eMarviews

Ran my first 21K in huaraches!

2010-08-01T19:16:14Z

so I did this 21k in my huaraches, right... :P (warning: lengthy...)

what a day!

The race was supposed to start at 6am. I got up at 5am and it was pouring (rain :). I called the race director and he said it was going to probably be delayed half an hour.

I should have listened.

I went back to bed and assumed that it was going to be a typical Panama start time (meaning even with the delay, it would start late). I can't say I overslept. I was just slow getting up again.

Ana and I got up again around 6:15 and woke everyone else up (my son and 2 of 3 daughters).

We left our place at about 6:45 and got to the race at about 7. Oops. We were at the traffic light and heard the last minute race instructions. Oops again.

We made it to the parking area and the race had already begun. Oops x3.

We all rushed out of the car. I asked about the half and the 5k. The 5k was the one that had just started. The half started about half an hour before (around 6:30). Oops to the third power!

We said our see you laters and were off!

I caught up to the 5Kers and cheered some folks on. I then passed the 5k halfway point and was alone running on the streets of Panama. Not a problem. I've done it before. My feet were fine. Everything was fine.

At around 3.5 miles I saw my first racers. The fast guys were already coming back. I gave thumbs up to folks and kept going! (Man, they're fast!)

Around the 5th mile is when I caught up to the back of the half pack. I gave a word of encouragement as I passed folks.

So far, so good. My legs were fine and I was doing ok. At the halfway mark, I had passed about 10 people. I still hadn't drank water either. (I wasn't thirsty at all.)

At about the 8 mile mark, I started to feel a little thirsty. Unfortunately, the next hydration point (~8.5 miles) was out of water. Great!

Well, I knew there was another water point in about a mile so I kept at it. Got there and no one was there. (Maybe I was mistaken and it was only a family member giving out water to one of their own. :)

Luckily, at the 10-mile mark, there was water! Whoopee! Got a baggie of water and was set! By this point, I had probably passed about 20 folks and we were entering a few rolling hills.

Now the thing about hills with huaraches, uphills are not a problem. The problem (as when barefooting) is the downhills. There is extra friction since you are often braking. You either have to run them fast or super slow. I generally tried to run faster on the downhills. It probably wasn't fast enough though since I really felt some of those downhills. =D

So after the hills, there was only about a mile and a half left! YAY! So I turned on what was left of the nitro and burned rubber. (Yeah right!) There was one last downhill heading in to the finish so I took it as fast as I could after having run 20K. (My feet were a bit sore. :)

I passed my 30th or so person with about 200 meters to go to the finish and saw the time on my watch: 1:49! Let's push it out some more and finish strong! I tried to catch up to a lady that was about 30 meters away, but didn't make it.

That's ok. I finished strong. Ana actually said that I didn't look as tired as I normally do when I finishing a half. =D

So I finished (according to my watch) at 1:50. 7 minutes less than my last half in March! Whoopee!

After finishing, several people asked about the huaraches. Do they hurt? How do they feel? Many were surprised. So I happily shared some knowledge. Talking about how shoes make you more dependent on them and how you have to relearn how to run when running with huaraches or barefoot.

I hope some of it stuck. :)

Have a great day everyone!

Great example of a hotel using twitter - @NewYorkHotel follower discount

2010-07-16T13:36:19Z

Just got this via email from the New Yorker Hotel. I wish I was close to NYC so I could take advantage of this deal.

This is a great way for a hotel to break-in to the social media game, especially using twitter.

Much Success to the one who had the idea at the New Yorker!

****

This summer, NYC travelers can get great savings at the New Yorker Hotel, all by simply following us on Twitter!

Twitter Followers Special

For a limited time, get 20% off the Best Available Rate, just by following us on Twitter. To receive details about the Twitter Followers Special, just visit http://twitter.com/newyorkhotel and follow us there. After following, send a request to @newyorkhotel mentioning "Twitter-only", and we will send you details on how to book this special.

Twitter "Media Pros" Discount

For a limited time, get 25% off the Best Available Rate. You must be a journalist, editor, reporter or other qualified member of the press to be eligible for this discount. To receive details about the Twitter Media Pros Discount, just follow the hotel on Twitter. After following, send a message to @newyorkhotel and mention "Media Pros". Be sure to tell us what publication you work for, and we will send details to you via Twitter.

