Manny Moving to San Francisco, To Work For Ning

Manny Moving to San Francisco, To Work For Ning
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

By now, some of you have heard the news.

I will be leaving Full Sail soon. Starting Jan. 15 I will be starting at a new position in the heart of Silicon Valley, surrounded by some true legends of the Web industry, helping others create and develop social networks at Ning.com. Ning is the platform that powers TuDiabetes.com, in case you are unfamiliar with it.

This will make Jan. 4 my last day at Full Sail.

At the same time that I am happy for this new opportunity (and this you can believe to come from the bottom of my heart), part of my heart is sad to leave behind such a great team of people.

I have been in Full Sail since July 2003. This is the longest time I have been in any job in my life (thanks in no small part to the Internet bubble that burst a couple of times in my face!)

I have grown not only in years while at Full Sail: I’ve grown as a manager, I’ve grown my understanding of web products, and most important of all, I’ve grown in friends.

Now, I look forward to working in Ning, helping others accomplish what we have done in TuDiabetes.com and continuing to develop as a professional and a human being.

Today and the days up to Dec. 5, we are in the Bay Area, looking the place (or at least an area where that place will be located) that we will start calling home soon. Any tips are welcome! :)

What Would Jesus Buy? (Trailer)

A must see this season...

Los Numeros de la Diabetes

Finalmente tenemos la version en español del video Diabetes By Numbers, que nos ha dado tantas satisfacciones en TuDiabetes.com.

Felicitaciones a Brett Novak, quien nos ayudo a hacer este video posible durante su pasantia y se graduo la semana pasada de Full Sail y ahora emprende rumbo a Los Angeles, a trabajar junto a los grandes.

Si les gusta la musica, es un trocito de una cancion de Maseratti 2Lts, un excelente duo venezolano de musica lounge (downtempo, chillout o como quieran llamarla).


Encontrar más videos como éste en EsTu Diabetes

How to Set an Out of Office Message in Entourage

How it's done? Don't kill yourself over it: it can't be done... not natively, but it can be "hacked" by using Rules.

Follow the instructions on this PDF so you can let your colleagues that suffer in Entourage hell like you that you will not be in the office in the coming days... :)

Word to the wise: Do not (trust me), DO NOT send yourself a test message from within the actual account you are setting up this rule for. You will go into an endless loop of "Out of Office" replies that you can only stop by disabling the rule. :D

(yeah, you guessed it: I don't love Entourage)

(Maniac) Cyber Monday

Here you go... so you can go crazy with Cyber Monday:

Going To Bed With an Electronic Book

One of the biggest annoyances I have always thought of in terms of electronic books (eBooks, downloadables, etc.) and reading them on a gadget has been: would I go to bed with this book? Would I read it while lying on my pillow?

Last week, thanks to Henkel, I learned about Kindle, Amazon.com's new wireless reading device. Here is an excerpt from the Kindle development team:

We designed Kindle to provide an exceptional reading experience. Thanks to electronic paper, a revolutionary new display technology, reading Kindle’s screen is as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper—and nothing like the strain and glare of a computer screen. Kindle is also easy on the fingertips. It never becomes hot and is designed for ambidextrous use so both "lefties" and "righties" can read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time.

So, are you going to go to bed with Kindle?

TuDiabetes Reaches 1,400 Members!!

Today TuDiabetes.com reached 1,400 members. It's almost unbelievable, but it's happened!

This little collage is a way to pay tribute to every single one of you for making this special family possible.

Here's to the next 1,400 new members who are out there! Remember to invite family, friends and those whom you feel may benefit from the community and, if you have a blog, why not include a cool TuDiabetes badge on it?

CAP 2007

CAP 2007
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Hace cuanto tiempo que no le ven la cara a Carlos Andres Perez? Aqui lo tienen en una foto que me mando un pana, de una visita que unos amigos de el le hicieron a CAP en Republica Dominicana recientemente...

Venezuelan Representative Attacking Journalist

Embarrassing...

Eres!!!

