Lucy, Porque en lugar de "Congo"no usas.......

 

Para los que aún no lo saben, Lucy lanzó una campaña en Panamá para que todos luchemos por no ser tratados como mensos o tontos y luchemos por nuestro bienestar.  Para que no seamos tolerantes a la opresión y el abuso. Para que luchemos contra esta característica de aceptar y no hacer nada.  La tituló "Yo no soy Congo"

Yo pienso que la idea de Lucy es buena pero las palabras escogidas son malas. 

El problema de la palabra "Congo" es que, en Panamá, facilmente se utiliza para identificar dos (o quizas más) cosas claramente distintas.  1. Cualquier persona que es tolerante a un abuso, represión o injusticia sin ofrecer resistencia. 2. Representa un grupo étnico de nuestros antepasados con muchos años de existencia. Ninguna de estas definiciones son de un diccionario.  Pero cualquier panameño, mayor de edad culturizado o adolescente en etapa escolar debería reconocerlas.

Utilizar esa frase es lo mismo que decir "Yo no soy Cholo" o "Yo no soy Indio", hay grupos en Panamá que ya existen y son identificados de esa manera.  No es esto una falta de respeto hacia ellos? Hacia nuestra cultura y origen?

De no ser así, sería lo mismo utilizar también un término muy popular, cómico,  utilizado en los chistes panameños para representar a una persona que es poco inteligente, y que algunas veces no se defiende ante las injusticias y el abuso: "Yo no soy 'Fula'"

Que les parece?

Saludos,

Ricardo Williams / Ingeniero

Medalla de Oro para Saladino! ... y para Panamá?

Quisiera felicitar muy efusivamente a un luchador incansable, un campeón mundial y olímpico: Irving Saladino.  Y ahora comienza la polémica.  Que lástima que una medalla en los juegos olímpicos tenga que adjudicarse a un país aparte de a una persona.  Esta medalla de oro es tuya Irving, no de Panamá.  Es de Panamá, claro, porque tú eres panameño, pero nada más.

Esa medalla es tuya, de tu papá y tu mamá, de tu entrenador, de tu familia y de tus más cercanos amigos. Sola, única y exclusivamente.  Fue tu esfuerzo, la visión de tu entrenador, el apoyo de tus amigos y el empeño y fe de tus padres.  Solo tus padres saben el ingenio económico que tuvieron que armar para apoyar tus sueños.  Solo tu entrenador sabe las horas de intenso sacrificio que tú y el unieron para alcanzar esta meta.  Solo tus amigos y familia conocen tus dudas y te brindaron su apoyo cuando tú lo necesitabas y solo tú tuviste las agallas y la fe en ti mismo para lograr este triunfo.  El primero de este tipo para una persona de nacionalidad panameña: Oro en los Juegos Olímpicos.

Porque esta medalla no es para Panamá? Si Saladino es panameño!  Pues para mí es muy  simple.  Cuantas competencias Nacionales de Salto Largo hemos visto a Irving participar o ganar?  En cuantos estadios en Panamá lo hemos visto competir? A cuantas finales Nacionales de Pista y Campo locales hemos ido en los últimos años? Cuantos entrenadores de pista y campo o Salto Largo, pueden vivir con un sueldo de entrenadores? Cuantos panameños conocían a Irving Saladino antes del 2007?  Cuánto dinero tiene invertido el INDE o el Comité Olímpico en nuevos proyectos?

Cierto. Como pueden invertir dinero si tienen una pelea política por la presidencia del Comité Olímpico, y no una pelea por tratar de conseguir más patrocinadores para nuestros atletas?  Como puede ser esta medalla de Panamá, cuando los dirigentes de estos comités hacen, frente a las cámaras de televisión, su mejor imitación de un "stripper" a punto de mostrar sus "dotes". Cuando no hay dinero para enviar atletas a los juegos, pero si para los dirigentes. Cuando los atletas no pueden asistir a los eventos y competencias porque existe una pelea en la dirigencia o porque "alguien" no quiere? Cuando los atletas viajan pero su estadía no esta paga.  Cuando a nadie le importa nada..... Hasta que ganen!

