I'd like to apologise for my lack of writing as of late. See? I just broke one of those absurd blogging conventions. Sincerely, I don't give a d––n about doing that. Please, keep reading.

This is one simple example. Blogging gurus say that you should not apologise for not writing, since that would seem pointless to your readers and you'd appear like a less capable guru. I say so what?. I'm not into writing here to make tons of cash (they are very welcome if they come anyway), and I have a lot more things to do beside blogging. I'm here to write for my readers. As of now and according to Feedburner, 620 something. I'd like to thank every one of you for coming back. I try to thank you by writing interesting stuff.

It's been quite a while since my last post (which was a book review, not even a "real" post). And why is that? There is a mix of reasons and motivations going here.

Although I had my decent share of ideas, none were compelling enough to get me into writing mode. If I'm not pulled by the idea, the post turns out dry or boring. I don't want to write boring posts. My ultimate goal is to be able to write a post about some theme and find that readers uninterested in it can read it whole and enjoy the experience. I follow some bloggers like these, I love their ability to keep me entertained.

This is closely related to another stupid convention in blogging. That you should only write about one theme, only one niche. If you've been here long enough you'll know that I write about anything I find interesting. Programming, time management, whatever I find interesting. I could not write about just one thing in my blog. I'm like that, I enjoy a hundred different things. Just like everybody else.

I also have an unwritten (at least until this post) deal with my readers. I don't want to write "empty" posts. I don't want to write 700 words of fluff, akin to political speeches. I want to get information out there, share what I've learnt, ask what I don't know. Let the politicians (and quite a great deal of bloggers, too) talk or write for hours/pages without saying anything.

I'm not here for the money (as I have already said), but for my readers. You can see ads around the page. Currently they are:

And that's it: you see, I won't make any decent money. A few months ago I dumped AdSense because I wanted a more ad-free experience for my readers, leaving only the bookstore ads (I love books and love to share books). AdSense is here again because I have started an A/B test with AdSense, just for fun. I want to see which colour layout is more effective, to do so I'm running this ad splitting scheme for the different colours and in a few weeks I'll know which one is better. I'm curious, it's not that AdSense makes me a lot of money (2 or 3 euro each month, at most and with luck).

Another reason I've been less eager to write lately is that I'm busier, and it gets harder to fit writing quality and informational articles (disclaimer: this is what I try, I don't promise all my articles are up to my tastes) into my schedule. Also, ideas are like __________. You can come up with almost anything and find some analgoy to comply. In this case, I feel like ideas are like mushrooms. Why is that? If weather is very hot and dry, there are no mushrooms. But come a big storm and they will pop all over a place. This happened yesterday, for unknown reasons.

All ideas I had lately were now seen in a new light, and I started filling a notebook in Penultimate for iPad (an affiliate link, this app is quite neat for this quick sketching of ideas or taking meeting notes) with post ideas and execution (screenshots, tables, screencasts) for some of them, I'd get them written soon. Also, I decided to write this post, because the ideas in it were around my mind for quite some time and needed some pouring.

I'll never promise I will write more frequently. My only promise is that I try to do my best to write interesting stuff. I owe this to my 620 something readers and also to everyone else that stops by this blog. Thank you all, and keep coming.

All joking aside, you should take this advice to heart. A blog isn't born overnight, and less if you have a day job and other hobbies aside from writing. You may love writing, but you will likely hate it once in a while. It is completely normal.

You just have to put in the hours. Write, hone your skills, keep with it. Maybe it won't pay off, but you will be a better writer, and writing better can open you many doors in your work life.

As Steven Pressfield puts it, you have to be a pro, and the example he gives is a quote from Somerset Maughan: "I write only when inspiration strikes, fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp. Keep pressing the wall.

You have to face it with a grin and be overkill, day after day.

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Here comes my final update on the 30 Day Meditation Challenge. I don't know exactly how to summarise it: it has been both a failure and a success.

Contradictory, isn't it? I prefer to think that it is a Zen-like result for a Zen-like endeavour. The middle way (the Zen way), neither a success nor a failure was to be expected.

