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I just wanted to translate for you the first paragraph of the answer given by Noam Chomsky, to the following (also translated):

"Could you talk about the geopolitical situation of Puerto Rico?"

To which he begins to answer:

"Model for Latin America? I do not believe so. I say, it is a completely artificial society. It has a high quality of life, but artificial. It is high compared to the rest of Latin America (but based on) royalties of American taxes, corporations that want low wage labor, drug traffic, public beneficence, aids to keep the people quiet, so that the United States can do with Puerto Rico and its people whatever they want. Want they want (United States) are military bases, soldiers, chemical plants, pharmaceutics, a safe place for American tourists, quiet and obedient people. The result is that, even with the high quality of life, half of the population now live in the United States, where the great majority worked in sweatshops and now suffer from school desertion, health problems, live in the poorest conditions... That seems to me evidence that it did not work."

The information soldier presses on...

• Social Networking as subject will show up eventually, but I want to do it right. So please, bear with me.
• For more information on The Motorcycle Diaries real protagonists and events check out WikiPedia on this article Che Guevara.
• I'm fairly new at this and I don't want to sound apologetic, but I hope to get the hang of this and find a definitive style, even if that style has no style at all!
• I been reading on blog ethics, and I should definitely do an item on what I will and will not include in this blog.

I will get back to social networking, as promised.

But I want to comment on the movie. I am afraid that most English speaking Americans will only see some great cinematography behind a coming off-age story.

Please do try to look past, at the socio-political commentary and the points it tries to make. I would like you to judge for yourself, but I have to say that there are reasons why communism exists. Concepts like ownership, buying, selling, when they become all we know; end up controlling us.

I wonder if, increasingly people are judged by what they buy instead of for what they create. What we hoard, instead of what we teach, define us. I find myself no better.

But at least I wonder why...

I will make a guess and say, that most of you have not been to a Microsoft executive meeting.

Just a wild guess; okay? But please, bear with me.

A bunch of Microsoft guys will come in to a meeting with a bunch of your company's guys. And they will do their damnedest best to make your bunch of guys feel supported! Now, some of these Microsoft guys' involvement with your company may normally be slim. But when they are present, they are there for you one-hundred percent. That's something that Open Source can't beat. The appearance of availability can often stand-in for the real thing, and most will not be the wiser. You'll pay through the nose eventually, but that's not the point.

I mean, they are "wasting" some of their employees' productive time so they can be in a room with you and make you feel good about what Microsoft is doing for your company? It's social networking at its best; it's do-like-a-puppy roll over and lick your face tricks. But they work, they earn your thrust and they get it. Kudos to Microsoft people on that.

Open Source? I am the only one talking open source on a one-to-one way that I personally know of…

I sure can't beat four well-dressed Microsoft guys with a CD inside a snappy-looking box. Not to mention that, even if these guys may not all be technically oriented, they also serve as proxy for another bunch of guys that are experts in one of more of Microsoft core product lines.

Social Networking.

Social Networking is key.

I will write about that tomorrow.

I kind of got into an argument the other day...

Somebody, well a Microsoft manager no less, was asking me about open source. I started explaining stuff to him, although I'm sure he is quite knowledgeable on the subject.

When all arguments, counter-arguments, points and counter-points where out in the open I could not answer a question satisfactorily. Should there be malicious code in an Open Source application, whom do you sue for damages if it happens to affect revenues, productivity or even your image?

Never mind that closed-source commercial software can, and does, affect negatively revenues, productivity, etc.

I could not answer the question? I'm afraid it will come up again and I still would not have a good answer…

What do you think?

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