In Spanish "Eres" means "You are it". I have been tagged by my TuDiabetes friends Landileigh (who just turned 45) and Khurt, so here I go, according to the rules:

1. Link to the person's blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

The seven random/weird things:

1) I love writing Amazon.com reviews. The weird thing about it is that I continued doing it for the longest time (started in 2000), although I wasn't getting paid for it in any way, simply out of the gratification I got from sharing my thoughts about music, books, movies and gear I had gotten my hands (ears/eyes?) on. I still don't get paid for it, but now at least I can ask (some) publishers for copies of books I would like to review, so it means I can read my favorite stuff for free without having to go to the library and, at times, before the book gets published.

2) I have never had a pet, other than a few fishes that I knew very little about and ended up seeing die because I was unaware of the fact that you are not supposed to wash out all the water in their aquarium. When I was little, my parents used to say that we would have a dog when we moved to a house. When we ended up living in our first house, we didn't get a pet, so it sort of lost validity as an argument. Today, we have a betta fish (Santiago's fish, called "Chapulin") and I am warming up to the idea of us getting a dog soon. :)

3) I can't believe it took me so long to adopt the Mac OS X at home. I never really was a PC advocate, but I kept telling myself the same stories from the olden days to talk myself out of getting a Mac. Now that we are on a Mac workflow at home, I can't imagine going back.

4) I used to LOVE only pop music back in the day (high school, etc.) I called that period in my life the "dark period" for a while when I had an opposite reaction and stopped listening to pop music cold turkey. I started only listening to prog rock (Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc.) and became the most monotonous person to ride on a car with for a very long time, because I had nothing that most people could relate to among the tapes I carried with me. I am happy I changed my listening habits away from only pop... and later, away from ONLY prog (nowadays I go back to it once in a while). These days, I listen to anything I can.

5) I used to write poetry. Between 1988 and approx. 1998-1999, it was my outlet. Not any more, but I miss it: it was like a faucet getting opened and words would spew out of it like crazy. Those were good times.

6) I learned to scuba dive in 1998 (got the basic and advance PADI certification) because I was afraid of depths. I don't know if I will ever have the courage to jump off a plane with a parachute: I am afraid of the sense of void that such things create.

7) I have made most of my career decisions in the craziest ways:
-I decided to study Electrical Engineering because I read some cool stuff about bioengineering in a catalog from a Canadian University. I later realized I should have studied Systems Engineering but I made some great friends in EE.
-I decided to study my M.Eng. in EE to later discover the internet while I was studying and realized my TRUE passion was the Web. It took me 4 more years to actually dedicate myself entirely to it (starting in 2000).
-I took my first job with Procter & Gamble because I was a "broke" student, I didn't want to live with my parents until I found another opportunity and they offered me a great package. I spent 4 years working at a diaper manufacturing facility, made some great friends in the process and learned what became the foundation of my management experience down the road.
-I made the career move into Web, right at the time that the internet bubble started to explode. I never was out of a job but it sure was a scary 3-4 years until things became more stable. Today, I don't fear change: I know it's part of life.

This is to say that sometimes, the decisions we make, although they may not make much sense always bring something good with them and always lead to great lessons waiting to be learned, great people waiting to be met and new doors waiting to be opened.

So there they are: my seven random things.

I now tag Luis, Rafa , Gilberto , Henkel , Mat , Amy and Rorro .

New Dears Record Goes Into Labor

Just got this message from the Dears Mailing List.


----
Dears:

Sorry to be so out of touch. We've had a bit of a rough year, a bit of a shakedown. Nevertheless, a few months ago, I started to write a bunch of songs in my basement. On really good days, I would listen back to to the tunes with my daughter falling asleep in my arms. The process resulted about 15 or so tunes that have reached various stages of development. And I think more are still coming in. In order to continue the process, we had to load up the car with gear and move into an actual studio. An extremely creative vibe exists there with killer engineers/ gear and we've already had some amazing contributions from people like the reunited Brebeuf Brass (check your NCL liner notes), and Roberto Arquilla (that name would be in your H'wood liner notes). Krief has been melting our faces consistently and George has been pummelling in our brains with every performance.

I also somehow managed to convince Benvie to come back and do stuff with us. Don't know how long he'll stick around but it's been really fun and he has contributed massively, everything from Nick Rhodes synth lines to tasteful guitar riffs to beating toms in the hallway.

Of course, our resident blog star matriarch and my loving wife Natalia has been holding it down at the baby grand piano and taking care of me. She's taking a lead vocal on this record which is long overdue. I played some banjo and twelve string electric and damn near made a fool out of myself. But I did it to really try and reach out to my honky brothers and sisters because deep down, I love them so.