After my first update I decided to try mindful breathing, in addition to daily meditation. Mindful breathing is in some sense a requirement for meditation, you use your breathing as the focus of your attention. When applying it, you spread your expiration while you press slightly your abdominal muscles towards your intestine (at least this is the way Master Taisen Deshimaru puts it in La Pratique du Zen).

The week when I was doing mindful breathing together with daily meditation has been, in retrospect, one of my most fruitful weeks ever. And since then, my mindful breathing practice always feels like 'a good thing'. So far a success.

As that week ended, I started to feel slightly sick. A couple of days of sweating in my office joined by late night train catching meant I was going from pretty hot (and sweaty) to January cold, and this has been a very cold month for Barcelona. A cold was preparing on Friday, and the next Monday it was joined by sinusitis. This is the point where I had to stop both practices, as my breathing wasn't in an optimal condition. Only since my birthday (3rd of February) I was able to breathe close to normal.

This means that out of 31 days, I didn't meditate for more than 11, meaning this challenge was a failure. On the other hand, I will keep with the practice as often as I can and as devoted as I can. You should come to mindful meditation (or Zen meditation) without any expectations, according to the usual introductory texts (cf. Zen mind, beginner's mind and Questions to a Zen Master). Sadly I know that it is beneficial to my general state, and will do it because it feels well. Enlightenment can come later.

From now on, all my meditation updates, mindful posts and general Zen advice will be posted in a brand new blog that you can discover right now, 100 per Zen. So far it is quite empty, but slowly will begin to get filled of nonsense, wisdom and tips. My goal is to leave only the two last type of content, but I will need your help!

The "Related posts" method I use involves Javascript, thus it doesn't work in the RSS feed. To view related posts, please refer to the original article. Thanks!

The "Related posts" method I use involves Javascript, thus it doesn't work in the RSS feed. To view related posts, please refer to the original article. Thanks!

Next week is the final exam of the course I'm giving, Numerical Analysis. Classes finished before Christmas, and this week is for students questions. I had one of these sessions this morning, when a pair of students came with a few questions related to the problems I solved on the blackboard.

All were quick to solve, until one simple question arose, concerning a trivial problem in Calculus 1 (or Analysis 1, as we name it here). The problem is:
The statement is clear, and as a fact, it is something I've known for 9 and a half years, since my first semester of Mathematics. But they were not convinced. And I needed a counterexample for it to remove it. But I was out of ideas: out of the cold I just can't find counterexamples unless I've already thought about that problem before (as a generic property, some times I can do it).

This is something I was already aware, but this morning was a big hit. I kept working during the day on my usual tasks, but on my way to take the train back home I had a few minutes to spare a thought or two while going there. But just took me 1 minute, from my office to the university side door.

Let , then , which satisfies the conditions of the statement, and does not converge.

Anyway, I was not happy with this solution, as it was over our level in our first course. A more basic example not involving series should be easy to get. In the afternoon I had asked a friend the question through GTalk, but he was away, and as we picked it up again he wanted to know if I had some solution to it. I told him that indeed, but I was not happy. He then asked if the partial sums of the harmonic series were not enough (this is another name for my sequence ). As I told him that they were not, he suggested using logarithms. Aha!

Let , then by applying the mean value theorem,

where is a value between and . And , which implies that this sequence also satisfies the conditions and clearly diverges.

In conclusion, I was able to find the counter-examples, but it took me far more time than needed. Is speed that important?

Of course, all great mathematicians I know are able to answer these kind of questions (giving simple counter-examples to trivial questions, or finding trivial models to work on before moving to the big task), but does this come from experience or is just innate?

While thinking about this problem, I remembered a book recommendation I was given a long time ago: Counterexamples in Analysis (buy on Amazon link). I never took the chance to read it... Maybe the time has arrived!

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Last month I did my first 30 day challenge: The 30 Day emacs Challenge. For this first month of a brand new year, I have a different kind of challenge. This month I will meditate daily, for at least 5 minutes.

I know, 5 minutes is really a small amount of time to meditate, but I just set a minimum amount of time. Hopefully, as soon as I am able to do it (meditating is harder than you think, if you have not tried) I'll increase the time until 15-20 minutes daily.

