Brand new year

Today is December 31st. It is usually a day to make a list of our wishes or intentions for the forthcoming year and, why not, to remember the best moments of the year is about to finish. Now I am going to do that list.

1. First of all I would like that my family and friends were healthy and happy next year. Concerning health I am afraid I will not be able to do much but I will do my best to help them being happy.
2. I will keep making some physical exercise because it makes me feel better. Like the Romans said: "Mens sana in corpore sano" (mind healthy in a body healthy).
3. I have the intention to keep studying and searching for a more interesting job, despite the fact that it will be harder next year because of the crisis.
4. I will try to travel a little (I have not travelled a lot until now and I would like).
5. I hope to continue meeting new people and, if I am lucky, to make new friends.
6. I also would like that wars in the whole world end up and that people do their best to get along with everybody else. That is an utopy but it would be amazing if it happens.

I will try to fulfill my resolutions and I hope that my best wishes become real. Nevertheless, being realistic, I would be happy if at least one of them come true.

Happy 2009!

Snore or gym?

Lucky day for people who snore while sleeping. The results of an investigation reveal that heavy snorers burn more fat than people that do not snore, even when they are not sleeping. This study has been published in December issue of a medicine journal in the United States.
In this research work was involved more than 200 volunteers, some of them suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders like snoring or sleep apnea. Doctors used a calorimeter to obtain information about the energy expenditure of patients. This device measures the oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production and that let them calculate the calories that each patient burn per day.
It is known that people fat or obese is more propense to suffer breathing problems and maybe the excess of burnt calories is because if people is heavier then they have to use more energy to move their bodies. Obviously, if most of the snoring people is fat or obese then the fact that they burn more calories than other people is not relevant.
In any case, although burning more calories seems to be a good result if you want to reduce your weight, it has several inconvenients associated. In fact, people who snore has several problems like fatigue and other that reduce physical performance during the day. Moreover, it is not a wise habit, mainly if you do not sleep alone and you do not want to lose your bed partner.

Just like in the movies

Last Thursday four robbers stole 80 million euros from Paris diamond store in 13 minutes. That sounds like the script of a new Hollywood production, maybe starred by George Clooney or Matt Damon. However, it was no fiction. That happened this week in one of the world's most famous diamond store located in Paris.
Robbers entered the store, three of them wearing disguises. Staff thought that they were three women and one man, but the three women were actually men in drag. Despite the fact that all of them were holding guns, no shots were fired, only some staff were hit over the head. The thieves corraled people in the store and demanded all the all the store's merchandise.
According to police, the gang knew the names of some of the staff and the location of hidden jewels. That is the reason why the investigators consider that they had inside knowledge or had done intensive surveillance.
About the actual location of the haul, experts think that it can already be on the way to Eastern Europe, where it would be sold on the black market.
The stolen store is Harry Winston's on Avenue Montaigne in Paris and this is the biggest robbery in French history and the second biggest jewellery theft in Europe.

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Vocabulary learnt:

heist

a crime in which valuable items are taken illegally and often violently from a place or person

snatch

to take hold of something suddenly and roughly

haul

a usually large amount of something that has been stolen or is illegal

wig

a covering of artificial hair worn on the head to hide a lack of hair or to cover your own hair

reportedly

according to reports or other information, supposedly

Most powerful man in the world?

It is incredible but true. Somebody dare to hang up the phone on Barack Obama, and moreover, did it twice. The name of this brave person is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and she is a Florida congresswoman. Apparently, she thought that the man was calling her was somebody from a local radio station and then she avoided to be their next victim. Other politicians like Sarah Palin, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez have been victims of crank calls from radio stations and their impersonators.
Their initial conversation lasted about a minute. She told him that she was not falling for the hoax and also compare him with an impersonator, saying that he was better than the actor that appears on Saturday Night Live. Then she cut him off. After this first attempt, Rahm Emanuel who is Obama's chief of staff, call her to explain that it was not a joke. As she had done before, she hung up on him, too.
It was necessary to call a close collaborator of her to clarify the situation and make the conversation with Obama possible. Obama did not blame her for being skeptical about the call and he laughed a lot, saying that in Chicago radio stations often do the same kind of jokes.
I think that if Obama has these problems every time he makes a phone call, then he should visit in person people he wants to talk to. Other possibility is video call. I am sure that his phone has this feature and it is very likely that people he calls have it too.
But maybe the solution to this is the way you pick up the receiver. Obama should do it like Bush does. He has eight years of experience doing it.

