3rd World Geek

If I ever interview you...

2011-08-16T21:59:00.001-05:00

Back at the "cube farm" I've been overhearing interviews for some time now so I started planning my interview questionnaire in case I have to hire somebody one day.

It goes like this:

Do you know what RTFM means?
Do you RTFM?
Could you WTFM if needed?

Am I missing any other important questions? Chime in in the comments below...

Tarjeta Feria... a half failed NFC implementation

2011-04-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Just copying a couple of comments I put on Milenio in case they mysteriously disappear...

alex_mayorga 11/23/2010 10:42 AM

Enlaces "Inteligentes" recula y remueve la información del reembolso de su página.

La página removida es http://www.tarjetaferia.com/index.php?view=article&id=50 y en ella se leía lo siguiente:
"Los usuarios de la Tarjeta FERIA Ordinaria pueden adquirir su tarjeta en los 13 Centros de Emisión FERIA y en Tiendas OXXO y, a partir del 20 de noviembre, deberán acudir a un Centro de Emisión FERIA a realizar el registro de su Tarjeta FERIA Ordinaria presentando una identificación oficial vigente con fotografía y su CURP, para hacer efectiva la bonificación de $22.50."

Buena forma de crear confianza en los usuarios del tristemente celebre sistema de prepago.

alex_mayorga 11/08/2010 01:01 PM

Y ahora el engorro para conseguir el dichoso reembolso "Los usuarios de la Tarjeta FERIA Ordinaria pueden adquirir su tarjeta en los 13 Centros de Emisión FERIA y en Tiendas OXXO y, a partir del 20 de noviembre, deberán acudir a un Centro de Emisión FERIA a realizar el registro de su Tarjeta FERIA Ordinaria presentando una identificación oficial vigente con fotografía y su CURP, para hacer efectiva la bonificación de $22.50." http://www.tarjetaferia.com/index.php?view=article&id=50

Primero voy y pierdo mi tiempo buscando un OXXO que tenga tarjetas, la pago y luego tengo que buscar un centro de emisión y llevar CURP para que me den el reembolso. Sólo en México =S

Traje a colación a Visa y MasterCard, porque han hecho innovaciones como estas:
"New Jersey and New York Transit Agencies Partner with MasterCard on Tap & Go Payment System to Enhance Commuter Experience" http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/newsroom/new_jersey_and_new_york_transit.html
"Visa to Improve Payment Experience for Commuters in Los Angeles and Paris; Working with Transit Operators to Enable Visa Payment at the Fare Gate" http://corporate.visa.com/media-center/press-releases/press871.jsp

Lo cual es perfectamente posible aquí ya que "Los más de 140,000 estudiantes de la UANL ya cuentan con una credencial propia emitida por la universidad. Dicha credencial está preparada tecnológicamente para poder operar en el sistema de prepago FERIA. Esta credencial se debe activar para su uso en las unidades de transporte público de pasajeros que están equipados con el sistema de prepago FERIA." http://www.tarjetaferia.com/index.php?view=article&id=40

Supongo que las credenciales de la UANL son VISA o MasterCard y utilizan la misma tecnología que en New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles y Paris. Una pena que una oportunidad como esta de demostrar que la "regia metrópoli" está a la altura de cualquier gran ciudad del mundo termine en un fiasco como este por la falta de visión o habilidades de comunicación de los gobernantes.

How fast are 2Mbps in .mx?

2011-04-10T08:01:00.005-05:00

If you're a 3rd World Geek, chances are you're stuck with a crappy and monopolistic ISP and have all sort of troubles with your service provider.
I've finally got pass the "Wife Acceptance Factor" (WAF) to switch providers.
Below find my Speedtest.net results of said change.

TELMEX "2Mbps" (before)

AXTEL 2Mbps (now)

As you can see, there's actually a way to get the actual service you pay for. Something tells me Mexican consumers are too lazy to do anything more than bitch on twitter and hope things change by themselves.

Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day and my favorite woman in technology

2010-03-24T11:37:00.003-06:00

As today is "Ada Lovelace Day" I'll be taking my favorite women in technology and wife out for pizza, a burger a latte or whatever she feels like having for dinner.

Thanks on being supportive and helpful on all my "techie" endeavors, from doing "FLISoLes" to cooking your delicious burgers and pancakes to help get computers for disadvantaged kids and specially for being patient when I just have another bug to report or "great idea" to share on IRC or twitter.

I love you! Even if you still insist on using XP =P

Want to check out what's the buzz is all about?