Let's see if I can start the year making this. I have been trying to meditate daily on and off for maybe 5 years, always unable to keep it for longer than one week or two. I will make it this time.

Let's also do a small reader poll. Do you meditate or have tried to do so for any period? If you do, please drop a comment with how often and how many minutes daily.

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During this week you will hear and read a lot about New Year's resolutions. Questions like what do you want to change in your life for the next year and what good habits do you want to build next year are assumed to be always in your mind now. And they should, but not just now.

New Year is only a psychological landmark, and a very bad one. Something like 70% of those good intentions you had while the previous year was ending fade into oblivion before February 1st. Forget about New Year Resolutions.

If you want to do something, do it now. You will be the same person 31st December 23:59 and 1st January 0:00. Ryan Waggoner also made this point very recently, in a post about delaying things for tomorrow and then not doing them. I don't completely agree with him, as I'm a fan of the Do It Tomorrow time management system, but his point should be used for tasks that are just put off until tomorrow, not scheduled for tomorrow.

If you want to start writing your book, the best moment is now. Pick a pen and paper and draft. If you want to quit smoking, throw all your cigarettes. If you want to do more exercise, put your running shoes and start strolling around your neighborhood. If you want to start your own business, decide on what, research the competence. If you want to learn a new language, go buy a teach yourself book for that language. If you really want, do it NOW.

There is no point in delaying things that you want to do until New Year. Start now, and you will begin the year with a real difference in your life, ready to last until 31st December of he coming year.

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Time boxing: you will work like never before

Winning Against Your Reading List

Book review: How to be #1, by Vince Lombardi

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Do you remember when you started blogging? You were out in the darkness. Looking up how to make your own website, finding a cheap hosting, purchasing your very first web address. Just you and your posts, aligned one after the other. And your fears hiding out there, fear of not being read, of sounding stupid, of givig up. Do you remember Pacman?

That was a hard perspective change, wasn't it? Why do you start talking about blogging and then switch to Pacman? Maybe you missed the catchy (I hope) title, but the driving force behind this post is how your post spiting works just like that pill eater game.

Pacman is a good metaphor for blogging. Your posts are those small pills, the ghosts chasing you, your inner fears of not being up to the task. But in Pacman and in blogging there is a holy grail for beating the ghosts/fears: a hit post. I hit mine last March, with 8 Reasons for Re-inventing the Wheel as a Programmer.

You know the feeling, that sense of accomplishement when your stats show an amazing peak, like the lance of a knight ready to kill the dragon and save the princess (or if you like, the mushroom of a plumber ready to kill a turtle and save the princess, but this is another game).

Pacman can show us a lot about blogging, believe it or not. I'll summarise it in four fundamental lessons

1. You can eventually eat the ghosts: if you keep hanging on, you will hit a good post and the fears will start blinking. You have won. This is only a temporary state... But you can get there, and once you have done it, you can do it again. And again and again.

2. Save your big pills for when you need them: there are times when you know you have a terrific idea for a post, but very recently you already had a big hit. Don't rush, and keep an idea incubator to let them grow. When you feel like your fears are lurking behind the next corner, post it and watch them run screaming down the aisle.

3. The game has no end, but you will be getting better on it. Blogging has no end, you just either keep doing it or you stop. If your fears get you, you may give up. But if you don't, you'll keep getting better until you can play effortlessly, and big posts come one after the other.

4. Don't devote your life to the game: in the 70's there were a lot of people addicted to the game (like today with WoW), spending his hours (and money) in front of an arcade machine. Don't treat blogging like this, go out with your friends, read books, play with your pet. In short, have a life aside from blogging. Even, you can use what you 'get' in your life as ideas for posts.

And what about the techno music? Nothing to do with blogging, unless you enjoy writing while listening to it. But if you are anything like me, put some upbeat (link to my Spotify playlist 'upbeat') music and blog as you listen.