Click the Twitter icon above to follow us on Twitter and request your Twitter discount today!

Questions to ask yourself of your business to grow innovation

2010-05-12T13:18:37Z

Refound this article and liked the following questions presented in the post.

And ask yourself the questions below to see if you can use some of the strategies that Panama is employing to grow innovation in your own business.
What is the biggest time-waster of my business or process?
What is the number one complaint from my customers and clients?
How could I work with another company to streamline inefficient processes?
Who can I coordinate to provide a better service or product?

Panama: The Future Hong Kong of Latin America? | Fast Company

What can you do to improve?

Prez Obama checking out women's....

2009-07-10T14:23:03Z

sandals... He is obviously looking at the sandals, right? ;-D

Prez checking out sandals... Uploaded with the Flock Browser - http://www.flock.com

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Tags: barackobama, president, woman'ssandals

For the folks that don't know what can turn your partner

2009-07-08T19:02:54Z

Looking to find out what turns your man or woman on, check the #turnon twitter trending topic: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23turnon

NOTE: Parental guidance suggested for some tweets :) Some will have you laughing...

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Tags: turnon, twitter, laugh, turnons

I know you've already read this, but - How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live - TIME

2009-06-07T00:41:42Z

How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live - TIME

I found the conclusion most interesting and inspiring:

This is what I ultimately find most inspiring about the Twitter phenomenon. We are living through the worst economic crisis in generations, with apocalyptic headlines threatening the end of capitalism as we know it, and yet in the middle of this chaos, the engineers at Twitter headquarters are scrambling to keep the servers up, application developers are releasing their latest builds, and ordinary users are figuring out all the ingenious ways to put these tools to use. There's a kind of resilience here that is worth savoring. The weather reports keep announcing that the sky is falling, but here we are — millions of us — sitting around trying to invent new ways to talk to one another.

Enjoy!

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Tags: twitter, timemagazine

Because of Facebook, I just learned about Intentional Software and monkeys programming from a Near Infinity blog, a company run a by a friend on FB

2009-05-24T05:37:10Z

It's always interesting to find out what you find as you connect with old colleagues.

For example, I reconnected with Chris D'Agostino, CEO of near infinity, on Facebook and revisited his company website and was happy to see that his company is doing well. I also found Scott Leberknight's blog and came across the Thinking Matters post where he talks about programmers, programming and thinking. Below is an extract:

Aside from the fact that Oracle's Java Problem contains all kinds of factual and other errors (see the comments on the post) this sentence caught my eye in particular when referring to Java being "quite hard to work with" - "Then, as now, you needed to be a highly trained programmer to make heads or tails of the language."

Thinking Matters - Blogs at Near Infinity

Scott also refers to Intentional Software (which is essentially language software to design DomainSpecificLanguages). While at Martin Fowler's site, I also learned LayProgrammers (if you do any work with on spreadsheets, especially with formulas, then yes, you are a LayProgrammer) and the UnforgivenContract (which is essentially a NDA with strong penalties).

So what's my point? My point is that it is sometimes it is beneficial to delve deeper when you are social networking. You'll never know what you discover.

BTW, I also learned about programming monkeys that cost 69 cents an hour. If you hire one, let me know so that I can get a referral fee. :)

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Tags: monkeyprogramming, unforgivencontract, intentional software, layprogrammers, near infinity, scott leberknight

lessons learned: Spent time in Psychiatric Hospital. Constantly sabotage myself?

2009-05-19T09:27:22Z

I had the pleasure (or should I say displeasure, ouch!) of reading the below message through LinkedIn from a contact (I XXXed out the name to protect the innocent or guilty):

I also wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that while I have spent some extended time at a Psychiatric Hospital in Texas, I have fully recovered and hopefully will not suffer from another relapse.

The previous jobs listed on my profile are all imaginary - I did work at some of those companies but I exagerrated my responsibilities and titles. Again, I have no experience at all in running my own company, and I know I am destined to fail. I constantly sabotage myself!

