However if you digg deeper - or go straight to the wikipedia article -  you will find that not only this is a way of software development but also a way of life. Literally:

Openness is a philosophy that is being used as the basis of how various groups and organizations operate. It is a relatively new term to describe this general way of doing things.

Of course, this is obvious, but I’d like to emphasize this relationship between software and personality.

Photo by Anders Ljungberg

I’m a relatively open person, in the sense of transparency and even predisposition to be critical against what isn’t beneficial for me (or for anybody I care about). In fact, I think that it’s good to be open.

Why not to be open? If so, the case is that you are hidding something. Why? Is it that bad so must remain veiled? Maybe, because in a long term it’s better than let anybody know about it. But, why not achieve this benefit by (what could be called) fair means instead some other way that cannot be revealed.

It occurs similar to software. I’m keen on Open Source software because I think knowledge must be free. Anybody must be able to know how things occur and why if you press one button it causes an action in your screen. As always not everybody is aware of that or have the same interests but, if there’s just ONE person that want to know it, in my opinion, that knowledge must be transferred.

Value isn’t in some information that you know and others don’t. Value is when you know how to apply that information better than others.

However, here comes disruption. Would you be determined to make use of proprietary software if it meets your needs? Or let’s approach the problem differently. Would you date with a girl or a boy (in case you are a female, that is quite difficult if you are reading this) that makes you happy, although you previously know won’t be open to you? In this case you have to blindly trust your partner or piece of software.

It’s a difficult dilemma that everyone will solve up to their way of living. What would you do?

That was my experience at EBE08, I still can’t believe I’ve had one of the greatest weekends ever.

I practally had more hope to attend than really was certain of my presence to the biggest event in the Spanish blogosphere because until the very last moment I still didn’t know how I would arrive to the Hispalense city (yes, if we are talking about Seville, it MUST be called that way, as well as we call Barcelona the Condal city… but that’s another story). But finally I did.

The stage of EBE08 - Photo by Coco* la Coquette

Day one - 14

Once in Seville, after being almost all day long in a train seat beside the lovely Coco*, we landed in the hotel room and started meeting people. One blogger after another; it was incredible the sensation of knowing someone and finally meeting him. There were some people that I specially wanted to know, like HUGE (because that’s how he is, in all its meanings) Alexliam or others like Andrés Milleiro which we met up again after his visit to Valencia. Tons of great people everywhere you were.

The first night we could have a walk by the old quarter of the city while we were looking for a place in order to fill up our tummies. We were starving and although Sevilla is not a quite cold city it’s almost Winter and we must carry our jackets so as we didn’t freeze.

Coco* and me are frozen - Photo by Guiye

The first dinner. - Photo by Coco* la Coquette

After that I could attend to the live recording of Kafelog in the Barceló Renacimiento Hotel, the building where all the activities of the event took place. Absolutely hilarious, as always. In addition, the sponsors gave some prizes. I didn’t get any, but some people near to me did >.<

Kafelog live recording - Photo by nachoad

I was demolished after 2 days (no, I worked and didn’t slept the night after) of rush and I didn’t stay to the party; headed my way to the hotel (where the young lady was already dreaming) and silently put myself to bed.

Day two - 15

We recharged our batteries and went to the Barceló. I wonder how many times we covered the same path and really consider staying there in the next year’s celebration. We were late to the first talks but we were really tired and I think many people would agree with me if I say the talks weren’t as exciting as meeting people in the hall and talk to each other.

The food in Seville is a maraville marvelous. The Twittche connection went together for lunch to one of the many tapas restaurant and rapidly returned to the convention building before the drowsiness came to us.

More talks, more people, and more fun. Another live recording, this time a special interview to the Master of Ceremonies, A. J. Paniagua, for the Tortilla de Patata podcast. Great interview and lot of professionalism and fun by both of the parts¹.

Tortilla de Patata inerviewing A. J. Paniagua - Photo by Capelare

After that, the Bitacoras.com Awards Ceremony, with all the glamour and excitement as expected. Except for some rare cases, all were well deserved prizes.

Bitacoras.com Awards - Photo by Brero

And finally one of the best parts of EBE08, the Beers & Blogs. As we had the feeling that the organization will be short of booze, we turned it into Beers & Vodka & Rum & Gin & Blogs. We were not wrong and, even more, not only they where short of beers and snacks but also we didn’t smell any cocktail. Of course I don’t feel swindled at all with such a FREE event, however it was a totally FAIL by the organization, as they sold tickets that included all this stuff.

So, we went to the hotel, had a quick shower, suited up, and came back to the party. There, I was able to ascertain that despite some people defend that we shouldn’t clash in groups there always be alienation from ones to others; but I think it’s perfectly normal.

