People-Powered Customer Service: Brilliant!

When I got a reply from Twitter about a complaint over a Twitter spammer I sent them, I noticed that they sent me a link to a site hosted outside of Twitter, with a reference about a new measure they'd put in place to limit spam activity.

As important as the information was, the platform that it resided in was even more interesting: GetSatisfaction.com.

Though it still seems to be in its infancy, I found the site fascinating: in a nutshell companies resorting to this platform are resorting to the knowledge of the masses to offer free or close-to-free (since employees of the companies at times reply too) customer service. Brilliant!

This image summarizes what they do:

Goofy meets Peter Pan and The Beast

According to a survey I learned about thanks to my buddy Sara, I am equal parts Peter Pan, The Beast and Goofy:

Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Goofy Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You arn't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things. Peter Pan 56% The Beast 56% Goofy 56% Donald Duck 50% Sleeping Beauty 50% Ariel 50% Pinocchio 44% Snow White 38% Cinderella 31% Cruella De Ville 13%

At the OneTouch booth in CWD

Manny - Word in Your Hand
Originally uploaded by saraknic

Sara got this picture of me by the OneTouch booth. I thought it looked better than the ones I took with my dingy BBerry (nothing against you, little gadget!) so I decided to share it here.

La Torre de Arepas

Me lo mando un pana... Autoctono hasta mas no poder.

New and Old Friends @ Friends for Life in Orlando

We have met with lots of TuDiabetes folks and met some great new friends @ CWD's Friends for Life conference here in Orlando. It's been great! Enjoy some of the pics.

Please vote for the "Drawing Diabetes" video

Please vote for the "Drawing Diabetes" video on Current.TV: we are top contenders for the chance to get the video aired!!

Drawing Diabetes Video: Diabetes Through the Eyes of Children

Find more videos like this on TuDiabetes.com

To participate in "Drawing Diabetes", join the group:
http://tudiabetes.com/group/drawingdiabetes

About "Drawing Diabetes":
http://tudiabetes.com/notes/Drawing_Diabetes


Video Music:
"Good Night Little Star" by Margaret Marston,
http://www.myspace.com/mmarston

Credits Music:
"where i stand (in the clouds ambientgaze remix)" by maevius_o_apithanos
2008 - licensed under Creative Commons.
http://ccmixter.org/files/maevius_o_apithanos/15731

Edited by Andreina Davila:
http://tudiabetes.com/profile/andreDAVILA

Produced by Diabetes Hands Foundation:
http://diabeteshandsfoundation.org

World Diabetes Day is November 14. Visit http://tudiabetes.com/group/worlddiabetesday to find out how you can get involved.

Ambient Guitar at its Best

The past week has been spent (musically) in Buckethead-land. I discovered him after a long time (this guy is as prolific as it gets) and have been listening to his album "Colma" over and over. This album exemplifies what I'd call "ambient guitar": guitar work not unlike Joe Satriani's layered on top of a bed of loops and ambient sounds.

Today, I ran into another great example that may as well have called itself "Buckethead Remixed." I landed on the page of an artist that goes by the name of cdk, through ccMixter, a fantastic site where you can download, sample, remix and upload the most interesting bits of music. Check out this track: it's called "Midnight Theme (cdk mix)" -enjoy!

What a great day: How Birthdays are Happier Thanks to Social Media!

Today I felt the love of friends and family thanks to the power of social media!

It was my birthday and through all of the channels below I heard from them:

-My Facebook page: I was amazed when I woke up to find 40+ messages and posts on my page.

-My Twitter page: I received a lot of @askmanny birthday wishes too, including one from the friends at Ning.

-My TuDiabetes blog: 9 friends in the community left comments there.

-My EsTuDiabetes page: not only did the members of the ETD family leave comments. They started three topics (1, 2 and 3) about my birthday! That was SUPER-special of them to do.

Ironically, email and IM birthday wishes (while still happening) took a second seat to social media-based ones in terms of numbers, followed by phone calls. Interesting how more and more people rely on Web 2.0 tools to wish people Happy Birthday! It's not only convenient, but also more viral and fun (I received a few interesting gifts through Facebook, for instance!) :D

To each and every one of you, through this blog: THANK YOU!!! GRACIAS!!!

Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just read this in the signature of an email I received and decided to share it. I hope the day I die I can say I have succeeded according to this definition of success. I work on it every day.

