Dick Gabriel on Lisp

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Now in this entry were gonna talk about a podcast where Gabriel explain us about some Lisp features and interesting facts, like I did not know that Lisp had about 50 years old, which is a lot.
Lisp is a functional programming language, mostly use on Artificial Intelligence, from me all this is new that's why I found this podcast interesting. Because each language had evolution so much, first versions of Lisp were only 50 lines of code, which is a few from my point of view.
All the functional programming thing is new to me and some times confusing, but knowing that everything is a function make our life simpler. It's so different like Java were you need to define which variable is, solo I like even more clojure, make your code shorter and simpler.
Another aspect that I like about this podcast is the fact that tell you which applications have, like in robotics, artificial intelligence and even airline, so I can gave me an idea of what I can do. The logic of this programming language is challenging, because of the things it can do.
And finally I found really curious that LISP has as a feature the meta-circular interpreter, that in other words is the possibility to evaluate itself using another program with the same language. So giving this few tips I really recommend listening this podcast because, it has so much to offer and Gabriel had the answers because his is an expert on this field and it could make you prove this language.
In conclusion I think that this podcast gave us a bigger panorama of what you can and can not, so in the future I hope acquire experience with clojure and dominate the parentheses thing. So I hope not suffer to much learning it.

Beating the Averages

Paul Graham on this article focuses on the entrepreneur side, because he argues that Lisp is a great advantage for startups and told us about Viaweb, also a startup by Morris and Graham.
This reminds me when I learn about Blue Oceans and Red Oceans, referring to the competition where you get into. And from Graham was an advantage to develop in LISP, but I think his point of view is more subjective than objetive, so we don't have to be agree with him. I really see it that way, and example of a Red Ocean are the circuses that make the same show with clowns and animals, so the competition is bigger and bigger. But inside all this Ocean, there are a Blue Ocean, a clearly example is the Cirque du soleil, that innovate the show of a typical circus, which gave it an advantage, making it a successful show. This is what I think about Graham success, they used a new tool which gave them and advantage above all their competitors, because these new tool could have potential, but on the other side, risking with a new language that no one is used to, could be fatal because of the implementation or the API. And when other people contribute to the project maybe it would less. 
Startups could be difficult to begin, but if you want to succeed, you have to risk, there will be different opinions but we have the final decision. Always make the best of each language, no matter the difficult is, you have to know the potency and if it fits with your project.
In conclusion, even Graham try to persuade us to use this language, also leave us a lesson of taking risks and not to be afraid to try something new, because other people don't use.

The Semicolon Wars

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The article "The Semicolon Wars" it's a really interesting article, because provide us fun facts about different programming languages and how many they are. The analogies between programming languages and languages, made me think that how many languages do we know, because we consider them important for our lives like English or French. I mean, the same thing happens with programming languages, there are many, but we learn the ones we think are important.

As the title says is like a war, some will say that one programming language it's better than other, but the important thing here is finding the best you like. 
W know that English it has become as the universal language, the same thing happens with programming, we're still searching the "perfect one" the "universal", but I think that is not necessary, because each programming language specializes with a purpose. 
I think the only reason why some programmer do not like some language is because they do not understand at all the language, just IN SOME CASES. Otherwise, because of the syntax; the use of the semicolons as the title says some languages use to separate, other not. And thats why, each programming language has its advantages and disadvantages.

In conclusion, I found this article recommendable, because make think about how it would be if there is only one universal programming language, would it be better or worst, in the way of learning each command, it would be more complex, because it would be adaptable for all needs.

Triumph of the Nerds Part I

Comment of the video

The video "Triumph of the nerds Part I" it's a good documental where we can see how these computer industries had evolved. The video is also based on the book "Accidental Empires" by Robert Cringely where describes further about the lives of these people who left their mark on everyday people's life. Even though, each history is completely different in terms of the process and the intended goal, the documental try to link all these histories, so we can know where does it come from the product we know nowadays as a computer.

Photo taken by Cristina Arteaga

These accidental empires were like as a phrase says, "learn from your mistakes", but instead of mistakes was like there was something missing. So without these chains of events, I think that it would not have been achieved. The best metaphor for this video is surfing; you have to know what waves to take and when to take it, because if you take it too early you may have losses.

In general I like the video, for what it made me reflect, but there were some parts that I will change, like the part they make a comparison of a girl that is sitting on the yard and said that it was a "boys thing", although it's an old video that comment was a little bit discriminatory. The fact is that nowadays there many women who have interest in computers and that are good at it, so that stereotype must be broken.

As moral of the video from my point of view, it's that no matter what you study, the age or how crazy your dream is, if you keep trying and searching, you can make it real. In one hand, Bill Gates had the brain to do the things, obviously with the support of others like Paul Allen. And in the other hand, we have Steve Jobs, he wasn't an engineer, instead of that he was a visionary that knew how to take those chances.

References Cringely, Robert X. (1996). Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date . California: HarperBusiness.

About me

Hi! My name is Cristina and I'm studying computer engineering.

And here are some stuff about me.
My hobbies

1. Listen to music, it helps me to relax when I'm doing some work
2. Drawing
3. Watch movies
4. Visit new places
5. Concerts and theater

Favorite Books

El túnel – Ernesto Sábato
La Identidad – Milan Kundera
Tokio Blues – Haruki Murakami
El libro de los amores ridículos –Milan Kundera

Movies

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Ratatouille
3. The fifth element
4. Harry Potter
5. And some Disney movies

Music

1. Kasabian
2. Interpol
3. Arcade Fire
4. Arctic Monkeys
5. Foster the people
6. Phoenix
7. The Kooks

My expectations from this course are to have a better understanding of Clojure, learn as much as I can and to not suffer too much in the way of knowledge. 

Other stuff about me is that I love dogs (my Facebook friends know that) 

Thank you for reading! :)