I found Plato deeply approachable. The book is not only about Government, is much more than that.

I can't read a book more than once, but I think I am going to make an exception for the Republic. I have the Spanish edition that belonged to my father and a new copy I just bought when I was at Chicago. Anyway, I would read a chapter in English and then I'd do the same in the Spanish version and I would always find something in the second reading that I somehow missed the first time I read it. I know I probably didn't do a good job of "getting" everything about the book, since the book itself is so rich, and I was reading a few pages right before falling sleep. However, there are a few things that stuck with me.

Justice

I remember hearing about this when I took an undergraduate course in philosophy, but when the teacher mentioned the word "justice" I thought about the Judicial system, meaning justice as punishment. But Plato is not about that, it is a dialogue where they discuss what does it mean to be just.

One of the things that I keep thinking about, is the question: is it better to be perceived as just but in actuality not be just? or is it better to actually be just, but perceived as unjust? The issue being, should we be just just for its rewards or is there something good about being just in itself?

In politics and business perception is reality, but we see how CEOs politicians and the like don't always do what they preach, which tells me that they would rather be unjust but be perceived as just, which explains why so many people distrust politicians.

Another thing that caught my attention was how Plato classified people, he divided people by those who love wisdom, those who love money and those who love honor (soldiers).

I see that we all have a little of each, I would say that there are those who seek pleasure, those who seek money, power, fame, and wisdom.

I see the utility and the necessity to have money, and I don't think there is anything wrong in being industrious and seeking to create and accumulate wealth. But the love of money changes people. I turns people into conniving, lying, calculating creatures that lack compassion, I think that greed can be a very bad thing, a person who only loves money and pleasures will never be satisfied.

Same kind of goes for people who seek fame, power, honor, just for their own sake. Those things by themselves do not bring fulfillment. The thing that Plato said that I will carry with me forever, is that the love of wisdom is the best thing we can aim for. It's a simple yet powerful concept.

Another thing that I really liked, and there's a lot gems like these in the book, is the part where it explains that true freedom comes from being able to control the passions of the soul. It seems paradox, but, self-control actually gives us more freedom. When we lack self-discipline we become slaves to our vices and appetites.

Anyway, I highly recommend it to everyone, books like these are classic for a reason, they have survived the test of time. Generations and generations of thinkers have written their ideas but all most of them are either a response to or an echo of what Plato wrote. That's awesome.

Founders at Work

Reading a great book about how some great companies got started. Eye opener. I know that I will never be a businessman, but I will not be ignorant about the subject. I am going to get more knowledge in economics, finance and accounting. I want to know how to read contracts and how to run a business, it will come in handy someday. However, I want to be an engineer all the way, I enjoy making things, but the temptation to start a company has been there, maybe someday...

COP 5555

This week I start the famous compiler class in UF, is my second Computer Science course in Grad school and I can't wait, I actually want to start reading the book now. It can wait though.

Ok everyone, that's all I have. Be good.

J.V.

YES!

I just finished my final, well, I just solved all the problems that were assigned, it was a take home test. I still have to put all the answers in pretty format, need to scan it, same with the project, it's all done, but have not turned it in yet.

I was sitting here, not knowing what to do, so many different different things that I could be doing. I have more interests than time, so now that I am free, I am having a hard time deciding.

One of the first things is going to have to be fixing up the house, we have had the stairs bare for the past couple of months, long story short, it's a home improvement project from hell, everything that could go wrong in a home project went wrong.

I have a few books on my queue that I want to finish. Martha just gave me a copy of 1776 the Pulitzer-Prize-winning best seller about Washington's fight against the Brits that year. Thanks Babe! I am about to finish reading Plato's Republic, and well, you've seen what it has done to my blog writing, it has me writing dialogues and what not. Reading Plato makes you want to really think about things, think clearly. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but that would be another post.

I also have Founders at Work, a collection of stories about successful startups, they should also have a book about failed startups as well, lately, I've been getting more interested in learning economy and business, but from a scientific perspective, I am curious to know how the world works, people are motivated by economic and political factors. I am wary of people who are obsessed with money and money making, but it would be foolish to ignore what moves the country and the world. Also, realizing that although I work as an engineer, I am make money because of a business, and all business is sales, therefore, I need to make innovations that sell, not just things that are neat, or impressive, but to make it as an engineer, we need to work on stuff that's profitable, that's reality.

Dialogue, Part IV

A -Oh, it's nothing. I think I saw something in the rooftop...(looks trough the night vision goggles) No, I don't see anything, maybe our imagination?

J -You know what? These big questions about life? Why doesn't anyone ever want to talk about it?