Ahora que ganó, Irving es Colonense, es panameño, es un orgullo, es un medallista de Oro.  Todo lo anterior es cierto, porque nació en Colon, porque tiene la nacionalidad, porque representa lo bueno y lo perseverante, y porque es campeón olímpico.  Pero no porque Panamá (país o panameños) lo haya(n) llevado allí.

Cuanto oro no habrá escondido en Panamá esperando tener una oportunidad y una guía?  Yo estoy feliz que el primer oro olímpico panameño lo haya ganado un negro como yo!

Irving, mis respetos, esta medalla es tuya y (para los records) de Panamá, pero solo para los records!

Ricardo Williams

Why Kobe won't win the MVP

Last week, my partner in crime wrote a column about how uncomfortable she will be when Kobe Bryant receives the 2008 MVP award. Well, no disrespect to Jemele (Ms. Hill to those of us who know her), but Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP this year. And if recent history proves consistent, he might finish behind Alonzo Mourning in the voting.

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Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Kobe Bryant is to the MVP what Ralph Nader is to the presidency.

Truth is Kobe Bryant will never win the MVP of the league. He is hated too much. Hated by those who cast votes. Hated too much by those he plays against. And the two All-Star Game MVPs he's won, well, they don't count in this scenario. Voting Kobe as the best basketball player in the world for a day is one thing, honoring him with that same title for an entire season … in the infamous words of Bobby Brown's ex-wife: "Oh, hell to the No!"

Writers won't honor Kobe like that, not even when in good consciousness they want to or would like to. As one writer said to me when the subject was brought up in conversation, very apropos for an election year, "Kobe's electability quotient is zero." In other words, he's Ralph Nader.

How is hate justified? Easy, by being consistent. Which is why this year will be no different than the past two. Because if we are honest (and this goes to Jemele's point), if we look at what Kobe Bryant has done in the past two seasons without winning the MVP, there should be no way he can win it this year. Which leads us back to the hate: A man averages 35.4 ppg, the eighth-highest average in the history of the league; he gives you 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals; he has 27 games of 40-plus points, has one month where he averages 43.4 ppg, scores 81 in one game and outscores an entire team in another (the 62-point game against Dallas where he sat out the fourth quarter); he is on the all-defensive first team (something not one of the other players in the MVP running is included on); and he leads a CBA-built team to the playoffs. The man has a season that no one is likely to see for another generation and he comes in fourth in the MVP voting that year.

That same man, the very next year, averages 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals for the "fedora trick"; he has 10 games of 50-plus points, only the second person in NBA history to do so in a single season (including a four-in-a-row stretch that hadn't been seen in more than 20 years); he makes the all-defensive first team again; and this time he takes a YBA-built squad to the playoffs. In a season that many claim is more "complete" than the season before, the man this time comes in third in the MVP voting.

How bad is it for Kobe? In a 2004-05 season in which Kobe averaged 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists, P.J. Brown -- yes, you read right -- received more MVP votes than he did, and Brown received only one vote. How many games did the Hornets win that year? 18.

(And it's not just the sportswriters. In that never-to-be-seen-again 2005-06 season, the GMs around the league, who have their own MVP voting, had Bryant fifth on their ballots.)

And nothing is going to make this season any different.

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AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Kobe Bryant finished behind P.J. Brown in the 2004-05 MVP voting. Yes, you read that correctly.

So yes, there is an "earned the right" clause that goes on in all MVP voting, just as there is that same "clause" that exists in all professions and walks of life. But it will not apply to Kobe Bryant. Not this year or any other year. He's not Denzel, and this isn't "Training Day." And although there are those who say that Kobe is in a different place now, that the world does not "resent" him the way that it did, that the Colorado incident is behind him and that the Kobe who wears No. 24 is different than the one who wore No. 8, their delusion will only make the situation worse. For it brings false hope. In sticking with the Academy Awards analogy: Kobe Bryant is Martin Scorsese … before "The Departed."

