Short Bio

Ramiro was born in Puerto Natales, in the Chilean Patagonia. Oldest of five brothers and sisters, he developed a strong interest in Science and later Technology from a very early age.

He studied Computer Engineering at the University of Santiago, and has been active in the field since 1987. Eventually, his experience and passion for his work opened up opportunities in the Silicon Valley in California, and he was invited to relocate to the United States in 2000, where he now lives with his wife Kimberly and their two Siamese cats Josh and Calvin.

Ramiro enjoys driving around, and discover small towns and hidden places in Northern California, but he is always happy to go back to Mill Valley, a place of inspiration that he can call home.

Areas of Interest

Politics

Since he officially became a US citizen in 2007, Ramiro has been very interested in domestic politics with a point of view that many consider to be “all over the board”, liberal in social issues, moderate in economic issues, and libertarian on virtually everything else.

Some of these views will be reflected on this site, although they’ll be mostly confined to the Politics tag.

Photography

He also developed a strong interest in Photography about 10 years ago, shooting both, digital and film systems. He currently maintains Salas Arts, a separate web site with most of his work. In the Photography section of this site he’ll discuss more opinions, equipment and techniques on this art.

Food and Cooking

As someone who has traveled to close to 30 countries, Ramiro has had the chance to experience the wonders of food and cooking in different cultures. He became a foodie during this process, but only in the last few years he decided to make serious incursions into cooking.

As a perfectionist, he went for the best in techniques, knowledge, equipment and ingredients. He is a big fan of the Modernist Cuisine and styles that reflect both, art and science. Much of this site is dedicated to his recipes and experiments in the kitchen.

Atheism and Critical Thinking

Ramiro was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness until age 18 when he send a resignation letter to his congregation in Chile, citing strong differences of opinion when he was told “not to think” about a number of burning questions such as life in other planets or the sheer size of the Universe.

Since then, he spent most of his twenties and early thirties “searching” for answers in different spiritual movements, from Eastern philosophies to cults. At some point he became relatively famous as a speaker, lecturer and group organizer throughout Latin America for an organization that tried to reconcile science and spirituality, which  in his opinion, failed to truly achieve this goal and became just another hodgepodge of pseudoscience.

He finally embraced his first love: real Science, and opened his mind to live his life with uncertainty —not always the easy path. This path invariably lead him to become an atheist, a word he is no longer fearful of but rather proud of. This transformation has been the most freeing experience of his life. Without the intention of trying to convert anybody, he’s always happy to share his thoughts and ideas on this subject.