Made to Stick: Sticky Concepts, From Cover to Cover!

The Heath brothers present us with an amazing title that automatically becomes an essential part of the toolkit of any marketer or anyone seeking to influence others. Complementing very nicely the concepts introduced a while back by Gladwell in "The Tipping Point", this title offers the reader a very easy-to-follow framework to help in the creation of sticky ideas.

Each chapter focuses on one of the six dimensions of the framework (SIMPLE, UNEXPECTED, CONCRETE, CREDIBLE, EMOTIONAL and STORIES) which you can easily remember through the acronym SUCCESs. They spice up each element with examples to illustrate the points they make, building up on the concepts covered earlier on and periodically inserting what they call clinics, which are great stopping points to see the new material put in practice.

The end-result is a sticky book that you will devour in no time (as powerful of a methodology they present, they don't take too long to do it -thus applying their own method, making the content CONCRETE). It will also be a book that you will find yourself applying instantly to whatever idea you want to influence others about, whether you are presenting in person to an audience of investors or to over the TV in the form of a commercial.

Make sure to get your copy of "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" -you will thank me for it!

And if you already read the book and you want more stuff from "Made To Stick", make sure to visit the authors' blog at http://www.madetostick.com/blog/.

RIAA's Latest (Crazy) Move

This time, I have to say I am very surprised...

"... in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer."

You can read the rest of the article and be amazed too.

Am I the only one who thinks this is outright crazy?

Gmail Chat integrates with AIM

I couldn't believe it today when I read it on the Google Friends Newsletter, but it's true:

"Gmail users can now log into your AIM account within Gmail and chat
with your AIM buddies just as you do with your Gmail chat buddies -
all with no download required. All your favorite Gmail chat features
(chat history, "always show", smart-sort based on communication
frequency, buddy photos, and status messages) work the same."

Enjoy! :)

Ning: Your Own Social Network For Anything

This gorgeous screencast pretty much sums up with Ning is all about. You see where my excitement comes from? 8 days until we are in Palo Alto!

7 Años Juntos

Navidad 2007
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Hoy es nuestro aniversario, Andre.

Hoy cumplimos 7 años desde aquel 29 de Diciembre del 2000, en que nos casamos en Mérida. Que tiempo más maravilloso.

Juntos hemos pasado todo, lo difícil y los miles de ratos felices: las buenas noticias y las no tan buenas. Y es que contigo a mi lado es que concibo la vida digna de ser vivida.

Te amo hoy más que ayer y no tanto como mañana.

Siempre tuyo,

Moving Company, Not Truck

Amigos:
The scenario keeps shifting but it's for good. We found a really good quote with United Van Lines (gotta thank one of the Ning-ites for the tip!) and we are going to move with them.

They are picking up our stuff next Friday (Jan. 4 -yes, the same date of my last day at Full Sail). We will be flying out to SFO on Monday, Jan. 7.

In the meantime, again if you know of anybody who may be interested in either buying our house ($265,000 2,084 SF home near UCF, 3/2/2 with den: corner lot, gated community) or starting a new lease for our current car (Toyota Matrix XR 2006), please let me know.

Best Music of 2007

In 2007 there were LOTS of great material to discover and listen. Starting with Radiohead at the top of the list, there were many other great albums released!

Underworld came back. The National published their best album to date (and perhaps so did The New Pornographers). Tori Amos came back with a great album and so did Trent Reznor. In sum, another 2005! :)

Here is my Best Music of 2007 list to date.

Recommended Books for Community Builders in 2008

These are some VERY useful books I have read as I have worked on the development of TuDiabetes.com and EsTuDiabetes.com since early 2007.

Happy Holidays and a SUPERB 2008 to all of you!!

Apple Christmas Ad

The Driving Adventure...

Finally, we've decided to do the move ourselves, driving a Penske truck instead of hiring a moving company. This will be the true moving adventure! :)

Departure date: January , 2008...

One Last Attempt at the Moving Sale Thing!

Oval-shaped Wood Dining Table with 6 Chairs: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/516744305.html

Oak Wood Chair with Satin Fabric Seat and Back: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/504175544.html

Cedar Coffee Table (1) and Sidetable (1) with Glass Tops: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/504181886.html

Mirror with Cedar Frame and Matching Wall-side Table with Mirror: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/504230728.html

White Pier 1 Kids Bed (and Mattress) and Blue Nightstand: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/516740988.html

Bedroom set with 5-drawer chest and 2-drawer nightstand: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/510433138.html

Large, Beige Filing Cabinet: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/504226469.html

Green wood children play table: http://orlando.craigslist.org/fur/508942301.html

Selling House, Ending Car Lease

SELLING HOUSE
In preparation for the move to San Francisco, we put our house on the market today. The timing is not great, but quite honestly, it's a great-looking place and we've put in a lot of nice details since 2004 when we first moved in.

Here is the MLS listing:
http://mfr.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=314952483&s=MFR&t=MFR

ENDING CAR LEASE
Also, since we have a lease for our vehicle (not the smartest thing, I know!) and spending $1,000 moving a car you don't own is not too smart either, we are trying to end the lease using a service called SwapaLease.com. Whoever wants it wouldn't pick up our lease but rather start a brand new one (with good credit, as low as $275 a month).

Here is the listing:
http://www.swapalease.com/VehicleSearch/VehicleDtlL.asp?VehicleID=386899

If you are interested in either one, PLEASE contact me. If you know of anybody who could be interested, please pass this along.

Full Sail 2007 Holiday Party

With Hunter, Pat and Jay (Dan in the back)
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

We had a blast last night at the Holiday Party.

Check out the photos we took.

I had a chance to share with many of the great friends we've made in Full Sail over the course of the past (almost) five years. It was a great way to start saying goodbye.