So the reality is this: As nice -- and I mean nice in a This-dude-is-on-some-beyond-Steve-Nash level -- as Chris Paul's game has been all season long (his full name during broadcasts and highlight shows has become "MVP candidate Chris Paul") his season can't compare to Kobe's past two. Yes, he's elevated his team to a height that no one expected, but can you name one player on the Lakers (not including Kobe) over the past three years who is as good or has played as well as David West has this season? Hell, name one who has played as well as Peja Stojakovic or Tyson Chandler.

Plus how will the voters justify not giving CP3 the MVP in a season when his numbers are better than Nash's were the two seasons he got back-to-back MVPs? Paul's 21.5 points, 11.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.5 turnovers are better in totality than the 15.5, 11.5, 3.4, 1.0 and 3.3 Nash put up in 2004-05 and the 18.8, 10.5, 4.2, 0.8 and 3.5 he posted during the 2005-06 season. And CP's team is in position to do what Nash's team did when he came back to Phoenix: earn the top seed in the West. So if Nash won 62 games and the West in '05-06 with inferior numbers to Paul's, how does the league not give Paul the award if his team wins 60 and has the best record in the West?

And trust, CP3's electability is off the charts compared to Kobe's. His MVP approval rating is sic, while Kobe's is sick. So Chris, congrats, enjoy the Maurice Podoloff. The voters love you.

And that's not necessarily because of who CP (or KG if you want to toss him into this conversation) is as much as it is because of who Kobe is: the "8" they love to hate. Someone less understood than a villain, and someone for whom those who vote have less tolerance when it comes to separating what he does from who he is. It's the same reason why upon eligibility into the Hall of Fame, Roger Clemens will receive more first-ballot votes than Barry Bonds. It will have more to do with how much more Roger was/is/remains beloved than Barry by those who will have the power to vote them into immortality than it will race or the level of crime either one committed while playing.

Is it right? Fair? Impartial? No. It's life. And for Kobe, it's become his life.

In sports, in the end, whether we want to acknowledge it honestly or not, athletes put their legacies in the hands of those who have the power to hate them. And in those situations, what they do on the court or field, whether we are talking MVP or Hall of Fame (or Oscars), what they do takes a backseat to who they are. Their careers become a popularity contest, a "likability" raffle lying in wait for the hate to die. Which it never really does. And in the past five years in professional sports, no athlete (with the exception of maybe Bonds or T.O.) has been more hated and hated on than Kobe Bryant.

Don't believe me? Watch what happens when he doesn't win the MVP … again.

Scoop Jackson is a columnist for Page 2.

Preventative maintenance for PCs: Four favorite utilities

Here in Chicago, it’s time to start thinking about getting the car winterized. Since driving in our winter snows can sometimes be pretty hairy, that auto check-up isn’t really optional. Working at the help desk can be a little different, though. We can get so busy dealing with the emergencies that come up, it can become all too easy to postpone routine maintenance — “Oh, I’ll get to that tomorrow.” There’s nothing that I can do to keep you from postponing your preventative to-dos. I can, however, offer some suggestions for utilities you can use to keep your PC in working order.

• Run Aida32 for a system report. I like having recent documentation of all the things going on in my machine. Aida32 is a great freeware app for Windows that will return every possible detail you might need to know about your PC, from installed software to chipset information. Checking out this system report reminds me to remove applications I’m no longer using and can be used to determine which bits of hardware might be ripe for an upgrade. Development on Aida32 has been abandoned, but recent versions can still be found on various download sites. If you’d prefer to use something that’s being actively updated, you might look at Belarc Advisor or System Information for Windows. Those programs, though, are free only for non-commercial use.

• Clear hard disk space with JDiskReport. Working for the help desk, I’m always downloading files. There are software packages to test, and log file archives to analyze. I find myself running low on disk space pretty often, especially when I’m trying to build custom Windows install disks slipstreamed with the current updates. When I want to clean my drive of those space hogs I don’t need, I turn to JDiskReport. A free cross-platform utility built in Java, I like the way that JDiskReport clearly highlights the most egregious space offenders on your disk. If you don’t have Java on your machine, SequoiaView is another option for Windows users. I’m not a fan of its “treemap” method of displaying disk allocations, though.

