Raul Colon - photographer, digital marketer & writer living on the beach in Puerto Rico.

I support causes by supporting individuals.

No Youtube App on iOs 6?

by

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

This morning a day after I upgraded to iOs 6 on my iPad 2 ,  I went to load some of Payasa Agapita videos on the iPad for my daughter I realized the YouTube app had disappeared.

According to other blogs apple no longer support a YouTube app with it core iOs structure. Google did respond by creating its own dedicated iOs app or the iPhone and an iPad-dedicated app is in plans.

In the meantime the colks at clickonline.com recommended using the Squrl and ShowYou in absence of an iPad Youtube App.  I used Squrl and really liked that it brings videos from different platforms like Vimeo other than youtube.

If you want to find out on other key features feel free to visit this brief post from clickonline mentioning changes in maps, Siri, Do Not Disturb, Panorama Shots, Passbook, and more.

Recommended Apps

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

The Presidential Suite,Valuable Socks, & a Priceless Moment

by

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Yesterday morning I woke up at the Presidential Suite of the Caribe Hilton, the last two occasions I have stayed at the Caribe Hilton I have been upgraded to a suite, but on this occasion it was a Major upgrade. On both occasions I was staying only one night and regretted not staying longer.

Work and no time for Partying

The Presidential Suite was perfect for having a large group of friends come and enjoy the great view; I even wish some of the readers of this blog had made it so we could chat. Reality was I had to get ready for the presentation I was about to give at 3:30pm for the folks at ISACA attending the Information Security and Risk Management Conference and did not have much time to party.

My presentation would cover Corporate Guidelines for Social Media Efforts from a perspective to helping the auditors, security, and corporate governance professionals understand the many moving parts of social media platforms. If you where not able to attend the ISACA Conference I have included my presentation below.

[slideshare id=9560221&doc=isaca-official-latincacsv2-final-111005111804-phpapp01]

I Just Needed Socks

If any of you at the conference took a look at my feet you would be more than happy to know that my good friend Melvin took care of made me sure my feet had the right kind of socks for the occasion.

Just went I felt I had reviewed my presentation enough times I went to prepare what I was going to wear. When looking into my luggage I saw I had forgotten my socks so I quickly called one of my friends to bring me a pair. I did not have enough time to go out and shop for socks but my good friend Melvin Rodriguez (one the most fashion savvy friends I have) did me a huge favor in coming over to the hotel and sharing a pair of valuable socks that matched perfectly with my suit and tie. I guess if you are going to have someone bring you socks you really want Melvin to take care of that because he breathes fashion. I am so grateful to have good friends like Melvin that rise to the equation when I need them. Sometimes the small things in life do make a big difference throughout our day. Bringing me a pair of socks might not have been a great task in Melvin’s eye but if I take into consideration the price of gas, the expensive parking at the Caribe Hilton, and the time he took of his day to help me out those Socks become very valuable.

Getting Bad News

After my presentation I was pretty happy with the body feedback I got from the audience. I later sat down with a few of the attendees and discussed a bit more about the subject and after more than an hour I decided to head home. While I am getting on an exit Lucy informed me that Steve Jobs CEO of Apple had lost his battle with Cancer. Given the Apple Fan that I am and how my dad, uncle, and my grandma are currently battling Cancer many things crossed my mind while I was driving for the next hour. I was happy later to read that Steve left us in a peaceful way. I will send my prayers to him as I continuously pray for my family members battling cancer including my Grandmother which I went to visit last week because she is loosing the battle (although every day I pray for a miracle to happen so I can have my Grandma a bit longer and my Dad can continue to have conversations with his mom I really want her to be at Peace).

Once I got home I was greeted first by my Four Legged Son Juanga and my 9 month daughter with a huge smile. I spent the next hour or more with Daniela in my arms since the last few weeks I have had more travel than usual and have not been as close as I want with her. After a while my daughter felt comfortable enough to go to sleep in my arms. After thinking so much of how short our time is here on this earth I think moments of like when my daughter goes to sleep in my arms are priceless and precious. As a Dad I enjoy everything these events repeat themselves.

Leaving a Legacy

I will not be posting Steve Jobs content online as I do think many others are giving us enough to remember him for the great things he did and how he changed the world and many of our lives. At this moment I am writing this post on a MacBook Pro and had to reference something on my iPad 2. I received the message that Steve passed away on my iPhone 4 and also read some of the posts of his passing shared on both the iPhone and the iPad.

After reading The Time We’re Losing by my good friend @chrisbrogan I decided I have to make sure I keep that post printed somewhere so I can review every once in a while. This way I have a constant reminder to make sure I make the most of my time and touch as many lives as I can.  Chris has some great points on how we need to focus on making our time as valuable as possible and not giving value to things that should be at the end of our list.

 How many of us can say that we have done so much in so little time like Steve Jobs?

What are waiting for to make that happen?

I can’t wait to read your thoughts!

 

Enchantment Book Review from the Island of Enchantment

by

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Out of the business books I have read, not many are as diverse as this book. I met Guy Kawasaki at the Samsung Bloggers Lounge just before he was going to hand out complimentary copies of his latest book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and ActionsPhotos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico (Amazon Affiliate Link). I had the privilege to receive a copy autographed by Mr. Kawasaki himself and was able to shake his hand and talk for a full 30 seconds.

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

At first I was very skeptical that the title would not fit me because I am more about finding people with my interests than trying to please everyone. As I started reading, I realized how Guy directed the book to genuine enchantment without each person having to stop being themselves.

He focuses on the Importance of what people are thinking, feeling, and believing. Another interesting point in the book was how Guy guides you into the importance of swearing in some occasions and how that can also help enchant. The book overall is a guide towards creating win-win situations from various aspects. From creating relationships by achieving trustworthiness, to making a better presentation using powerpoint and becoming more effective using email.