When it seemed the party was flagging, the vast majority of the Venecia hotel went together to the 107 room and there an EPIC PARTY took place. I’d like to note that when I say EPIC I really mean what happens in EBE08, stays in EBE08 PARTY. Then, the party moved to the 306 and there’s not much more to say…

Day three - 16

Hangover + Train to Valencia. That’s all. We missed the Hernán Casciari talk which was the better of the program, but we had to return to the terreta
To sum up, I do must say that this weekend has been GORGEOUS. Really. From the very beginning to the very end.

Thanks to everybody (in order of appearance): Andrés, Manu, Manu, Guille, Miguel, Dani, Alex, Rick, Elvira, Roberto, Miguel, Verónica, Pepe, Ángel, Jose, Rafa, Pep, Javi, Pablo, Javi, Kiko, Ángela, Gina, Marcos, Pedro, Carlos, Álvaro… (sorry if I miss you, just make me know) and specially to the little lady that puts up with me; without her beside me all this would have never been possible.

I left Seville longing to know more the people I don’t know yet and better the people I already do. You are extraordinary.

Congratulations to the winners of Bitacoras.com Awards, the speakers, and the organization.

Family Picture - Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo

See you on EBE09 (or sooner…)

P.S: ¿Que paasssa?

1. You already know my opinion about oneas or another.↵

However, yesterday occured something that couldn’t keep me shut anymore. As the title says, I was stolen.

I was taking part in the Grup Jove activity that almost every weekend is carried out by the Centro Excursionista de Valencia. It wasn’t just another activity; we were painting the facade of the building after all the paperwork and difficulties that we might encounter since we live in Valencia: the city of the America’s Cup or the Street Circuit, but not the “let the people make theirs a better city”. Shaming.

So, we were almost finishing it all: taking some photos, giving the last strokes, picking all the paints and brushes up… when I received the fateful phone call. Since the very beginning I knew something wasn’t going well; but I couldn’t know what. The lady in the other side of the line told me that my wallet with all my papers (NIC, Driving Liscense…) inside, had been found miles away from the place I was.

I couldn’t believe her. I took a quick look around and my bag was indeed stolen. I plunged into a feeling of powerlessness and fury. Why? Do you want to know what was I carrying that day in my bag? Yes, that bag.

• My graduated sunglasses: Useless for a non-myope person.
• My moleskine: The place where I write down EVERYTHING. My daily log in the summer camp, the minutes of the Grup Jove meetings, the notes I took at FOWA, my inspiration for some projects, my feelings… MY FEELINGS! Somebody could be reading my open heart right now at the same very moment you are reading this! Those feelings that only some people that I can count with one hand’s fingers know…
• My wallet: No money. “Only” my identification and a photography. The photography of the most important person in my life, who grinned at me every time I opened my wallet.

That’s what I carried in my bag that day. So, here I am. I’m nobody, I have no feelings, I have been stolen priceless (in all its meaning) little parts of my life.

Tomorrow I have to go to the bank, pick up my new credit card, pay the money (that one friend owed me and I miraculously declined to take before being stolen) I will spend in Sevilla into my savings account, call the Venecia Hotel and notice they will have to charge me from another credit card… lots of last minute complications caused by somebody despicable…

At least the mural painting turned out great!

Today is blog day and this consists in number five blogs which, for some reason you think is worth to have in your feedlist. Five blogs that could bring something new to the blogosphere.

So, here they are my nominees after these instructions that will explain perfectly what we have to do.

BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2008 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

My recommendations for this Blog Day:

• Coco* la Coquette: She is the alter ego of Elisa Rodrigo, a very special girl from Sagunto obsessed with the Asian culture in general (and Japanese one in particular), design, drawing, photography and any other topic in her own current obsessions collection.
• Andrés Milleiro: The half of the omelette (I don’t still know if he is te egg or the potato) that jointly with Manuls publishes the podcast “Tortilla de Patata“.  Andrés Milleiro is a Computer Science student born in Pontevedra that writes about Web2.0, design and mostly IT related stuff.
• Lost Package: The personal blog of Asier Martínez, another Computer Science student from Vitoria and co-founder of The Code Farm. He writes about the state of the web, Apple, startups…
• Té con pastas: The tumblelog of Guillermo Ruíz de Loizaga, a very inquiring young boy from Vitoria too. There you will find any piece of some-people-call-it-art-and-some-people-call-it-rubbish. He loves it.
• You: Yes. The previous four blogs are from people that I’ve met in the RealWorld™ after stablishing a relationship through internet. Specifically in twitter. In my opinion they play a role in my life that definitely can be called friendship -or even more-. 2008 is being a very important year in my life and I’ve known a lot of new people. I would be absoluetly glad about knowing you too, the person who is reading this.

That’s it, I think this year I’ve managed to be on time for the Blog Day post.

