Sunday, June 9, 2013

The event: The Puerto Rico Tech Summit, June 6... - Forbes

How Puerto Rico Will Hack its Way to the Global Future

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@giorodriguez:  Yes, hacking is about technology.  But it’s more about attitude
Neo.com's Evan Henshaw-Plath chats with hackers
On a day when Puerto Ricans all over the world are tuning in to a parade (it’s getting harder and harder to avoid the coverage) — and on a week that the rest of the world is preoccupied with government encroachment on citizen data — it’s right that we take time to reflect on an event that took place in San Juan this Thursday, where government leaders, business leaders, and the technology community came together to illustrate the power of data when it is placed in the hands of citizens.
The event:  The Puerto Rico Tech Summit, June 6, at the San Juan Convention Center, where more than 900 people gathered not to just talk but to act upon Puerto Rico’s future.  For the highlight of the event — beyond an impressive panel of speakers – was an all-day hackathon, running concurrently with the “main” event, leveraging a big first for Puerto Rico:  the open sharing of 10 different sets of data from Puerto Rican government and quasi-government (businesses that serve the Puerto Rican public) entities.
Giancarlo Gonzalez
The hackathon, potentially, is history-making.  And it’s the brainchild of collaboration between private citizens (including Puerto Rican techie/entrepreneurs J. Ramphis Castro and Ricardo Burgos) and a government leader (Giancarlo Gonzalez, CIO and Advisor to the Government of Puerto Rico).  The collaboration itself is a microcosm of the ecosystem on display at the event, the fusion of two worlds that need to come together in Puerto Rico, said Gonzalez.  And together they did on Thursday.  At the end of the day, 31 teams presented working concepts for applications using police data, geographical data, power outages, etc.
The design of the conference was meant to fix a persistent challenge for the government sector.
“When you limit a government conference to talk, you don’t see any execution,” said Gonzalez. “The hackathon is probably the most disruptive thing we did.  What better way is there to show that government is executing than to throw back the challenges to our tech community and work with them.”
I was in Puerto Rico exactly one week before the Tech Summit at a conference for the Puerto Rican diaspora.  The innovation there was an interactive format known as “open space” — another first for Puerto Rico — and one of the big themes was the emergence of “hacker culture” and its role in the reconstruction of the Puerto Rican economy, its infrastructure, and potentially its brand.
I like the concept of hacker culture for at least three reasons.  First, as Gonzalez shared with me over the weekend, technology as an accelerator for processes represents a big shift.  “The main goal is to speed up processes to serve citizens, businesses, and government-to-government interaction.”  It’s about Puerto Rico evolving to become more viable in an increasingly competitive global economy, and opening up data to developers might help Puerto Rico get there faster.  Gonzalez also defended the ROI on open data projects.  A number of recent studies have shown that open data can deliver a significant rate of return on investment either through reduced costs in government services or incremental revenue.
Second, Puerto Rican hacker culture could have an aggregate effect of creating a new regional hub for Puerto Rico.  That’s in fact the vision that Burgos and others have for Puerto Rico, a Silicon Valley for the Americas (my term, not his) that can make Puerto Rico not just viable, but a force in the region.  Other Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile) are thinking this way, too.  But there’s no reason to think that several hubs can’t emerge at once.
all together now
Finally, there’s an important point we need to make about the word “hacker.”  Yes, for most people, the word connotes tech.  But in a larger sense — e.g., when we say hacker culture — it’s more about attitude.  It’s about getting things done, and quickly.  It’s about engaging many people to work, on many different things.  It’s about working iteratively, in small discrete pieces, understanding that you can’t fix the future all at once.  And most of all it’s about believing, at a time when disbelief dominates most conversation.
“In the end, the opportunity is to get people to see the new business rules and see how the rules can get us beyond the 100 by 35,” said Gonzalez, referring to the dimensions of the island (100 by 35 miles) that Puerto Ricans often cite in discussions Puerto Rico’s role on the global stage.  It’s a cultural challenge, Gonzalez admits.  But there are ways — like hackathons — to show that the rules work.

Thousands in Puerto Rican Parade NY

Thousands in Puerto Rican Parade NY - Speaker of Puerto Rico

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Thousands in Puerto Rican Parade NY

June 9, 2013 - News , Family , - AP
Participants in the festive event, que is Characterized by floats, costumes and music, celebrities and politicians are.

La tradición del desfile comenzó a principios de la década de 1950...