A -I feel the same way, very few people want to talk about these things because it is so important, it's such a big part of their personal identity that they take it as a personal attack.

J -So people are that fragile?

A -Is not that they are fragile, but if you are used to seeing the world a certain way, then you don't want to change your mind. Plus, I don't know, talking about these topics can affect the way people look at you.

J -I just, want to know what's true and what's real. Is that like, an impossible thing?u

A -what a freaking question. What the hell are you talking about Corporal? What is real?

J -yeah, what is true, what is real, what does it mean to know something. what is justice? What is the right thing to do? How do we answer these questions in a purely scientific way? Is there a way to check our answers? What can we do to know? How can I know that I can trust an idea?

A -a lot of people have been asking themselves the same questions.

J -yes I know, that seems to be a problem, scientist have gotten very far studying the material world. But it seems like these questions about our human race remain to be answered

A - I have all the answers, just follow God's teachings and you will be ok

J -yes but, how do you check that? you really can't, you have to accept, can't question, have to take it by faith.

A -well, how can you know?

J -I don't know. I don't know

A - hey I think I did see something up in the roof, is that a...?


THE END

Dialogue Part III

"Whenever you write, write the truth...Fiction is the truth inside the lie"


-Stephen King




(The radio opens up)

Radio - Apocalypse One, This is Bushmaster X Ray Radio Check, over

J - Bushmaster X Ray this is Apocalypse One, Lima Charlie, over

Radio -Be advised, Wolvepack elements will be present in your sector in about five mikes, over

J -Roger,

R -Bushmaster out.

A -well, looks like Alpha company got the crappy end of the stick this time, I bet they are going to raid that shiek's place, he's supposed to be on our side, but I know he is one of THEM.

J -so, how do you know when something is true?

A -there's always clues, here and there.

J -but how do you know for sure?

A -At the end is hard to know for sure

J -how do you know you made a mistake?

A -there are ways to test out theories

J -Ok

A -I think I know where you are going with this one. You are going to say how come I believe in God since there is no proof. But there's no proof that he doesn't exists. So it's better to believe and be wrong than not to believe and be wrong. I believe without proof and that makes me a better person. I live better, so what if I was wrong? is it so bad to try to be a better person?

J -You brought two things Ali, I can only handle one thing at a time. First of all, I hope you are not saying that you NEED to be religious to be a good person, to live better. I can be a good person without having to believe in supernatural stuff, I can live a good life, with meaning without having to believe in imaginary friends that are watching us from the ski or something. Plus, there are so many choices of religion, how do you know which one to believe?

A -well, my family is protestant, so therefore I am protestant.

J -doesn't it bother you a bit that there are so many religions out there? They all claim to be true, surely they can't all be true.

A -I believe that they worship the same God, at the end, Allah, Jehova, Yahwe, they are all one and the same.

J -wait a minute, aren't you a Christian?

A -yes, I am

J -Jesus said that he is the only way to get to the father, right? doesn't that mean that if you are not a Christian you will not get to heaven?

A -yes, but I believe that God will make a special case for everyone

J - so then, I am good, since surely he knows that I am trying to be rightous

A -I am sure God loves you Corporal, even though you are a fool for not believing in him.

J -so you think I am going to go to heaven?

A -I don't know, because you rejected him, you know about him and reject him.

J -but why, if God is so powerful, so great, does he need us to worship him, why? is he insecure or something? Why does he say he wants to save us, but only if we believe him and worship him? why not just save us? and then why make it so hard to believe in him?

A -what do you mean?

J -I mean, I can't see any evidence man, I can't see any reason to say that yeah, there definitely is a God out there.

A -But that's the thing, it's called faith. And that makes you better.

J -it doesn't make sense to me to say that believing in something without any sort of evidence to back it up, is some kind of virtue or something. I don't see how that could even begin to make sense. I have looked, I have thought about it, is not that I don't want to believe, I mean, I would like to think that at the end the just will get a reward, I would like to survive my own death. I just don't see anything that makes me say that it's real. It looks to me like the whole thing is all in our heads.

A -I know that he exists.

J -really? How?

A -Because he answers my prayers.

J -what did you pray for Ali?

A - I pray for a bunch of things,

J -do you have all your prayers answered?

A -no, but that's because what I asked for was not his will, he knows better

J -I always thought that was funny that we had to pray, since he knows everything already, why do we have to remind him? doesn't he know? but anyway, I have tried praying myself, believe it or not, I used to believe back in the day. But I don't really see a difference otherwise, why don't you try it out? test it out for yourself, keep a tab of answered prayers, see if it works.

