I am an idiot. You may have noticed that for the past three days, Overcaffeinated was AWOL. I forgot to renew the payment on my domain name. You’d think someone who stares at a monitor for 12 hours a day would be on top of these things, but as it turns out, this is one of the many things I’m completely not on top of. Or something to that effect.

Rest assured, the site is still here (I’ll let you know if this thing is ever going down willfully), and I may have some new stuff for you soon.

We apologize for the fault in site continuity. Those responsible have been sacked.

A Møøse once bit my sister …

— sergio at 11:02 PM  

Brain Drain, an almost unheard-of phenomenon in the United States, is a harsh reality for most countries with emerging or subpar economies. The lack of opportunities in Research and Technology fields is alarming.

To me, brain drain used to be just another political buzzword. You read about it in the newspaper, reflect on it and go on to the next subject. Lately, though, it’s become an all-too present reality. Way too many of my high school and College friends have left México for greener pastures and better opportunities. Two are working for Microsoft in Seattle (Or maybe Japan). One is finishing his doctoral thesis in Stanford. Three are in Canada, one working for Bioware, the other two studying masters in Advanced Statistics and Computer Graphics. These are the ones I think of off the top of my head. The ones I was closest with. There are many more, in England, Germany, Switzerland and hell, even in India. The government calls this “the loss of valuable human resources”. To me it’s about losing my friends.

One could rant endlessly about patriotism, loyalty and abstract lines of thought that lead nowhere, but in the end, what are you going to do if you want to design chips, not just oversee their production? if you want to write videogames? if you want to get fair compensation for your work? We have a long way to go as a country, and it seems ludicrous to talk about this when México is #1 in the Child Poverty index according to UNICEF, but this is one area that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to fall behind on.

What about your country? What is the situation like over there? Share.

— sergio at 01:05 PM  

I just shaved my head. Think of it as a pre-emptive strike, anticipating a time when I have to do this by necessity rather than just for kicks. You see: right now, my forehead is split into two fronts, and I have solemnly vowed to shave my head daily if they ever decide to rejoin.

Anyway, an unexpected (and rather startling) discovery I made, is that the back of the head is one of the body’s natural thermostats (the other one I discovered a long time ago while skinny-dipping in a Mountain river down in Puerto Vallarta, but I’ll leave that story for another time). As a result of my new hairdo (or rather, lack thereof), I’m chilly all the freaking time. Being a human popsicle may have a positive effect in my productivity, but we’ll have to wait and see.

I’ll post pictures if I can grab a hold of one of those fancy digital cameras… And mom, if you’re reading this: No, I haven’t joined any cults and No, I’m not on drugs. Ok?

— sergio at 11:14 PM