In the chapter dedicated, “Achieving Trustworthiness”, it was interesting to see how trust between people leads to business and recognizing when they are playing games.I will be using that one as an indicator every time I see people are playing games with my clients or myself. I am very transparent and Guy urges people to disclose their interests.

His points on Reciprocity and the 3 forms which he states are explicitly expecting something in return, an investment in the future, and for intrinsic reasons. Guy does a great job explaining which one is not enchanting and which one is the best representation of enchantment.

Here are great pointers on how to overcome Resistance. I found these two examples most useful like:

  • Making people understand your products
  • Finding Bright spots that are already working

I am a big fan of treating everyone right. Guy also dedicates a whole chapter on Enchanting your employees. He gives some great tips on allowing your employees to do the right thing and using inspiration over intimidation, you can achieve a lot more.

Enchantment also gave me the opportunity to learn and understand of the following terms:

  • Making Crow’s Feet
    • Staying away from the Pan American Smile

      • “The Pan-Am smile, also known as the “Botox smile”, is the name given to a “fake smile”, in which only the zygomatic major muscle is voluntarily contracted to show politeness. It is named after the airline Pan American World Airways, whose flight attendants would always flash every jet-setter the same, faked smile.” source ~Wikipedia

  • 10-20-30 rule of creating a presentation
    • No more than 10 slides
    • No more than 20 Minutes
    • No font smaller than 30 points
  • Keeping your email to 6 sentences
    • Why you are contacting the person
    • Who you are
    • What your cause is
    • What you want
    • Why the Recipient should help you
    • What the next step is
    • Where the Term Devil’s Advocate Derives from
    • Will make sure I get my copy of Presentation Zen Design based on Guy’s Recommendations

The value I got out of Enchantment made me  plan to go back and read some of his previous books.

Saving Valuable Time on my Mac, iPad, & iPhone with @TextExpander!

by

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Are you always searching for things to save you time and effort during the day?

I have always been searching for ways to make things more effective with less effort so I can do even more things. At the end of last year as I prepared to become a New Dad I bought the iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing RobotPhotos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto RicoRobotic Vacuums)Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico which saves me time from mopping and cleaning the floors. Last June I read this post on how to Automate the Easy Stuff written by @chrisbrogan. This introduced me to a piece of software I use everyday on my Mac, iPhone, and iPAD. This software is created in such a way once you get use to it you don’t even realize you are  using it.

What is Text Expander?

TextExpander saves you countless keystrokes with customized abbreviations for your frequently-used text strings and images.

TextExpander Overview from Website

Boilerplate Paragraphs

If you have greetings or templates of paragraphs. Add them to your snippet library and insert them into your emails and contracts by typing a short abbreviation.

Filling Out Forms

Make it easy on yourself by adding your address, email, phone and fax numbers to your snippet library.

Correcting Same Typos

Add common typos as triggers – TextExpander automatically replaces them with the correct spelling! TextExpander also includes the TidBITs AutoCorrect Dictionary. (more info)

Inserting HTML and CSS Code Quickly

Create abbreviations for commonly-used tags! Or use our built-in HTML and CSS snippet groups.

Current Date or Time

TextExpander comes with date and time snippets that you can format the way you want.

Inserting Special Characters or Accented Words

Try our built-in snippet groups to insert special characters and accent marks easily.

See Other Features on the Site


How I use TextExpander!

Accents

I write in spanish and most of the time I forget my accents I have started building a list of the words I normally write without an accent that needs one like my name Raúl and it will automatically populate the correct spelling.

Insert my Affiliate links Code

I am an affiliate for the Genesis Framework (affiliate Link) and Hootsuite which are both products and services I represent because I use them for myself and my clients at CIMA IT Solutions. I also read many books and use example of them adding  Amazon affiliate links when I mention those books in the blog. Instead of me having to go back to the affiliate site to get the link I have various shortcuts I use to just add the code.

Client’s Website Links

Since I have multiple clients where we manage there online presence I make sure I keep there key links to there website with a shortcut. Example every time someone requests the menu for Archipielago Restaurant I type “aMenu” I get the complete link. The same when they ask for the reservations “aRes“.

My Address & Signature

I have my Po Box which I always forget which is also my corporate address. Everytime somebody requests it i enter 5 keystrokes and I have the full address displayed.

Tweetchats

If I am tweeting on a tweetchat or twitter party I might limit the Hashtag to two keystrokes that way I make sure I can continue the conversation and writing the correct hashtag.

Templates of Messages I Customize

I collaborate with various organizations and occasionaly I have to repeat the same message over and over even though it is customized. So instead of sending a template of a message I have some key points written for every message and then I modify accordingly.

Google Ads Snippets

I keep the google Ads Snippets I use for some clients and with a few keystrokes I can add them without having to go to the dashboard to copy and paste them.


List of IOS Applications

Some of the applications that I use on my IOS Devices (iPhone & iPAD) are Twittelator and Things. With a few strokes, I can easily insert tasks that appear every once in while and in twittelator maybe send a quick thank you note for a RT. For a Complete list of TextExpander-enhanced iOS apps. (click here) of other applications where you can use TextExpander on the iPhone and/or IPAD

Hours Saved

Overall I recommend TextExpander as a tool that you can use for many things. Clicking on statistics I have saved approximately a little more than 6 1/2 hours at 60 words per minute. Which at at even the US Federal Minimum Wage would a good $47 dollars which brings a profit to my investment in TextExpander

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Where to Find or Download TextExpander

Can you see any tasks where a tool like TextExpander can help you? Are there other tools you use to save time feel free to share?

Are there things you would like to automate and you have not found an application for that?