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While I was reading this story in newspapers I learnt some new vocabulary that I show below:

prank

mischievous trick or practical joke

mischievous

slightly malicious

crank call

hostile telephone call

deceive

to cause to believe what is not true

cut off

interrupt or break the line of communication

go along

cooperate

impersonator

someone who (fraudulently) assumes the appearance of another

I also learnt the expression

"appearances can deceive" 

that can be translated into Spanish as "las apariencias engañan".

Search resources

Nowadays, internet is the greatest source of information that we can have access to. We always are searching information, but sometimes it is difficult to find what we are looking for among all that results provided by search engines. In the next paragraphs, I will recommend you some pages that will help you to find information about films, tv programs, books and music. I am aware of the fact that there are hundreds or maybe thousands of pages like these but I will tell you about the ones that I consider the most useful among all I have ever visited.
If you want some information about a film, TV series or programs, an actor or actress then you should type in your web browser: http://www.imdb.com/. Then you should see a page where it is possible to obtain all kind of data related with movies and TV. Even if the film have not been released yet, you can get a lot of information (cast, plot, release date in different countries, etc.).
IMDB stands for Internet Movie Database and I think you should try it yourself.
If you prefer reading a book but you like to know about it before buying it or even to get it complete for free, you can visit: http://books.google.es/ or http://www.gutenberg.org/.
In the first page you have all the power of google search engine but specialized in books. Here you can search and view some or all the content of books, and get a lot of useful data about them, even links to bookstores where you can buy it.
The second page lets you download complete books in electronic format (txt, html or pdf) for free and it is legal, of course, because the books listed here are rights free.
In www.scribd.com you can view content of books and magazines that perhaps you can not find in google books. I consider that these three resources together can help you to find almost any information related to written word.
Finally, if you are looking for information about musicians, groups or lyrics you can try Music Lyrics Database. It is like IMDB but related with music.
I hope this resources can help you to find what you are looking for (at least, in terms of movies, books or music).

The kiss of deaf

Yesterday, I have read an amazing news story in a newspaper in the internet. It told about a chinese young woman who had become deaf after kissing passionately her boyfriend. Well, it scares, doesn't it?. Government should advice people that Kisses can seriously harm your health with labels like they do in packs of cigarettes.
In that article it is mentioned that it had not been the first case. The same damage had happened before. In that occasion, a mother suffered damages in her ear when was kissed by her little daughter. Then I read the article where this mother explained his experience that will be the subject of an upcoming medical journal report. She commented that all happened after her daughter, who was 4 at the time, gave her a hug and kissed her on the left ear. After the buss she was deaf, but when partial hearing came back, she heard noises in his head. Finally, two years after the incident, her problem seems to be remaining.
Doctors said that this is due to a pressure change that provokes the eardrum breakage. But the questions here are: What is in a kiss?, Is love harmful?, Is this another version of the kiss of death?.
Sorry, but I do not have these answers. However, I will ask you one more question: Will you take the risk?. I think you will.

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While I was reading these articles I learnt about the meaning of some English words. You can see them below.

eardrum

the tympanum, the membrane in the ear that vibrates to sound.

buss

kiss.

hug

embrace, a tight clasp with the arms.

You are allowed to laugh

I have found several funny stories that I hope you enjoy as much as I did. I have put the original version and then I have translated them to Spanish. This way, people who can not understand English will be able to perceive the joke and enjoy themselves.

Smart student

The college professor had just finished explaining an important research project to his class. He emphasized that this paper was an absolute requirement for passing his class, and that there would be only two acceptable excuses for being late. Those were a medically certifiable illness or a death in the student's immediate family. A 'smart' student in the back of the classroom waved his hand and spoke up. "But what about extreme sexual exhaustion, professor?"
As you would expect, the class exploded in laughter. When the students had finally settled down, the professor froze the young man with a glaring look.
"Well," he responded, "I guess you'll just have to learn to write with your other hand."