A -God doesn't work like that, Corporal

J -what does that mean? it's in the Bible, it's a claim that's made by many religious. If you can't test it, why do you believe in it?

A -I don't think you get it, that's not why we pray, I feel a sense of peace when I pray, like I am one with him...

J - I think you can get the same feeling by just meditating. Do you really think you can get God to bend the laws of nature for your request?

A -yes I do.

J - Oh boy, but why? I have not seen anything close to what you might say a miracle, everything that I have seen seems so underwhelming, I have been to a Benny Hinn or whatever his name is, my cousins in Fl swear he can do miracles, but I will be convinced when I see someone that can grow back a limb, why is it that you never see amputees growing their limbs back? every miracle is always this fuzzy thing, like a cancer test coming back negative after a previous positive result, when in practice that sort of thing happens all the time.

A -look, I just know what I believe in is true, ok? plus, why does it matter to you what I think? if I am happy with my beliefs, if it makes me a better person, who the fuck are you to tell me what I should believe? why does it bother you so much that I want to worship God? This is something very personal, and I don't see what can be so wrong with having the hope that I have someone watching over me, somebody protecting me, someone that will reward my faith and my good deeds, someone who will provide eternal salvation, someone who gives me peace, direction, and something that I can use to relate to everyone in my hometown. Why do you seek to destroy it? What good can come out that?

J - I know, I know, look, I don't care what you worship ok? remember that you asked ME why I am an atheist, my question is, don't you want to know if what you believe in is true? doesn't it matter? I just can't accept something without some kind of way of checking if it's real or not. Plus, one thing that irks me about religious people, is not that they believe is that they are so sure of their beliefs that they think that anyone who doesn't share their views is a fool. They want everyone to believe what they believe without providing a solid proof, but they are so confident, they are so cocksure, and I wonder, how can they claim to know what you can't know, nothing can be proved either way, I am not sure, I know that I could be wrong, so I don't go around trying to unconvert people out of their faith. But these people, and maybe you are one of them, they think that they know more, they have no idea what it means to know something, and yet, they sit there making statements based on faith, that they have no way of proving, like it's a fact of life.

A - well, I am not one of those people

J - hey, is that somebody on that roof top?


TO BE CONTINUED.....

Dialogue part II

(warning, contains foul language, and disturbing images)


J -yes we are scanning our sector Sgt

Sgt V -Well, don't get too caught up discussing all this stuff, remember that you have to pay attention to what's going on around you. That's why you're here.

A -Aye Aye Sgt.

Sgt V -Very well, carry on

---V leaves-----

A -anyway, back to your question Cpl. Would Jesus agree with my actions? The answer is yes because he knows that I am doing this for a just reason. It is for a just cause and I am doing my best.

J -so then you agree with me? there are no absolutes moral rules, it depends on the situation.

A -well...I don't know, he did say thou shall not kill, but then, the army of Israelites did some killing in their day.

J -so you feel like a good Christian, then?

A -I don't know, listen you are changing the topic, I wanted to know why you are an atheist, how can you not believe in God?

J -how can you believe in God, after all we've been trough.

A -Precisely because he has protected you and me, my faith in him has grown, my prayers are being heard.

J -see? that's the most disgusting thing I have ever heard.

A -Why? believing in God has given me the strength to get trough these hard times.

J -I mean, really? Do you think that your alive because somehow you are more special than Sgt Adams, or Lt Ski who got shot or blown up? Do you think that you matter more, or you were more pleasing to God and that's why he spared you? Lt Ski was a devout Christian, and he is gone. I am an atheist and I am still alive. What about all the orphans running around in this place? This is fucking shithole, and you sit here saying that it's ok because God is in control. You tell me this and I think about what happened last week.

A -the vehicle incident?

J -yes, the vehicle incident.

A -is that what made you an atheist?

J -no, that's not why, but, supposing there was a God, why? why would he allow that to happen? That car that ran trough our traffic check point, we had to no choice but to shoot it, we freaking lit up that car Ali, and at the end, what? There was a family there, no weapons, no bombs, just a car, with a Dad, a Mom, a ten year old girl, a baby. We saw it Ali, we saw the bodies, we did nothing illegal, we were following our orders, we were protecting the compound against a real threat and yet, goddamit, we have the blood of these Iraqis in our hands. Why did your God allow that happen? What kind of fucking twisted sick God allows that to happen, why is that some kind of test? does he really have no disregard of the innocent? What are you going to tell me? That everything is going to make sense in the end? Well no! I want nothing to do with your God, if he's in charge of this joint, and he's real, I am not going to kiss his ass. I spit on his image, I curse his name for putting us through this.