2010-02-09T22:04:00.005-06:00

This one is to appease the twitter following that's going all going crazy begging for a Google's Buzz account.

I got to check it out almost the moment it was announced using these 5 easy steps:

Get
Install this add-on
Click "Tools" > "Default User Agent" > "iPhone 3.0"
Go to buzz.google.com
There's no step five =D

My verdict: I freaked out to give away my location at all times to our Google overlords and was baffled there doesn't seem to be a way to "tweet" your "buzzes", is that the right word?

Please try it out and let me know what you think of this new Google's "killer app".

Ps. As Yahoo! tweeted they released their own Buzz a couple years ago.

Either VAIO VPCCW1FFX/L lasts one month or I got a lemon

2009-12-25T04:12:00.000-06:00

I'm publishing this here just in case Sony decides to censor me and as a placeholder on where to continue troubleshooting later.

Pros: 4GB of RAM, discrete video card, looks purple
Cons: HD seems to be faulting after just 3 weeks, no recovery CD/DVD
Review: I saw this one at the Sony store on Las Americas outlet in San Diego and immediately snatched one as its blue color looks purple, it had an NVIDIA discrete card and plenty of RAM.
I happily used the computer for about 3 weeks with no hiccups and was rather happy with it.
Then this morning I was greeted with an un-bootable system, "UNMOUNTABLE _BOOT_VOLUME" BSOD over and over.
I called support and spend well over an hour punching F2, F8 and F10 and selecting different recovery options, none of them worked. In the end I've been told I need to reach a support center (there's none in Zacatecas) and pay for a recovery CD/DVD that Sony "forgot" to put on the box.
I've torrented a "Windows 7 System Recovery Disc" but when booting from it now I see "Status: 0xc00000e9 Info: An unexpected I/O error has occurred".
My gut is the laptop has a faulty HD. I just hope Sony would stand by its product, help me recover my data and get me a new HD or laptop that would work longer than a month ='(

Twitter y suéteres Monterrey 2009

2009-11-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

Per request of my beloved wife this entry would be in Spanish.

Desde el año pasado tuvimos la inquietud de replicar la excelente iniciativa"Twitter y suéteres" de @Bumen, @pawis y @jazminfajardo.
El año pasado reunimos 10 suéteres, que ya no nos quedaban o gustaban mucho. Esperamos este año con su apoyo multiplicar ese número.

La idea es sencilla, todos tenemos suéteres que ya no nos quedan, no nos gustan, etc.:

Encuentralos.
Lavalos (de ser necesario)
Anóta tu nombre o @twitter, talla, si el suéter es para niño, adulto, hombre o mujer en un papel.
Cólocalos en una bolsa transparente junto con el papel.
Llevalos a Starbucks Plaza Real los domingos (22 y 29 de Noviembre; 6, 13 y 20 de Diciembre) de 10:00 a.m. a 1:00 p.m. donde @nelisalr, @alex_mayorga o algún otro voluntario estará encantado de recibirlos.

Los suéteres recolectados serán entregados a un asilo de ancianos y/o casa hogar el día 21 de diciembre de 2009, todos son bienvenidos a acompañarnos en la entrega.

Dudas o preguntas pon un comentario en esta entrada, en twitter @nelisalr @alex_mayorga o por mail.

Si tienes un blog por favor republica este post.

Tweet the vote .mx 09 (#ttvmx2009)

2009-06-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

While driving for hours yesterday I presented an idea to @nelisalr that said it might not be a very good one because it might discredit IFE I disagree and believe this might bring a bit more of transparency and citizen involvement in the process.

Here's the idea for your consideration: Let's all "Tweet the vote"!

I'm confident that most people in Mexico would indeed go to the polls this coming Sunday. I'm proposing that we not only do that, but keep watching closely when the polls close, the results are tallied and published (this should start around 7:30 p.m. depending on how fast our neighbors can tally our votes).

I suggest that you go check and tweet the results on your poll using the following format:

PAN XXX PRI XXX PRD XXX PT XXX PVEM XXX PC XXX NA XXX PS XXX (CPM XXX CSM XXX) CNR XXX VN XXX EDO DT SEC TC #ttvmx2009

The (2-4)-character acronyms represent the various parties and (coalitions) as they are registered at the IFE CRN stands for "Candidatos no registrados and VN means "Votos nulos".

EDO should be replaced by the 3-character state code that corresponds to you according to ISO 3166-2:MX

DT should be replaced by the 2-digit district code that corresponds to you according to where you vote.