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

Success -Ralph Waldo Emerson

36: Gray Hairs in my Beard and How old I am turning

36 Gray Hairs in my Beard
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Turning 36 feels good... since I turned 35 my life has changed SO much:
-We are now living in a different city, a different state
-After working @ Ning, I am now leading a nonprofit, the Diabetes Hands Foundation we formed to run our Diabetes Social Networks.
-Having made the dream of my life a reality.
-Healthier diabetes numbers: my most recent A1C was 6.2... better than ever before.
-Santiago keeps growing and learning SO much!

I can't complain, really. Life has been a blessing for us.

Things I hope for the coming year:
-See Andreina thrive in her art work.
-Continue to make more good friends and meeting amazing people through our communities and the efforts of the foundation.
-Continue to stay in touch with our friends and family in spite of the distance.
-See Santiago start as a kindergartner and continue to learn and grow.
-Health and a life full of rewards for all the good people I know!

Venezuela Gana el Miss Universo 2008

Se me pararon los (cuatro) pelos cuando escuche la musica de Venevision al final de este video, anunciando el triunfo en Miss Universo de Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela.

The line to get the new iPhone

The line to get the new iPhone
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Call me boring, if you want. I have a hard time feeling so strongly about any piece of new technology (the new iPhone 3G included) to stand in line for hours, to get a chance to buy it.

Friday, we saw the line shown in this photo outside the Apple Store in Palo Alto. Saturday, we saw a comparable line outside the Apple Store in San Francisco by Market Street...

Help TuDiabetes: No People With Diabetes Should Be Alone

Give us a hand!
Help TuDiabetes raise the funds to reach out to more people:
Together, we can make sure no person with diabetes feels alone any more...

Being social is not a site: it's a concept

Loved this article from Knowledge@Wharton on perspectives about the future of social networks... or rather, the inevitable future of the "completely social web."

This comment on the breakdown of web users in the US was particularly interesting. I was surprised to learn that almost 20% of US web users create content. Last time I heard that number was closer to 10%, so a larger percent of people are creating more content (useful or not) on the web than before:

"At the lowest rung of the ladder are the "inactives," some 44% of all U.S. American adults who were online in 2007. Higher up are the "joiners," the 25% who visit social networking sites like MySpace; collectors, an elite 15% who collect and aggregate information; and critics, those who post ratings and reviews as well as contribute to blogs and forums. Only 18% of all online Americans actually create content, publishing an article or a blog at least once a month, maintaining a web page or uploading content to sites like YouTube."

Firefox 3 Now IS Delicious!

I just found it! The updated del.icio.us extension for Firefox 3! How much I had been missing my del.icio.us! Granted that FF 3 now comes with a means of tagging your bookmarks... but com'on!

Update (five minutes into using the new extension): it rocks! You can add a bar to your browser that lets you access your del.icio.us bookmarks like bookmarks, like folders under which they are grouped based on their tags or by favorite tags. Too useful!

Twitter Spam Getting Old

I have been seeing my follower count go up in my personal, TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes Twitter profiles. That is kinda fun.

What is NOT fun is that many of the recent followers I've received notifications about are plain and simple spammers who are using Twitter much as they used blogs in the past...

I hope Twitter doesn't become SPAM central now that they seem to have their downtime thing a bit more under control. Now they don't seem to be able to bring the platform down as easily, but they can do away with part of the user experience unless Twitter doesn't start adding some mechanisms to make spamming through them harder.

Buckethead: Where Have I Been?!

I just landed on Buckethead's discography (well... a few albums of it) on LaLa today. I have been blasted away: this guy is like Joe Satriani, Stevie Bai and Jeff Beck combined in one, with an aura of mystery around his whole white mask and bucket on his head. Here is the track "Whitewash," from his album Colma:



Here is another insane video where you can enjoy his guitar playing. He also played with Guns N'Roses between 2000 and 2004: you can see one of his performances with them here.

Outgrowing Star Wars?

Is that even possible? I mean: I was a FAN of the franchise during all my childhood! I must have seen the first three movies hundreds of times and played with those toys until they showed signs of wear and tear...

Yet today I learned of the upcoming "Clone Wars" movie due to come out in August, and I don't find myself jumping of joy like I did when I heard Episode I was coming out. I guess I may have had enough of SW by now.

In pursuit of the lighthouse at Point Reyes

All the explorers
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

We could never see it... we travelled for hours and got to the parking lot in the midst of a crazy fog, yet we never could see the lighthouse at Point Reyes.

We later learned this:

Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent. Weeks of fog, especially during the summer months, frequently reduce visibility to hundreds of feet.

That explains it! :)