Ponce News · 7,203 like this
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The governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, participated today in the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade with President of the House of Representatives, Jaime Perello...

The Governor walks Puerto Rican Parade Route New York

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He was accompanied by the President of the House of Representatives, Jaime Perello
The governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, participated today in the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade with President of the House of Representatives, Jaime Perello, like other lawmakers.
The Governor walked the parade route which takes place along 5th Avenue and brings hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans. A total of 21 mayors, 12 penepés popular nine confirmed their participation in the parade. The event brings together more Puerto Ricans in the world, has this year as quarterback of the famous artist and actor Chita Rivera like godfather Gil Julian internationally.
After his first official participation in the parade as governor, García Padilla will travel to Washington DC to serve a full agenda of meetings with senior officials of President Barack Obama.

PUerto Rican Parade 2013 - YouTube

PUerto Rican Parade 2013 - YouTube

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Video: San Sebastian and some local 'street dancing'

Published on Jun 9, 2013

PR Videos - Review

Hispanic New York: For *Puerto Ricans*, a Parade of Questions

via puerto rican community in usa - Google Blog Search by Claudio Iván Remeseira on 6/8/13
Read m... For Puerto Ricans, a Parade of Questions. A New York staple since 1958, the Puerto Rican Day Parade has recently come under increased scrutiny over spending and motives. Read more ... Latino Music Festival ...

Reuters on Puerto Rican statehood


 
 
 

  • Puerto Ricans to vote on US territorial status
  • ... over the island's status has long dominated politics in Puerto Rico, where political parties are formed around the preference for statehood, independence or ...
  • Sun Nov 4, 2012 11:13am EST

Political Status of Puerto Rico - Blogs

Miles de personas en parada puertorriqueña de Nueva York | More than 2 million people will take part of the Puerto Rican Day Parade...

» Miles de personas en parada puertorriqueña de Nueva York
09/06/13 10:28 from Primera Hora : Noticias
Entre los participantes del evento festivo figuran políticos y celebridades. 


via Caribnews's Facebook Wall by Caribnews on 6/9/13

TODAY: More than 2 million people will take part of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York


Puerto Rican Flags Wave To New York's Parade-Goers : NPR
www.npr.org
In terms of Puerto Rican Day parades, New York City's event still takes the cake with its millions of parade watchers. Despite a steady population drop, the city is still home to the largest Puerto Rican...


Tips on Understanding Puerto Rican Spanish

» Tips on Understanding Puerto Rican Spanish | Travel and Escape
09/06/13 11:00 from puerto rico - Google Blog Search
The Spanish you learned in school may trip you up when travelling to Puerto Rico . Make sure you read these tips on understanding and pronouncing Puerto Rican Spanish before you go!


Tips on Understanding Puerto Rican Spanish

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Just like any other Spanish-speaking country, Puerto Ricans speak a unique version of Spanish, all their own. While most Puerto Ricans will have no trouble understanding the textbook Spanish you learned in school, you may struggle a bit when attempting to understand the locals. Here are a few tips on how to understand Puerto Rican Spanish.
Watch out for the dropped “d”
Puerto Ricans tend to skip over the letter “d” in many words, most notably in words that end in “ado.” For example, the word for tired, cansado, might sound more like “cansao” in Puerto Rico. The meaning and spelling are the same, but the pronunciation is just different enough to trip up many travellers on their first trip to the island.
The “r” sound may be replace with the Spanish “j” sound
Once again, Puerto Ricans alter the pronunciation just slightly, but enough to confuse anyone who might not be accustomed to the Puerto Rican accent. You will often hear Puerto Ricans referring to the “cajo,” (pronounced “kah-ho”) which is actually referring to the carro, or car.
English words may be turned into Spanish verbs
If you hear a verb you have never encountered before that sounds remarkably close to an English word, it is most likely based on an English word. Puerto Ricans are a bit infamous for their Spanglish, but they take it a step past incorporating English words into Spanish sentences – they actually morph English words into Spanish ones. Let’s take a look at the word “hang” as in “to hang out.” While the grammatically correct way to say “hang out” in Spanish is pasar tiempo, Puerto Ricans are more likely to say janguear (pronounced “hang-gay-ar”). Similarly, the word friquear (pronounced “free-kay-ar”) means “to freak out.”
Puerto Rican Spanish is truly a Spanish all its own, but once you get used to it, you’ll have as much fun learning the local lingo as the locals will having teaching it to you.
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Leno: ‘We Wanted a President That Listens to All Americans - Now We Have One’

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