The truth is, I spent most of my time at my previous jobs surfing the internet for prostitutes who make "office calls" during lunch time, chatting online with Transvestites, and seeking out other avenues for which to cheat on my girlfriend, xxx, who has no idea what a true psychopath and liar I am.

Happy holidays!

At first pass, it seems like this message was sent by a disgruntled ex who found out that the guy was cheating on her. What do you think?

So what are the lessons learned?

First & foremost, don't cheat on your girlfriend and
secondly, make sure you don't leave your social networking (or any other) passwords saved on your partners computer.
Add any others?

BTW, can we call this activity "social ex flaming" ?

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Tags: linkedin, socialex flaming, damaging, ex-girlfriend, lesson learned

What to do when you know your breath stinks and you need to speak with another person

2009-04-15T08:14:44Z

Admit it. It's happened to you before. (Otherwise why would you be reading this post! :)

First of all (you may be asking yourself), how do I know I have rancid breath?

You just ate a tuna and onion sandwich
People are running away from you or making funny faces when you speak with them (like what happened to SpongeBob)
Someone just told you that your breath is kickin (and not in a good way)
You lick the back of your hand, let the saliva dry, smell it and almost pass out

Now that you know that you have bad breath, here's what you can do (depending on your timeline):

you have an hour to spare before speaking with someone:

move to the nearest store or your house (whichever is closest)
if at the store, buy a toothbrush and toothpaste and the strongest Listerine (or the store brand which is normally cheaper) you can find
if you have time, floss (really, you should be doing this every time you brush, but you know how that goes...)
brush your teeth thoroughly for at least 60 seconds. (make sure you brush your tongue, too.) check to make sure you have brushed your teeth well by touching your teeth with your tongue. if you don't feel your teeth completely smooth, brush again.
rinse and gargle at least 3 times with fresh water each time
get a mouthful of Listerine and rinse and gargle for at least 60 seconds. you'll probably be in tears because of the listerine after 60 secs, but it will be worth it.
finally, ask a trusted family member or friend, if available, if your breath still stinks. if no one is available, do the quick lick-the-back-of-the-hand check
if you still smell, start over with step 3. repeat, as necessary.

you have less than 15 minutes to spare and can't break to go anywhere. you can do any or all of these steps, but please do at least one:

ideally, delay the meeting until you can brush your teeth
you know there's always a gum or mint person in the office, ask for piece (nicely, of course. beg if you have to). HINT: make sure to check the boss' secretary
depending on how picky you are, you can do this: there's normally a (smart) person that brings their toothbrush and toothpaste, ask the person to borrow the toothbrush...just joking... see if they can give you some toothpaste and brush your teeth with your finger
ask a trusted colleague how bad your breath smells. try to get a rough idea of how far your stank breath is traveling as you talk. ask your colleague to take small steps away from you until s/he no longer smells you. try to stay at least that much away from the person you need to speak with.

the person is on her way to speak with you and you only have 30 seconds to react

tell him the truth and say that you ate a foul smelling sandwich for lunch and ask if he has any mints. he will appreciate your honesty.
try to stay as far away from her as possible so that your dragon breath doesn't reach her.
talk away from him (not towards him). this may seem rude, but may be necessary.
if you must speak face to face, speak as little as possible. (now would be a good time to practice your listening skills.)
don't use too many words that begin with the letter H.
cover your mouth a little. (though this may give them the impression that their breath stinks...)
practice your hiding skills.
run!

I hope you find this helpful! (Feel free to add any tips of your own.)

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Tags: rancidbreath, bad breath, stinky breath, listerine, mouth wash, tips, lifehacks, brushing, teeth, tongue, gargle, wash, floss

Speak Out Against Proposed MD Internet Retail Tax

2009-04-06T22:09:16Z

Just got this in a commission junction email and thought it would be of interest.

ATTENTION AFFILIATES:

Commission Junction recently received word that Maryland's version of the "Affiliate Tax" bill was introduced without warning only days ago, and it may be enacted later today or early Tuesday. Unfortunately, Maryland affiliates have had almost no time to react, so your voice needs to be heard within hours, if possible.