Also, don't miss this amazing Chocolate Fountain that was up. In case you are wondering: no, I didn't indulge! :S

Moving Sale, Sunday 9 - Noon

If you can help pass the word along to other folks in the Orlando area, it would be appreciated.

Due to our move, we are still selling some furniture, household items and kids stuff.

Check out what has to go:
http://orlando.craigslist.org/gms/510455999.html

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

The coolest lip dub I've seen in some time... :)


Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

Moving Sale: Our Stuff - Everything Has To Go!

Besides the things that my mom is selling, here are the items we are getting rid of. In general, we have many great items for young folks and people with young children, all of which are in great shape:

-Scandinavian Style Wood Dining Room Set w/6 Chairs and Extensions - $80

-Full Size Wood Futon with 2 covers - $200

-SpinMaster Bouncer for Children - $70

-Kiddy Guard - One Step Ahead baby gate - $50

-Bedroom Set with 5-drawer chest and 2-drawer nightstand - $35

-Children play table (used to be a coffee table) painted in fun green: $20

-Portable JVC CD/Tape deck: $10

-Folding chairs (no arm rest), 2 blue and 2 red: $4 each

More to come:
-Second futon (metal)/bunk bed: $130
-Wood side tables (two drawers): $55 each

Plus there's quite a few toys that gotta go too!!


If you are looking for something that you don't see listed here, just leave a comment here or email me.

Lo Que Paso en el Cuartel General del SI

"Ahora, por culpa de ustedes me tengo que ir en el 2013..." - un clasico.

Led Zeppelin Plays Together Again

"Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham."

Details

Moving Sale: Reduced Items!!!

My mom will also be moving to the Bay Area (not now, but soon) so she asked me to list her items, while I am still in Orlando.

Here are the Craigslist listing for all she is selling at the moment
-Oak Wood Chair with Satin Fabric Seat and Back - $25

-Cedar Coffee Table ($45) and Sidetable ($35) with Glass Tops - $80 (if purchased together)

-Black Sofa Bed - $150

-1 Large, Beige Filing Cabinet - $45

-Mirror with Cedar Frame and Matching Wall-side Table with Mirror - $120

Photos from the new place

For the friends, to enjoy with us:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/askmanny/tags/paloaltohome/

Relocating to Palo Alto?

Since I had to go through some research and asking around myself, I figured it would be useful to others in the future to share the resources I used to find a place for your family in Palo Alto (or the San Francisco Bay Area at large), get to and from work and, assuming you have kids, factor in the school district in your decision.

HOUSING
Unless you have a TON of money sitting in the bank, chances are you will be renting first. Rent in the Bay Area is very expensive, but it is not impossible to find reasonable deals.

Everyone will tell you the best resource you can use is Craigslist and they are right. However, there are other resources that complement it very nicely:
-Housing Maps: a very nice mashup combining Craigslist data with Google Maps. If the Craigslist listing does not contain the exact address it will not show up on Housing Maps, though.
-Google Base Housing: This is a beta product from Google that sort of looks to emulate what Housing Maps does but based on Google's own data (indexing others sites or based on listings people post on Google Base). Not as complete as Craigslist, but worth using too.
-ApartmentRentHunterz: In spite of its name, this site focuses not only on apartments. It covers all of California.
-SF Gate: The online home of the San Francisco Chronicle is another great resource. Listings outside of San Francisco will be limited, though.
-CitiApartments: This is a good resource if you want to live in San Francisco. You can commute using the 101 (tons of traffic, but up to you) or CalTrain.
-Metro Rent: Another good resource if you want to live in San Fran. The main annoyance it has is it requires registration in order to show you the most important information.

TRANSPORTATION
If you plan on commuting to/from Palo Alto, besides Caltrain, these resources main come in handy:
-BART: Bay Area Rapid Transit District, or the subway if you prefer. Too bad it doesn't go all the way to Palo Alto, but it stretches well around the bay.
-Muni: San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency, which manages the buses, trolleys, etc. inside the city.
-Besides public transportation, if you live relatively close to your work, Palo Alto is very safe to walk or bike.

EDUCATION
If you have children, you will want to look into schools too before you choose where to move.

For starters (credit to Andreina for this one), check out Great Schools. It will tell you all you want to know about all schools in the area you are looking into.

Other useful resources for Palo Alto education are:
-Palo Alto Daycare & Preschools: this is a listing from SanFrancisco.com -one of the most comprehensive lists I found during my preliminary searches.
-Palo Alto Unified School District: all public schools in the Palo Alto area are listed here.

There you have it. Hope this list of resources is useful if you are planning to move to Palo Alto. If you have any additional advice, please share it in the comments.

Venezuelan Coffee and New Home in Palo Alto

New home - front
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

It's a great coincidence... I had to come THIS far to be close once more to my beloved true Venezuelan coffee.

I just got word from a friend of Andreina from school that there is an authentic Venezuelan coffee place within 2 blocks of Ning. It's called Coupa Cafe and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow, in our last day before we head back to Orlando.

We may swing by after we drop off Mr. Ciro (my father-in-law) at the airport (he flies out a day before), on our way to San Jose to sign the contract for the lease of our new place... you heard well. We found a place and we love it! It is within biking distance of Ning.

Here is a picture of the front.

Chavez Lost, The World Won!

Confirmed by Reuters and BBC:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has narrowly lost a referendum on controversial constitutional changes.

Voters rejected the sweeping reforms by a margin of 51% to 49%, the chief of the National Electoral Council said. (BBC News)

CNN announced the breaking news:
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez accepts narrow loss in vote that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely.

I am VERY happy with the results. Otherwise, it would have validated some very dangerous things which would have allowed him to stay in office "forever," formally having complete control of things in Venezuela, beyond what makes any sense in a democracy.