• Test your system memory with Memtest86+. Memory faults can be difficult to troubleshoot, since the symptoms can be so varied. Head off crashes before they start by testing your PC’s memory subsystem. Open-source Memtest86+ boots from removable media and puts your machine’s memory through its paces so you can detect faulty hardware before it starts contributing to system instability.

• Verify your hard disk’s integrity with SpinRite. We should all be making regular back ups, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could have some warning before our hard disks failed? That’s the promise of SpinRite. A DOS-based disk maintenance tool, SpinRite uses block analysis techniques and a disk’s built-in error checking circuitry and to diagnose and repair storage problems before they become critical. SpinRite can even occasionally resurrect drives that won’t boot, as long as the problem is not due to a fault with the drive mechanism. It’s also worth noting that SpinRite is file system agnostic, and has been verified to work on drives formatted for Linux and Macintosh OS.

Preventative maintenance isn’t sexy, and it can be hard to find the time for it. These tasks don’t have to be done every week, though, and I’m convinced that making time for them every few months helps keep my PC working for me.

The top workplace stressors and irritations

If you’re looking for good news today, you’ve come to the wrong place. I am really stressed out, having just read an article about the effects of stress. As a result, I’m not only stressed about the normal stuff, but I’m stressed that I may have a heart attack because of the stress.

In an article on ThomasNet, a web site devoted to industrial market trends, I found some interesting facts:

• IT is at the top of the list of most stressful occupations; even trumping the field of medicine. Here’s why.
• According to the National Mental Health Association, stress ranks among the top three workplace problems for employee assistance professionals.
• Studies from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicate job stress increases the risk for development of back and upper- extremity musculoskeletal disorders, cancer, ulcers, and impaired immune function
• And from the Journal of the American Medical Association: You’re more likely to have a second heart attack if you work in a stressful job. (Incidentally, other studies say you’re more likely to have that first heart attack if your work is stressful.)

Still with me?

So what’s causing all this stress? Writer David R. Butcher, examining the results of a SkillSoft study of more than 3,000 people, reports the top 10 work stresses are:

1. Workload
2. Feeling undervalued
3. Deadlines
4. Type of work people have to do
5. Having to take on other people’s work
6. Lack of job satisfaction
7. Lack of control over the working day
8. Having to work long hours
9. Frustration with the working environment
10. Targets

And here are the top ten irritations having to do with colleague behavior:

1. Seeing others not pulling their weight
2. Managers changing their minds about what they want to be done
3. Lack of support from managers
4. Pressure from managers
5. Feeling put-upon by managers
6. Interruptions by colleagues
7. Interruptions by managers
8. Bullying behavior by managers
9. Lack of support from colleagues
10. Bullying behavior by colleagues

So what can be done about the rise of stress in the workplace? Some organizations, concerned with the hundreds of billions of dollars lost due to stress-related absenteeism and employee non-productivity, decided to take the matter seriously. Many have designed internal programs to reduce employee stress. (Here are some examples of organization-led changes.)

I think the corporation itself can play a big role in stress reduction, but a lot of it has to do with how the individual deals with things. I think the most important lesson I ever learned was that you can’t change other people, you can only change how you deal with them. What is your take on work-related stress? Does the burden fall more on the individual’s shoulders, the corporation itself, or a mix of both? What is the one thing your organization could do to alleviate some of your stress?

NYC Facebook Developers Get Some Love from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Ever since the launch of the facebook F8 platform, the facebook developer community has show keen interest in getting on board. The number of developers in the facebook developers group has doubled to over 48,000 in a period of less than 3 weeks since it’s launch. The first facebook developer meetup in NYC was yesterday. The facebook developers knew that they would be treated to a video conference with Facebook’s director of platform, Dave Morin.

What they did not know was that the CEO of Facebook; Mark Zuckerberg was going to pop-in to the facebook developers meetup meeting. The 23-year-old facebook CEO fielded questions from the developers and enthusiasts at the meeting. Suprise! If you talk to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock and understands what facebook is trying to do; the developers are key in the equation.

The fact that Zuckerberg showed up at the meeting is just reinforcement of his love for the community of facebook developers and the future that they represent. Nothing excites us geeks more that to see the leader of the company that they are going to help build, and in turn help them build their business; show his sincere interest in what they are doing. Bottom Line: The developers got some love from Zuckerberg… how’s that for throwing more gasoline onto an already raging fire!