Thus, a new Dears record has gone into labour.

And how can I possibly describe to you what is coming out of the speakers? Or more importantly, does anyone care? It's all a bit messy right now. But it sounds like a battle in the trenches, on the ground, hand to hand. It's bloody and brutal. It's the most honest yet. And hopefully that will mean something to you. And to the ones who don't care about anything. Actually, especially. No drama. Really.

Anyway so far, there are some subtle references to dub, grunge, country-funk with a direct nod to -- a virtual rip off of -- Sly and the Family Stone's Riot record, and some motown meets blues-metal. Or something like that. One thing it ain't is indie rock. Mostly we've reached the stage where we're referring to our past to the point where it could only sound like The Dears. After all, this is our fourth album. Not even Morrissey can sound like Morrissey after four records.... Anyway, I don't really know what else to say except that I am really enjoying working on this thing. Even if I only get to sleep part of the time. And one can't assume what label or labels will actually put it out, where and when. That's some foggy shit right there that's actually quite liberating.

Oh and we're really trying to nail down a proper choir....

In other news, Krief is working on record at the same time with his band that also includes George. I've only heard bits and pieces but it's going to be killer. He's ridiculously prolific. The guy is working like a bastard and for that I must publicly give props.

Later,
Murray

Why don't you shut up? ringtone, a smash hit

How would we explain something like this to anyone outside of this world or outside of this moment in history?

Not sure, but in the meantime I am going to get my Anti-Chavez ringtone.

How About A Fine Art Print For Christmas?

Maybe you are starting to scratch your head over what to get your friends and family for Christmas. Here is an idea!

How about a Fine Art Print? Andreina offers signed and numbered pieces like the one above (titled "gReen fIne aRt pRint", selling for $35), printed with a precise level of color representation from high-resolution digital files on your choice of museum quality media options.

Not because she is my wife, but I think there's a good chance that your loved ones may enjoy having one of her limited fine prints hanging on a special wall in their homes.

Check them out: see for yourself! Chances are you may want for your own place. ;)

Fundraiser For Diabetes at Full Sail, a Success!

Diabetic Panda
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

We held a silent auction with 40+ beautiful pieces of art in Full Sail to raise funds for JDRF. We raised over $3,000!!!

We also helped lots of people with diabetes who came by to connect with others. If you are touched by diabetes, don't hesitate and join TuDiabetes.com

View a slideshow of moments from the event:


Find more photos like this on Tu Diabetes - A Community for People Touched by Diabetes

One Year of Using Basecamp

My friend Gustavito brought Basecamp to our lives a year ago. Today, I can't imagine managing web projects without it.

I want to share with you a fun video he did showcasing the power of messaging through Basecamp. We exploited the tool as much as it would let us, to stay on the same page with designers, developers, project managers and representatives from several different departments throughout the school, as we made Full Sail Online a reality this past October.

Diabetes Awareness Video: 'Word in your hand'

Here it is: the final video for the "Word In Your Hand" project.

The video pulled from over 120 photos that were submitted between August and November, 2007.

Thanks to EVERYONE who contributed to this project!!

Music by Albert Chen.

Video edited by Luis Garcia.

Why Make Things Easy?

... when they can be complicated? :)

MacBook Running Leopard

Well, I did the unthinkable: went crazy, lost my mind... I ran the upgrade to Leopard overnight, without babysitting it! And it worked! When I woke up this morning my MacBook was sporting a brand new Operating System and asking me for 2 simple screens worth of confirmation information (one for Registration and one for .Mac -so it wasn't even for setup purposes).

Apple did it again: everything is in its place and running like a charm.

¿Por qué no te callas?

En la Cumbre Iberoamericana, el Rey Juan Carlos le dijo a Chavez "¿Por qué no te callas?" vean el video...

Luis Herrera-Campins Murio

Se murio Luis Herrera... Estos son los momentos en que uno se siente viejo. I mean... el hombre tenia 82 años, cuando murio hoy, pero parece que fue ayer que fue presidente.

Que recuerdan en particular de su periodo presidencial? Yo no olvido el "Viernes Negro"!

Paz a sus restos.

Web Design for ROI: Great Book!

A few days ago I finished reading Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads, a great book by Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus, from Closed Loop Marketing.

