Independence Day

New York (USA)

Morning saw the City calm after eleven days of rains. This sunny day allowed people to have picnics and enjoy a peaceful holiday. At eight, however, things got hectic. The roofs of the buildings welcomed the most impatient onlookers. Neighbor communities began the preparations with the following ingredients: barbecues, beers, and joy. The [...]

There is no thirteen

Some days ago I noticed that there is no button thirteen in the control panel of the elevator of my building. The owner, the architect, or someone else should be superstitious. Because of that, an ad hoc control panel was made and the displayer programming was adjusted to jump from 12 to 14. Nevertheless, despite [...]

The mysterious world of the quantum physics

Three weeks ago I read the post Prof. Cirac interviewed about quantum physics and theory information, where you can find the link to the video of the Cirac’s interview by a Catalan TV. It is amazing how Prof. Cirac introduces some basics of the quantum physics by using easy words and a couple of dices. [...]

HAIS 2009

The special session Knowledge extraction based on evolutionary learning, organized by Salvador García, Albert Orriols, and José Otero, was one of the opening sessions of the 4th international conference on hybrid artificial intelligent systems (HAIS 2009).
Its program, full of interesting talks that discussed the new trends for knowledge extraction processes by means of evolutionary algorithms, [...]

Everything must go

Manny’s Music, a classic among the guitar stores founded in 1935, has been definitely closed. I just visited this place twice, but the first time I already felt a unique vibe coming from the stories that it enclosed. This store, which walls were covered by pictures of legendary stars and real gems of guitars, had [...]

Squared Sun

May said goodbye with two magic moments. On Saturday 30 and Sunday 31, the so-called Manhattanhenge, an astronomical event in which the Sun is perfectly aligned with the Manhattan’s grid, took place. The connoisseurs were ready in the strategic points, along the 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, and 57th streets, with their cameras, to hunt the [...]

Sullivan Street Bakery

The Sullivan St Bakery, located in the 47th Street between the 10th and 11th Avenues, bakes every morning the famous bombolinis. What is that? It is a spongy full doughnut with vanilla cream or raspberry jam filling and sugar on the top of its outer crust. Mmm… Delicious! This breakfast is one of the petits [...]

Free hugs

It is good for your health! This is the slogan to get or give hugs in Union Square. Scientifically proved, hugs have beneficial effects on blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart diseases. Besides, they make feel good and get a smile out of anyone. Such happiness led Juan Mann to give free hugs [...]

Dirty place

It is well known that New York is a dirty place and, unfortunately, it is true. Despite good intentions of people, something else is necessary to keep clean the City.

Romantic ideas are as corny as beautiful

Some time ago, someone told me how he planned to propose marriage to the woman of his life. His project included a pretty day in New York, a walk in Central Park, and the suggestion of a rowboat ride. In the middle of the pond, he would tell her one more time how much he [...]