Here is a link to information on the bill: http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/billfile/sb1071.htm

Although Commission Junction is not in a position to provide you with legal and tax advice regarding the bill and the action to take, if you oppose this bill, you may wish to contact Speaker Busch at michael.busch@house.state.md.us AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Click here to access a template with suggested language you may choose to complete and modify accordingly and send to Assembly Member Busch stating your opposition to the proposed bill.

Together we can speak up and hopefully make a difference!

Thanks in advance for your help,

Kerri Pollard
General Manager
Commission Junction

Here's the text of the document:

The Honorable MICHAEL ERIN BUSCH
Speaker of House of Delegates
State House, H-101
Annapolis, MD 21401 - 1991
Subject: OPPOSITION to S.B. 1071, as introduced in the Maryland Senate on March 28, 2009

Dear Assembly Member Busch:
I am a small business owner with a website, and I am in strong opposition to S.B. 1071, which could require retailers that advertise and receive direct or indirect referrals from banner ads and click-throughs on websites, such as mine, to collect sales tax in Maryland.

I am opposed to this bill because it would substantially harm my small business by reducing a large source of revenue that I rely on to survive. This revenue results from providing advertising on my website as part of an “affiliate” or “associate” program with out-of-state retailers. [Describe how your business model is set-up and what you contribute to the local economy.]

If retailers believe that doing business with me will result in their having to collect sales tax on all Maryland sales, they likely will sever ties with my business, putting the viability of my business at risk. Such was the case in New York State where Overstock dismantled its affiliates program and I am told by my colleagues that hundreds of other business followed Overstock’s example. This left thousands of affiliates – most of which are small- and medium-sized businesses with a major loss of income.

For these reasons, I respectfully oppose this legislation.

Sincerely,

Inspired by PlentyOfFish.com, created 100% Free Online Business Matchmaking and Leads - LotsOfBiz.com - What are you looking for?

2009-01-20T20:26:39Z

What can I say?

I was inspired by Markus Frind, the PlentyOfFish.com creator. PlentyOfFish.com is to online dating what I hope LotsOfBiz.com will be to online business matchmaking and online business leads.

After all, aren't we always looking for something (oftentimes free business leads) when we go online? Why not post what you are looking for free and let people that have you want contact you? Why pay for leads?

Won't you join our free online business networking site?

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Tags: freeonline business sales lead generation website, lead generation, sales leads, business leads, online dating, online business dating, 100% free online leads

AD: PanaRed.com for sale - Great domain for a Panama Social Network or Panamanian red wine

2008-12-16T03:27:41Z

Have you been looking for a great domain for your new Social Network for Panamanian residents, people interested in Panama, or Panamanian expats in other countries?

You must consider PanaRed.com. It is short, easy to remember and clearly expresses what the site is about: "Pana" which is short for Panamanian or friend and "Red" which means network in Spanish.

Not creating a social network, but have an excellent vintage red wine made from Panamanian grapes that needs a good domain? You should consider PanaRed.com as well. "Pana" would stand for Panama and "Red" for your wonderful wine color!

In addition, PanaRed.com could be a nice domain for a new Panamanian restaurant, Panamanian food company or another Panama-related product.

Don't wait! Make an offer for the domain PanaRed.com now!

Disclosure: Esenai Corporation owns the PanaRed.com domain and can also help you develop it.

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Tags: domainfor sale, panama domain name, panama network, panama wine

from Seth's Blog: The number one secret of the great blogs - find, connect and lead tribes

2008-11-15T04:25:27Z

The key takeaway is this: once you realize that your job is to find and connect and lead a tribe, to give them something to talk about and a place to go, it's a lot easier to write a blog that works.

Seth's Blog: The number one secret of the great blogs Very interesting and it makes complete sense. I now see why I have more readership in some blogs more than others. For example, here's a breakdown in order of following and scope (narrowest to widest):

The UNOFFICIAL Intellipedia blog - This is the blog has the greatest tribe probably becuase it is centrally focused on Intellipedia, the Intelligence Community wiki, and government collaboration and information sharing (though I don't really like that term, but that's for another post...) in general. I bet if I organized an event, even if it were online, the tribe would be interested.
creiZ about Real Estate and Deals blog - This is where I write about any of my current real estate activities in Panama and other places, market trends, tips and comments on business news items that I come across that look interesting. As you can see, it is pretty general, so I suppose that is why there is a rather small following. What could I do to improve this? Should I focus more?
This blog, eMarviews - This is where I post about anything that comes to mind that I want to write about. You name it, from social media to blogging to networking to going green to family (including arguing with your wife). I have a tribe of 1 here. Why? Probably because I am all over the place with this and maybe no one can really identify with the content. Could that be it? Should I break this up into multiple blogs?