SEC should be replaced by the 3-digit section code that corresponds to you according to where you vote.

TC should be replaced by 2 characters depending to the type of voting poll according to where you vote. (BAsica, COntigua, EXtraordinaria or ESpecial)

For me this would turn into something like this:

PAN XXX PRI XXX PRD XXX PVEM XXX NA XXX PS XXX (CSM XXX) CNR XXX VN XXX ZAC 04 475 CO #ttvmx2009

Obviously you can also snap a picture to "Flick the vote", post this on your wall to "Facebook the vote", blog about it to "Blog the vote" or anything else you see fit.

I'd like to clarify I fully trust my neighbors and the IFE to do a stellar job on July 5th, 2009. I'm proposing this to make the whole process more fun and involving for the citizens not counting the votes themselves.

Nulling your vote in Mexico?... NOT

2009-06-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

A lot have been written and said on how "cool and hip" would it be if we all go and null our vote in the upcoming election here in my beloved Mexico this July 5th, 2009.

From the get go I find this proposal nonsensical for a couple of reasons:

Our political system is based in the concept of "mayoría relativa" meaning that if every person but one in a district, state or country goofed up their votes and just one got it right; that wise single voter would've singlehandedly elected a deputy for the whole district, a governor for the whole state or even a president for the whole country.
The current system won't even make a distinction for your "voto en blanco", as it stands today it just means you don't know how to vote.

I've been "funcionario de casilla" before and that's why I understand this. Seems to me like many "political analysts" might have not been.

As an exercise go read what your neighbors have been trained to do this next Sunday on their "Manual del funcionario de casilla". It varies a bit based on the number of parties' coalitions in your district:

One coalition (PDF)
Two coalitions (PDF)

Focus on Chapter V "Conteo de los votos y llenado del acta" if you have to skim through it.

I don't want this post to run any longer so let me summarize. I urge you NOT to null your vote. Know who your candidates are, learn what the different parties proposals are, find your voting poll and VOTE.

I do agree that the system is a bit broken and the offers are lacking but I believe it is due to how we forget about it during 3 years and then try to fix it on election day. Go vote, make sure you remain politically conscious for the next 3 years and keep your elected representatives accountable. Hopefully we can fix it for the next one if we all participate.

If you're still so inclined to null your vote please go check page 72 in the above manuals. Helpful IFE gives you some creative ideas and examples to do so. Or better yet vote "alex_mayorga" I'd love to have more votes other than my own for this election =P

PS: it might look like a lot of reading but is for the greater good. Besides you might have wasted the same time somewhere else on the net =)

Did I somehow turned into a celebrity?

2008-12-04T23:26:00.000-06:00

I don't really think so; but I somehow ended going to the last "Reunión Blogger Regia" and would probably be on the upcoming "Posada Bloggera 2008".
Here's the "official announcement":
"

Este 18 de Diciembre se llevara a cabo la Posada de Bloggers Regios en el Café Trecelunas (en el barrio antiguo).

Como siempre, estan todos invitados a darse una vuelta a conocer y socializar con todos los bloggers que típicamente se dan la vuelta en estas reuniones.

La anterior fué todo un exito y estamos seguros que esta tambien lo será.

Para esta ocasión debido a la temporada navideña, [...] Qué Comer estará dando algunos regalos como un iPod shuffle entre otras cosas.

Apunten la fecha en sus agendas y por ahi nos vemos."

If this keeps this entertaining, I might even post more often =P

Firefox 3 Launch Party is on

2008-06-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

After ages of not posting, I'm back with a revenge...As you might now know Firefox 3 has been kicking for a number of hours now to achieve some impressive numbers and would most certainly secure a place in the Guinness World Records.
Given that achieving such a fine product, with more than 15,000 improvements, is not small feat and my only contribution so far were a few bug reports and vote on bugs; it's only fitting that I take responsibility and host a Firefox 3 Launch event like the ones cropping all over the world.
I've invited people from my day and afternoon job and many have asked what is all this about, so here's my plan for the perfect party for this coming Saturday (June 21st, 2008):

Given we're probably going to drink heavily, we'll have a vehicle and driver at our disposal for all the transportation needs (obnoxious Flash music playing site).
A generous amount of beer or beers would be ordered before hand.
We'll start by watching Netherlands beat Russia out of the Euro 2008 in the quarter-finals.
Throw some Wii/XBOX gaming after the game while consuming pizza, barbecue or any other fitting "party food".
Watch Mexico trying to defeat Belize with little or no success; this might be even live if we happen to secure tickets.
Go to either Megadeth's or Babasonicos' concert(s).
Have some "menudo" afterwards.
Catch some sleep.
Visit Cintermex for some World Cyber Games 2008 action.