Ulitimately the facebook developer community will create very useful applications that go beyond the lightweight programs that currently are dominating the first phase of applications that we are seeing on facebook. The facebook f8 platform represents a major tide shift in the way that applications can be leveraged upon a community platform & ecosystem. More robust applications will arrive, and this will ultimately make the facebook user experience much better, engaging and useful.

10 Reasons It Doesn’t Pay To Be “The Computer Guy”

I personally don't identify myself with all the reasons, but most of them are right on the money!!

Reason #10 - Most Of Your Accomplishments Are Invisible
The computer guy never hears anyone tell him, “I just want to let you know … everything is working fine!”
The reality is that people call the computer guy when something is wrong.
As a computer guy, if you work really hard to make everything work the way that it should, and things work fine, then people believe you don’t do anything. Everything you manage to get working correctly or do perfectly will forever remain unnoticed by computer users. They’ll only ever notice that you do anything when something isn’t working correctly, and you are called upon to fix it.

Reason #9 - Every Conversation You Have Is Roughly The Same
When the computer guy dares to mention what he does for a living, the typical response is, “I have a question about my home computer…”
Or when the computer guy first hears about a widespread problem within the computer network he’s responsible for, he can barely begin to assess the problem before a dozen other people call to report the same problem.
Or when the computer guy explains a certain process on a computer to a user who is incapable of retaining the process, he will inevitably need to reinstruct the user of this same process — indefinitely.

Reason #8 - You’re An Expert Of Bleeding-Edge Technology Products, Aren’t You?
The computer guy often finds himself in situations where someone is asking him for advice on a pending investment of the technological variety.
“I heard about (some hardware or software product) that can do (something desirable) for me. I brought you these (advertisements/reviews/printouts) because I wanted your recommendation. Which would you buy?”
Although the inquiring person sincerely trusts the computer guy’s judgment over their own, in almost every instance the real objective of these meetings is to ensure their own immunity from making a risky purchase.
If it turns out to be a bad investment, and they cannot get (the hardware or software product) to do (anything desirable), then you will be their personal scapegoat — “But honey, the computer guy said I should buy it!”

Reason #7 - Your Talents Are Forcibly Undervalued
Thanks to the constantly declining price of new computers, the computer guy cannot charge labor sums without a dispute. If he asks to be paid what he is worth, he will likely be met with the “why not buy new?” argument.
That is, desktop computers are always getting smaller, faster, and cheaper. It’s possible to purchase a new desktop computer for under $400. If the computer guy spends five hours fixing a computer and wants $100/hour for his time, his customer will be outraged, exclaiming “I didn’t even spend this much to BUY the computer, why should I pay this much just to FIX it?”

Reason #6 - You’re Never Allowed A Moment’s Peace
The computer guy is so prone to interruption that he rarely finds an opportunity to work on his own problems. This is because:
Computers never sleep.
Computer problems aren’t scheduled.
Every problem takes time to diagnose.
The computer guy can only give one problem his full attention.
Each user believes their problem deserves attention now.
Consequently, the computer guy has a 24/7 obligation to keep critical computer systems running, while simultaneously juggling everyone’s problems. He’ll often need to forfeit any opportunities to tend to his own needs for the sake of others — because at any moment, of any day, he can be interrupted by someone who wants to make their problem his problem.

Reason #5 - People Ask You To Perform Miracles
The computer guy is often mistaken for someone who possesses the combined skills of an old priest and a young priest. I’ll sum this up easily by example:
“No, I really can’t recover any files from your thumb drive, even if you did find it after it passed through your dog.”