Natural Productivity Ebook Review: the ADD Productivity System in Depth

Book Review: The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield (highly recommended book)

Personal Development for Smart People: a Not So Short Review

Luck favours the procrastinator (guest post in The Friendly Anarchist)

Time boxing: you will work like never before

Winning Against Your Reading List

Book review: How to be #1, by Vince Lombardi

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News are breaking all around the soccer world. The young German player (21 years) who shined all over the World Cup (as I already wrote when I saw the first German game) moves to my team, Real Madrid for a transfer fee of 12+3 millions € for a contract length assumed at 5 years. I'm really glad I will be able to see him play for my team, but my nephew will be really upset: he is a Barcelona supporter and wanted him to move to his team.

You can read more in these Spanish soccer newspapers: As.com, Marca.com, Sport.es, ElMundoDeportivo.es.

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A few weeks ago a post I wrote was featured in a podcast. And although I don't like podcasts, as this posts' title suggests, I gave it a try. Although it was an interesting podcast, I remembered why I gave up news reports or technology review podcasts, or even getting audio books.

1. Foreign language: I dare to say that I am pretty fluent in English, at least in the written, read and listened levels. I may have a harder time speaking, mostly because I don't do it that often. But in general, listening to an English podcast demands more of my attention that I really can give. If I'm walking on the street, this is definitely mentally tiring, and it may be harder while I am standing still in a train, as the ambient sound is too loud.

2. Pronunciation: Not all English speakers are made the same... And some accents are so thick that you can't even tell one word from another unless you raise the volume levels up the roof. For audio books this is (usually) not a problem, as speakers tend to be something like a plain English, but personal podcasts can be a mess of different world accents.

3. Time killing: Somehow. I mean, if you are presented with a written version of a 30 minutes podcast, you may read it in around 10. With speed reading techniques, in between 2 and 5 minutes, even. Of course, a podcast is supposed to be listened to while walking, isn't it? And this is time you can give away easily.

3+ Video podcasts: These, for me, are the worse idea someone had. They are OK for some tasks: presentations, classes, courses. All needing images. But what is the point for a lot other uses? In an audio podcast you have the advantage of listening to it while walking or jogging, but a video podcast is just a time sink. Not counting file size, of course.

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Ok, that was all for my personal rant. Now I want you to tell me why I am wrong and podcasts are the best idea since sliced bread. Come on!

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A few days ago we heard some noises coming from the plastic ceiling over the washing machine and tumble drier, and we went to the office upstairs to see what it was. Here is the result, in video format.

The "Related posts" method I use involves Javascript, thus it doesn't work in the RSS feed. To view related posts, please refer to the original article. Thanks!

The "Related posts" method I use involves Javascript, thus it doesn't work in the RSS feed. To view related posts, please refer to the original article. Thanks!

I am not a big soccer fan. If I feel the craving for TV (if I don't need to concentrate, I prefer to have the TV on while doing things) and there is football on, and nothing else I like more, I may watch a half, maybe even the full game.

And now I'm watching what I expected to be a somewhat dull game: Germany-Australia. I just left it because there was nothing better, and I wanted to take a look at Lukas Podolski, who I remembered as quite a good player.

And in just 30 minutes Germany is leading 2-0, with a remarkable playmaking by this player: Mesut Özil.

The wikipedia article confirms my impressions: "He was selected for the Germany 2010 World Cup where is he hotly tipped to be one of the showcases young stars". Indeed, he is running Germany's play. Just as I write this, Miroslav Klose (Germany's striker) crossed a wonderful pass and Özil almost scored with a lovely lob over the Australian keeper... but a defender was able to deflect the ball just one meter before the goal.

He looks very composed, with the kind of second-sight that allows him to find the perfect pass that no-one else (in the field) is able to see. One of those players that look like they have an overview camera.

I'm not the only one thinking high of him: Arsenal (British soccer club) sees him as a long term replacement for his midfielder star Cesc Fábregas (link to MirrorFootball's article) and you can find him in "Young players to watch" section in FIFA's WC2010 website.

Keep an eye on him, promise. Ok, here you are: a video from 8 months ago in HD. It has background music, turn down your speakers.

The "Related posts" method I use involves Javascript, thus it doesn't work in the RSS feed. To view related posts, please refer to the original article. Thanks!