I had seen Lance talk at SES 2004 in Chicago and was super-impressed with his command of the topic, so I was super-happy to learn he had compiled his knowledge about the topic of ROI and Web Design into a book.

The guidelines offered by the book are intelligently broken down into: Landing Pages, Home Pages, Category Pages, Detail Pages, Forms and Checkout Process. The ordering is not casual as it is tied to the importance they have in the process of converting visitors.

Each chapter is analyzed from the standpoint of the goals for that particular section of the web site, the goals and questions a typical visitor has when visiting it, the metrics that should be tied to the section along with its unique issues and a few guidelines and examples to wrap it all up.

No matter your role: if you are involved in the decision making process surrounding a web site, you need to get a copy of this book.

Andreina Won Prize at Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts

The happy winner!!!
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Andreina took home the 3rd place in the Mixed Media category of the Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts, which started today and goes on until tomorrow, Sunday at 5 pm.

We had the great company of Edgard and Loly late in the day (and Camila and Riley earlier): it meant a lot for us! We are super-happy: this is her first outdoors art festival!!

Check out a slideshow with photos of the booth setup and moments throughout the day.

If you cannot make it tomorrow, you can always visit Evolve Art Studio (Andreina's web site), through which you can check out her work and order some originals and a number of limited edition fine prints.

Why Am I So Excited about Open Social?

Yesterday we all learned about the great Open Social news. Like many other network creators in Ning.com I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched the screencast where the concept was explained in easy-to-digest terms (also, I thought that seeing TuDiabetes.com on it was pretty cool, as you might understand).

You may wonder why I am so excited about Open Social and why I think it is a revolutionary step for Social Networking.

A while back I read an excellent book called Smart Start-Ups, by David Silver. There was a part in it that stuck with me:
"Each of us will belong to between 12 and 24 online and/or mobile communities by 2010, and our power to do good things and disrupt old industries will be unique and radiant." Sounds crazy?

Over the course of the past 2-3 years, social media have exploded. Last time I checked (back in June) I was a member of approx. 13 different online communities (I am sure that number pales by comparison to the number of communities I visit nowadays). When you put that in context, it means you have that many accounts and, technically (up to the advent of Open Social) that many sites to visit, if you wanted to stay in touch with your connections/friends/etc. from those sites.

Not any more... well, not any more, as soon as the gadgets for it are developed over the coming weeks and months. Here is a scenario, which I will run using TuDiabetes.com as an example, if you will indulge me.

I visit TuDiabetes.com several times per day: as someone with diabetes, I am interested in staying in touch with other folks that share my condition. But I have a life (Yes, I DO!! Believe me!!) besides diabetes: I read, I love music, I am a sucker for web design and developments in terms of web products, etc. We all have multiple angles to our lives and to wet our appetites for information and stay in touch with distant folks who share our interests or form a part of our lives (current or past), we resort to the web.

Now, fast forwarding a few months (the initiative is now in beta still and launched a couple of days ago), I can go to my TuDiabetes.com profile page and:
-Check on the value of my investment portfolio (and cry... or not), courtesy of a portfolio gadget developed by someone with a Wall Street state of mind.
-Make sure the weather is going to be nice for my wife's art show this weekend (thank goodness, it will be!) through the Weather gadget that the folks over at Weather.com launched within days of learning about Open Social.
-I test my blood sugar and register the reading through the SugarStats.com gadget (that one should be coming up soon)
-I play back a couple of my favorite songs from within my profile page -incidentally, I can do that today with the Songs iLike gadget.

All this has happened without me leaving My Profile page. Get the picture? One-stop destinations (your favorite one, whether it is TuDiabetes.com, another Ning.com network or any other social media) to get (most of) your information needs served... most convenient and most powerful, in my opinion.

What do YOU think?

Halloween 2007 at Full Sail

My two favorite pics from yesterday's Halloween's festivities at Full Sail (click on them to view the slideshow):





A video of the winning pumpkin, carved by the Computer Animation department:

Social Networks: What Lies Ahead

Yesterday, Marc Andreessen posted on his blog about Google's Open Social initiative, a very high impact next step for Social Networks of which Ning.com (the platform that TuDiabetes.com runs on) will be a big part of.

Read about this transformational change.

Also, you can watch this great video, which was even picked up by CNNMoney today:

Find more screencasts like this on Ning Network Creators