Reason #4 - Your Assumed “All-Knowing” Status Sets You Up To Let People Down
There is no common understanding that there are smaller divisions within the computer industry, and that the computer guy cannot be an expert in all areas. What makes things worse, is when the computer guy attempts to explain this to someone asking for help, the person will often believe that the computer guy is withholding the desired knowledge to avoid having to help.
This is somewhat related to the next reason:

Reason #3 - You Possess Unlimited Responsibility
The computer guy is expected to solve problems. It is difficult to determine the boundaries of that expectation.
Some of the oddest things that I’ve been asked to do include:
Use pirated software to undelete important company files.
Create an Intranet, after explaining I didn’t know how to.
Teach someone how to hide their pornography collection.
Solving problems can range from replacing batteries in a wireless keyboard to investigating why the entire building loses power at the same time every morning. Resolutions can necessitate weaving a 50-foot cable through a drop ceiling, or wriggling under a house on your belly to add an electrical outlet.
Reasons #4 and #3 boil down to this: no matter how often you want to play the role of a hero, there will always be circumstances that test the limits of your ability to be one. It’s difficult to judge when helping someone means doing something immoral, and it’s even harder to admit you are unable to solve someone’s problem — and chances are, that someone will view you as incompetent because you were unable to help them.

Reason #2 - A Life Of Alienation
People only talk to the computer guy when they need him to fix something. Also, when the computer guy approaches a user, they’ll hop up out of their chair under the presumption that he’s there to fix something — as if it would never be expected that he only wants to strike up a conversation.
The fact that the computer guy never gets a moment’s peace can also practically force him to withdraw into solitude. His co-workers don’t understand that he doesn’t want to hear about their computer problems during his lunch hour — he does that every other hour of the day. That’s why the computer guy eats lunch alone with his door closed, or goes out to eat every day — not because he’s unfriendly, but because he needs to escape the incessant interruptions.

Reason #1 - You Have No Identity
It’s an awful experience when the computer guy shows up at a neighbor’s doorstep with a plate of Christmas cookies, only to have the child who answered the door call out, “Mom, the computer guy is here!” He begs for an identity that is not directly associated with computers, but “the computer guy” label walks ahead of him — it simply cannot be avoided. I was given a name and I’d love to be addressed by it.
Having read these reasons, you may believe that I’m complaining. It’s true that I was upset with many aspects of my life as the computer guy, but I’m past the point of complaining.
I took a good hard look at my existence and realized that things were not likely to change in the line of work I had chosen. Instead of just complaining, I took action and began making positive changes in my life.
Working in the computer industry isn’t for everybody. It wasn’t for me. I’ve compiled my reasons for putting it behind me and placed them here, so that anyone who is unsatisfied with their life working in computers might recognize it’s not for them either.

 

All info from:
http://www.techamok.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3513

6 signs your relationship is competitive

If you’re always striving to be the winner, you may wind up being the loser

 

All humans are competitive to one degree or another. When you think of competition you probably think of trying to best others in sports, academics or jobs. You may even compete with loved ones for attention. So it’s not hard to imagine your teammates, colleagues, friends, siblings and even parents as your competitors. But do you consider your spouse or partner a rival?
Your first response to that question may be: “No, I’d never compete with him.” But if you give yourself a moment to think about your relationship, you might be surprised to find that you do indeed feel a little competitive with him. All spouses compete with each other on some level. Who’s the better parent? Who’s more successful at work? Who has more friends? Who’s the better cook? Almost anything that matters to you can be a source of rivalry.

Competition can be healthy; it can spur you to try to do your best. Sometimes, however, competition can run amok. If you have insecurities about your sense of identity and talents, then you may feel he’s treading on your turf. And this can make you feel angry and hurt. For example, if friends compliment his cooking, do you feel as though your culinary talents have been diminished? Does that make you say to yourself: “Hey, if he’s such a good cook, then who am I?” If so, then you may have been bitten by the competition bug.

If you always try to be the “winner,” you may wind up the loser. To keep your relationship healthy, make efforts to bring out the best in each other and be supportive of each other’s talents. Remember there’s room for more than one winner. The more secure you make your partner feel, the less likely he will be uncomfortable with friendly competition — and the stronger your relationship will be.

Here are six signs you’re too competitive with your partner:

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1. You are hoping he doesn’t do something too well.
2. You feel angry at him after he has a success.
3. You feel panicky about your talents, after he does something you consider your strength.
4. You are often trying to outdo him on various tasks.
5. You see him as more of an adversary than as a teammate.
6. You feel happily superior when he fails.