Noticia de un secuestro, Gabriel García Márquez, reseña

Noticia de un secuestro, obra del Novel de Literatura colombiano Gabriel García Márquez, relata la historia del secuestro de Maruja Pachón y Beatriz Villamizar, ordenado por Pablo Escobar a través del grupo Los Extraditables en 1990. La finalidad de este secuestro (y otros más a periodistas, políticos y personalidades) fue presionar al gobierno del Presidente César Gaviria para no aprobar la ley de extradición de nacionales colombianos.

El libro incluye el relato de los secuestros de otros personajes como Francisco Santos (último en ser liberado), Diana Turbay (muerta durante un operativo de rescate de la policía) y Marina Montoya (ejecutada como represalia), pero el eje central es la historia de Maruja.

Concluye con la entrega de Pablo Escobar con la mediación del Padre Rafael García Herreros y Alberto Villamizar, esposo de Maruja, quien luchó por su liberación inicialmente y luego llegó a luchar por la paz de Colombia. Pablo Escobar y sus secuaces fueron encarcelados en la Cárcel de la Catedral, hecha especialmente para Escobar.

La obra cuenta una historia de la vida real, similar a un reportaje.

10 facts about infidelity

Are you being tracked? A TED Fellow on how law enforcement follows your movements, and why you should care

Four outstanding TED Talks

The four most outstanding, interesting TED Talks I’ve seen are:

1. Manu Prakash: A 50-cent microscope that folds like origami
2. Michael Pritchard: How to make filthy water drinkable
3. Joe Landolina: This gel can make you stop bleeding instantly
4. Jack Andraka: A promising test for pancreatic cancer … from a teenager

MOOC’s I’ve taken

Since 2013, I’ve taken the following Massive Open Online Courses from Udacity, MIT OpenCourseWare and Open2Study:

1. Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, from MIT OpenCourseWare
2. Mobile Robotics, from Open2Study
3. Software Development Processes, from Udacity
4. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, from Udacity

Isa and May, by Margaret Forster (review)

Isa and May, by Margaret Forster, is a book about  a young women called Isamay, named after her two grandmothers.

Isamay is writing her dissertattion to get her MA in Women’s Studies degree. The topic of her research is the relations and influence between grandmothers, mothers and daughters, if any.

Isabel, her father’s James mother, and May, her mother’s Jean mother, have secrets from their past and Isamay is very curious about them.

Ian, Isamay’s partner, is a Scottish who doesn’t like the concept of family, and is always hiding his past. Isamay is also very curious about this, and feels entitled to know more when she gets pregnant. Ianm however, wants Isamay to do a termination.

In the end, Isamay discovers Isabel is not her father’s mother, that her real father’s mother was his grandfather secretary, who died giving birth to James, and Isabel adopted him as her own son. Also, Isamay gets to meet Ian’s mother, who is asking her son to get a DNA test to confirm his father is a recently dead rich man so he can receive the legacy and become rich.

Finally, Isamay gives birth to a baby and Ian seems to start feeling some love for it.

In my opinion, the book is too long for a short story. I mean, it talks a lot but says so little.

The Independent’s review for the same book can be found here.

Also, Margaret Forster talks with The Interview Online about this book.

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The math of love, from a TEDx speaker who loves math

How Star Trek will finally come true

5 teenage cancer innovators