(There are a couple of other blogs that I am inactive on including the Startup Events blog and the Deal Bake blog (to post deal haves and needs) that could be of use if I put more effort into them. I just need more time and energy or people that are interested...) So going back to Seth's point, the key is focus on the tribe, the audience, because when you really think about, the tribe is what really makes the blog successful or not.

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Tags: greatestblogs, tribes, focusing, multiple blogs, seth godin, marketing, networking

Why should you be hired as a writer/blogger? Answer: List and describe the 4 Ps

2008-11-14T18:48:56Z

Why should anyone hire you to be a blogger/writer for them? You may think that you are the best (and even if you are), how do you let your prospective hiring authority know?

]]> Here's how: Know and describe the 4 Ps to your hirer:

Passion - This really applies for any gig/job (though I won't go into that...). You really need to have a passion for what you do for your sake (so that you can be happy) and for the sake of the hirer (so that they can be happy because you are doing something you enjoy doing).
Personality - I think that having a personality (especially for blogging) is essential or else how do you distinguish yourself from the drab website brochureware? You need to have your own personality, not copy someone else's. Personally, I think it is an extension of how you really are, not a pseudo online personality.
Prose - You, of course, should know how to write pretty decently. This doesn't mean that you must have a degree in English from the Oxford, but you must have decent spelling and grammatical skills. (Remember, there's always spellcheck and you can have a bud check your work.)
Publicity - Especially in this day and age, having some presence on the Internet is necessary. Most blog hirers are looking to drive people to their site. The better presence you have, the easier it is for you to get the word out about your new gig and drive visitors to their site.

You should also always provide samples of your writing and links to relevant articles that are already online that you have created.

BTW, below is an example of a short description of my 4 Ps:

Why me? I am the perfect person for these blogs because of my 4 Ps:

Passion - I enjoy writing about topics that interest me and do it as often as possible. Real estate, international business and investing are great passions of mine.

Personality - I am an honest, positive and witty person who enjoys meeting and helping people and experiencing different things including cultures. (I really enjoy learning and practicing different languages and have native Spanish proficiency.)

Prose - I am articulate (most of the time :) and write as a colleague, advisor and friend. I consider my audience!

Publicity - I am open-minded and am open to people getting to know more about me. I am an active social networker with profiles on over 30 networks and most actively on LinkedIn (with over 8000 direct connections), Facebook and Twitter and would e able to drive traffic to the blogs from my current web presence.

Thoughts?

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Tags: blogging, writing, bloggingjobs, advice, tips

Just got a feel good email from Google about AdSense OR Could there be a drop in publishers?

2008-10-31T14:31:41Z

Dear Publisher,

We understand that the recent economic turmoil has created a lot of uncertainty in the lives of AdSense publishers. During these difficult times, we're continuing to invest in innovations that improve publisher monetization and advertiser value in the content network.

We're focusing on further developing our product offerings and boosting ad performance for publishers. We recently announced advancements in AdSense for search and experiments to make ads more effective. We're bringing DoubleClick technologies to AdSense publishers, and we'll continue to launch new products and features. We're also continuing to improve our offerings for AdWords advertisers, making it easier for them to target the Google content network. Features for advertisers, such as the new display ad builder, are designed to improve ad performance on AdSense publisher sites.

We'll keep driving technological progress, but our best asset will always be our publisher partners. The strength of AdSense lies in the value of the content you bring to users and the quality of the sites you bring to advertisers. Our success is tied to yours. We look forward to partnering with you for the long term, and remain dedicated to helping you succeed.

Sincerely,

Kim Scott Director AdSense Online Sales & Operations

Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

Aren't they sweet? :)

Are are they giving positive reinforcement because there has been a drop in publishers?

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Tags: googleadsense, publishers, google adwords, doubleclick