A -But Corporal, we have free will. What happened is not God's fault. It was only humans that got us in this mess.

J -yes, but they, I mean, they ran a traffic point, who knows why, and then they got shot. Crap, you are telling me that he intervenes to keep you alive, but doesn't intervene to save an innocent family, something doesn't make sense. You are right, I do think that it's only us, there is no way that a just, all knowing, all powerful god would allow these things to happen. There is just no way, and if it's true, and if this is all some part of some kind of plan, then he can take this world, his lofty plan and shove it! I want nothing to do with this kind of God.

A -so you somehow think that you know more than God. You need to bad to appreciate the Good.

J -at what expense? don't you care? look at all the people who are dying, who are starving, who are losing their family? and you still talk about a plan? does this make sense to you?

A -you can't make sense of everything, you are a small creature with a small brain, trying to comprehend this world.

J -so none of this bothers you. I bugs me to even conceive of something that could intervene, could save us, and you are telling me that he cares, he loves us, and allows us to live this way. I need to chill out, stop talking for a bit.


TO BE CONTINUED

The setting: a hot summer night in the city of Ramadi, Iraq. The participants, Lance Corporal Ali, from Paris, Texas, Corporal Joseph from Queens NY, and Sgt V, who we don't know much about.


V -Alright guys, here's the deal, you two are on watch until 23:00 that's when Lcpl Paul and Lcpl Chris are supposed to come back and take over, until then, here's some extra batteries for the radios, your call sign is apocalypse 1-Alpha, watch the northen road, we heard reports that the insurgents are planning a big attack on American forces.

Joseph -oh yeah? what else is new.

V -Quiet Joe, I'm trying to pass some intel here, shut your pie hole for two minutes alright?

J -Yes Sergeant, (sarcastic tone)

Ali- Sgt V, one question

V -what is it, Lance Corporal

A - do we know where this intel comes from?

V - I don't know, it was passed down from the CO this afternoon, from there I don't know, why?

A -it's just that, we never seem to really know when really are going to get attacked, I mean, last week when they threw grenades into our compound, nobody really expected that, and now they have been saying that we are going to get attacked for a whole week and nothing happens, I don't know, I just, question the validity of it you know?

V- Lance Corporal, it is what it is. I am just relaying the information as it was passed down to me, ok? my job is to keep you alive so that you can tell your war stories when you get back to the U.S. of A all in one piece, you understand? don't be goofing off, specially with this clown, Cpl Joseph.

J- Aye, Aye, Sergeant!

V- Ok, I am off, got to take care of the other posts.

---Sgt V leaves----

J- I hate it when Sgt V is Sergeant of the watch, he actually wants people to stay awake during firewatch and what not.

A- Cpl, can I ask you a question?

J- What is it Ali?

A- I heard that you were an atheist, is that true?

J- who the hell told you?

A - does it matter? is it true or not?

J -yes, it's true, what about it?

A -nothing, I just, I don't know, can't believe anyone could be an atheist, that's all.

J -why do you say that?

A - well, I mean, everyone has to believe in something, right? don't you have any morals?

J -listen Ali, believing or not believing in a god, has nothing to do with morals, ok?

A -well yes but, don't you believe in anything? I mean, where do you get your morals from? if not from God? don't you live with no moral authority?

J- I use my reason to decide what is moral and what is not moral.

A -your reason, huh? Somehow that seems problematic, Corporal

J -I think I know what you are going to say, what if I were a serial killer or something, who is to tell me what I am doing is wrong? right?

A- Right

J -well, we are social animals, The Philosopher Aristotle said we were political animals, we all get organized and each society will have its particular norms and values.

A -Do you think you would be ok with Killing if it were part of the culture?

J -Well, look at us, we are here in Iraq aren't we? Back home, we are generally not allowed to kill. Here we are taught how to kill, life taking is part of job in this place, and yet, when we get home we are hailed as heroes at churches and government functions. How come? I thought God commanded us not to kill.

A -It's different, we are defending the country, we are in a combat situation, you know we engage the enemy only when it is necessary. We do not go out of our way to kill civilians, only combatants..

J- I could argue about the defending part, but, the point I am trying to make is that there are no absolutes when it comes to morals, it just depends on the situation.

A - I see what you are saying, but I have a problem with that. Surely there must be things that always apply.

J -Well, you tell me, you are the Christian, and you are here with me.

A -I think we are here doing something good for the country, we are helping.

J - Do you really think that Jesus Christ would approve of your actions here?


Stg V: Hey guys, are you scanning your sectors? This ain't the Lyceum.

TO Be Continued.....

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