All the above is obviously on my wildest dream but it is feasible to some extent.
In the end we might end up being 5 or less people so my only commitment is to provide the place and a couple of beer cartons so we all get a good start; please BYOB and BYOB =)

I'm off now. See you there and please RSVP.
Everybody is welcome, so invite your friends if you feel like.

Wii "también" queremos jugar..

2007-07-31T00:24:00.000-05:00

So looks Nintendo really is onto something. Now if they just got the pricing right. Why on earth do I have to pay almost twice here than the MSRP? Did they miss the press release?

At nearly US$450 I'm even tempted to go the 360 route even if I don't really want to and my XBMC is still going strong.

Dear Nintendo/Regginator please correct that because "Wii también queremos jugar", if you've seen the Mexican ads you'll get the point.

So Telmex... (watch out, rant ahead)

2007-06-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

where's my 1Mb!?!?!?

And what's with that idiotic "we only support Windows or Mac"?? And all those "mysterious" dropped support calls?

I do Ubuntu at home and you sell freaking DSL connectivity, so do it and deliver as advertised.

Yahoo mail unlimited

2007-06-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

Yahoo mail unlimited
Inserito originariamente da alex-mayorga

So finally I got it!!

Thanks Yahoo! we've come a long way since the 90's.

So Movistar actually does something good...

2007-06-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

aside from giving me a rather crappy service by:

Not helping me unlock my phone when I had to roam in the US for more than a month even if I was paying my plan punctually even when abroad.
Charging outrageous rates for international roaming of $29 MXN (around 3 bucks) per minute while abroad.
Piling up charges of roaming of calls that I didn't even answered while roaming in the US to an amount of more than $2500 MXN (that's around 250 bucks) in a month.
Cutting my service because some random "executive" (a.k.a customer service representative) dropped the ball while activating one of their "unlimited calls" modules so that a bunch of long distance and roaming charges piled up again.
Leaving one of my lines dead for a week when I "canceled" to move to an easier on the pocket prepaid plan with Movistar itself.
Having that dreaded all Flash site of them.
The non-arriving bill, especially when they've erred and are over charging me.
The omnipresent "Network busy" when I have to place a death or life call.
The seemingly always shrinking coverage area.

I can go on and on, but I guess you get the point.

Turns out their engineers indeed do work and they've been probing UMTS/HSDPA service(PDF) here in Monterrey. Hope they'll get their act together and actually release some of that to the public at:

a better price point than their EDGE service and
before the number portability(PDF) mandated by COFETEL to all carriers is effective, by then I´m seriously considering Iusacell due to its competitive pricing.

Government, companies,
seriously, what's up with all that "PDFing" of information thats meant to be easily accessible.

Hasta la Vista

2006-11-28T18:12:00.000-06:00

This 3WG is off to see what all the fad about Windows Vista thingie. I wonder if giving away Ubuntu CDs (how come they're selling 6.10 on Amazon now?!?) would be considered impolite. I forgot my K750 at the office today so chances are that I won't get pics to prove I attended so you'd have to take my word for now. They'll start greeting us at 7:00 P.M. local time, so I'm off for now. If you're on Monterrey you might as well try to sneak in at:
Centro de Ciencias y Artes

Av. Roberto Garza Sada #1000. Fracc. Carrizalejo San Pedro Garza García
Monterrey Nuevo Leon Mexico

Who would've guessed...

2006-11-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

this little and unsuspecting blog would be spammed by some strangely named robots. Word verification has been activated as a result, hope it won't bother any real commenters and move computer vision forward via spammer motivation.

It's a shame...

2005-06-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

that the Treo 600 has such a lousy camera. Hope it'll make justice to this gorgeous sunset on Saltillo to Zacatecas highway.

alex_mayorga
--
Sent from my Treo 600

2005-06-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

Having some fun at Sierra Madre Brewing Co.

alex_mayorga
--
Sent from my Treo

Becoming a smuggler

2005-06-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

Later on I'll tell you how easy is to become a smuggler if you're a 3WG (3rd World Geek).

alex_mayorga
--
Sent from my Treo

First Post

2005-06-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

My first Moblog post

alex_mayorga
--
Sent from my Treo