El estudiante listillo

El profesor terminó la explicación de un importante proyecto de investigación para sus alumnos. Insistió en que este trabajo era un requisito indispensable para aprobar su asignatura, y que sólo aceptaría dos excusas como válidas. Estas eran una enfermedad certificada por un médico o la muerte de un familiar directo del estudiante. Un estudiante "listillo" al fondo de la clase levantó su mano y preguntó en voz alta: "¿Qué hay de un cansancio sexual extremo, profesor?"
Como puedes imaginar, toda la clase se partió de risa. Cuando los alumnos se habían calmado finalmente, el profesor dejó helado al alumno con su mirada.
"Bueno," respondió, "me parece que sólo tendrás que aprender a escribir con tu otra mano."

Smart blonde

A blonde woman boards an airplane. She is extremely exhausted and just wants to take a nap. She finally finds her seat and sits down next to a very curious young man.
He wants to test the whole dub blonde thing and possibly make some money out of it. "Hey, wanna play a game?" he asks her. "No thank you, i just want to take a nap." "Please, its really easy, all you have to do is answer the questions that i ask you. If you don't know the answer, then you give me five dollars, and if I don't know the answer to your question, then Ill give you five dollars."
"I really don't want to do this. I just want to take a nap."
"Oh but PLEASE pretty please. Okay, how about if I don't know the answer to your question, I'll give you five hundred dollars." The blonde woman became interested and decided to play the game.
"Okay. How many moons does jupiter have?" the young man asked. The woman reached into her purse and took out a five dollar bill. "What goes up the mountain with three legs and comes back down with four?".
The young man, determined not to lose, gets out his laptop and searches all over the internet for an answered. Flustered and confused, the young man hand the blonde five hundred dollars.
After a few hours, the young man was itching to know the answer to the question."What was the answer to the riddle?" the blonde woman reached into her purse and handed the young man a five dollar bill.

La rubia inteligente

Una mujer rubia embarca en un avión. Ella está muy cansada y sólo quiere echar una cabezada. Finalmente encuentra su asiento y se siente al lado de un joven muy curioso. Él quiere comprobar los tópicos acerca de las rubias y de paso ganar algo de dinero a su costa. "Eh, ¿quieres jugar a un juego?, le pregunta. "No, gracias. Sólo quiero dormir un poco". "Por favor, es muy fácil. Todo lo que tienes que hacer es responder a las preguntas que yo te haga. Si no sabes la respuesta me das un billete de 5 dólares y si yo no se la respuesta a tu pregunta te doy 5 dólares."
"No me apetece jugar, sólo quiero descansar.", le dice ella. "Oh, pero vamos guapa, por favor. Bueno, mira si yo no sé la respuesta a tu pregunta te daré 500 dólares". A la rubia le interesó el trato y decidió jugar.
"Vale. ¿Cuántas lunas tiene Júpiter?" le preguntó el chico. La rubia buscó en su bolso y sacó un billete de 5 dólares." "¿Qué cosa sube la montaña con tres piernas y la baja con cuatro?", preguntó ella. El joven, determinado a no perder, saca de portátil y busca por todo internet en busca de la respuesta. Contrariado y confuso, el joven le da los 500 dólares a la rubia.
Después de unas horas, el joven estaba inquieto por saber la respuesta. "¿Cuál era la respuesta al acertijo?" le preguntó a la mujer. Entonces ella metió la mano en su bolso, sacó un billete de 5 dólares y se lo dio al chico.

Medical problem

An old woman came into her doctor's office and confessed to an embarrassing problem. "I do that all the time, Doctor Johnson, but they're soundless, and they have no odor. In fact, since I've been here, I did it no less than twenty times. What can I do?"
"Here's a prescription, Mrs. Harris. Take these pills three times a day for seven days and come back and see me in a week."
Next week an upset Mrs. Harris marched into Dr. Johnson's office. "Doctor, I don't know what was in those pills, but the problem is worse! I'm doing it just as much, but now it smells terrible! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Calm down, Mrs. Harris," said the doctor soothingly. "Now that we've fixed your sinuses, we'll work on your hearing!!!"