El 19 estuve invitado en The Party Project de J&B; hubiera querido, y la ocasión lo merecía, haber hecho una entrada más larga contando cómo fue la noche y todo eso antes de irme, pero estaba tan sumamente cansado que lo único que pude hacer ayer fue levantarme a preparar la mochila y acercarme al autobús que me traería donde estoy ahora.

En definitiva, esta entrada está escrita como por arte de magia (pero sin el como) por un bio-robot que he creado para la ocasión con restos de satélites soviéticos encontrados en el mar Báltico, así que realmente si da a luz es porque el bio-robot ha acatado mis órdenes y no me ha salido un utópico comunista, lo que es más probable…

Dentro de unas semanas, cuando vuelva y haya conseguido desmantelar al robot (perdón, bio-robot, que le gusta que le llamen así) y yo esté completamente operativo (quiero decir que esté recuperado, que se me mezcla el lenguaje) os daré nuevas noticias…

Un montón de cambios están ocurriendo ultimamente.

Y me gusta.

One of the pending tasks I had remaining was the review of Jack keane: Al rescate del Imperio Británico, a video game that Bloguzz (I’ve already told you that I love these people?) had kindly handed over me. This video game has been developed by Deck13 and 10tacle Studios and distributed by FX Interactive.

I really enjoyed playing this video game (as the staunch fan of graphic adventures that I am); it reminds me the time I used to play Day of the tentacle or Monkey Island. In fact, I think I won’t be wrong if I claim that it was deeply inspired in this LucasArts saga.

So, let’s get it on. The pack comes with the installation/play CD and a very useful handbook that may help you to solve any problem you may encounter during the initial contact. The first thing in order to play is install the game, which was rather slow. However a new system called WannaPlay let me watch some explanatory videos during the installation. Anyway it’s possible to skip them and turn to the handbook in any case if needed. Once it is installed and the game settings (screen resolution, effects, music and such…) are configured we are ready to have a great time.

Something I specially liked was the fact that the game started with a quite short and easy first level where you can get used to the controls, actions and response of the character. After this we’ll have hours of entertainment ahead.

The plot deals with Jack Keane, an intrepid (and a bit unlucky) captain. He is in a secret mission under the orders of the Queen of England who lead his ship to a very mysterious island. Although at first it may seem quite simple and linear, then the plot thickens in a sudden turn of fate, unveiling a very interesting story full of intrigue. Furthermore the witty dialogues, and the numerous references (like the famous “Por qué no te callas” or the Indiana Jones quote “I don’t like snakes“) make it very entertaining and funny.

Regarding the graphics it should be noted that a very good work has been done by the developers of the game. A great use of colors, shapes, textures and 3D modeling in general contributes to a pleasant gaming experience, with beautiful landscapes and vivid characters.

Besides all this, another thing that I also find it interesting are the resources that we can find in the FX Interactive website. There we can take a look at the guide, which only has some available episodes right now or view the promotional trailer, that I reproduce here.

Summing up; take Indiana Jones, Guybrush Treepwond (from Monkey Island) and a 3D videogame, mix it up and you will get Jack keane: Al rescate del Imperio Británico.

In my opinion a very good game which deserves 4 stars out of 5.

Last Wednesday Spain Ticket Bureau, a company dedicated to sell tickets for sporting and music events invited a series of bloggers - including myself among others such Albert Barra, Carlos Mantero, Ruben Temporal, Daniel González and Ángel Custodio who was my companion - to the Copa del Rey match between F.C. Barcelona and Valencia C.F. that was held in the Camp Nou.

So that I went to Barcelona keen on cheering my team, Valencia C.F. The night started frankly great, with a little reception in which we could have a bite to eat and refresh our thirsty throats. I must say we drank all we could wanted but they where a bit short on food. Hey, we the bloggers are hungry people!

After that and with a bit of rush we could find our preferential seats and the referee gave beginning to the match. The first half passed with no goals between the Valencian team and Barcelona, that didn’t take advantage of their ball possession. In the second half the match got a lot of play, with as many efforts on goal by either side as the goalkeepers and defenders saved. Eventually Villa made the first goal for Valencia, which lasted until the very end despite the persistence of Barcelona players - especially Messi -. Finally, Xavi succeeded at making a goal in the fourth minute of added time to gain a 1-1 home draw that leaves open the qualifying round for the match in Mestalla.

From our seats we could see perfectly the whole field. More pics by Ancude in this photo set.

With no question it was a great experience; Barcelona impressed me in many ways, I met some people whose blogs I usually read and to see more than 90000 people going crazy after Barcelona goal left me stunned.

Disclaimer: If you didn’t realized yet this is a sponsored post. To end up I must thank Roser and Carolina, our hostess of Spain Ticket Bureau and Eduard Corral from Bloguzz for preparing everything.