Problema médico

Una señora mayor entra en la consulta de su médico y le confiesa un problema embarazoso. "Yo hago eso todo el tiempo, Doctor Johnson, pero no suenan ni huelen. De hecho, desde que estoy aquí lo hice no menos de 20 veces. ¿Qué puedo hacer?".
"Aquí tiene la receta, Sra. Harris. Tome estas pastillas tres veces al dia durante siete dias y vuelva a verme dentro de una semana."
La semana siguiente apareció por la consulta la Sra. Harris enfadada. "Doctor, no sé que eran aquellas pastillas, pero el problema ha empeorado! Sigo haciendo lo mismo pero ahora huele fatal. ¿Qué tiene que decir?".
"Cálmese, Sra. Harris," dijo el doctor tranquilamente. "Ahora que hemos curado su sinusitis, nos ocuparemos de sus problemas de oído".

Bird's eye view

Today, I am going to tell about a tool available in the Internet. I think it can be very useful for people who live in Galicia. The address where is located this page sponsored by Xunta de Galicia (Galician Government) is http://www.xunta.es/visor/. I discovered it several years ago and it has been useful to me every once in a while. This page allows us to obtain maps and aerial views of any place all over Galicia. In addition, it provides two helpful applications for measure of distances and areas on the map or the aerial view. I have used these options to know how many kilometres I have run or to measure the area of some piece of land. And you can do it all sitting in front of your computer. Moreover, the measures are quite exact (I compare the results obtained in the page with the exact ones and the error margin was below 1%).
This page and its associated tools are more useful to real state business because it allows to identify every piece of land and obtain data about its owner. Sometimes, results obtained here can be not as reliable as they should.
People who live in other locations within Spanish territories in the Iberian Peninsula can use other version of this tool located in http://sigpac.mapa.es/fega/visor/.

Modern piracy

I've just read an article in an British newspaper about the recent ships captured in Indian Ocean by Somalian pirates. The journalist who wrote the story explains that the pirate who answered the phone sounded him more Captain Jack Sparrow than bloodthirsty Blackbeard. This almost comic opinion is likely because the pirates do not use to harm crew of vessels they seize. Although, this problem is rising fast and goverments and shipping companies are trying to solve it or minimize it as far as they can.
Several Goverments are sending warships to the zone to try to protect their ships from this plague avoiding that the last captures can be repeated and offering some security to the international trade, fishing, and other maritime activities developed in that zone menaced by piracy on last months. On the other hand, shipping companies like Maerks are changing the routes of their more vulnerable vessels to improve the security despite the rise of costs.
Some experts said that this actions will not solve the problem because the area to control is very wide and the source of the problem is the anarchy that rules Somalia. They propose that international organizations and goverments try to urge a change in Somalia's political situation.

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Comments:

I want to explain that I am using this blog as a way to improve my English writing skills, then I have to tell that while I was reading the article that I mentioned in this post and when I was writing previous lines I have learnt some new vocabulary. I am going to write a list below with the new words and expressions I have learnt.

• wreak havoc: to cause chaos or damage


• mangled: mutilated or disfigurated


• off: seaward


• ransom money: money demanded for the return of a captured person or property


• plunder: property stolen by force

Why do I start this blog?

This is the first time I write in a blog. The reason why I am doing this is because of a book I am reading this days. Its title is "Joomla! A User's Guide..." and it is helping me to understand how to develop great web sites quickly and easily. One of the chapters treats about how to create a blog with Joomla CMS, of course, and while I was reading it, I see a link to Blogger's site. Then I thought that it could be interesting to create my own blog and share my thoughts with everybody who wanted to read them.
I am Spanish, but I think it will be more educational for me to write the posts in English to practice my writing skills. I have been learning English for the last decade using all the resources I have access to. I have used the Internet to read articles, newspapers, magazines, books. Moreover, I have listened to online radios, TV news and series, movies, etc. I have taken advantage of every chance I had and I will continue doing it. In other post I will write about all the resources I can recommend to learn or improve English in an amusing way.
I will try to post regularly articles about things I consider interesting like English learning, tech issues, sports, amazing news, etc.

I have to say that it is very likely to find some mistakes in my articles but it is part of the learning process. In any case if you want to tell me about them you can write a comment and I will correct whatever was wrong as soon as I can. Thanks in advance.