Yesterday was one of those days where I didn’t have much time to come over here to share the daily blog post. Reason why? Well, I was preparing, and getting things ready, for that rare occasion I am experiencing at the moment of having three national bank holidays in a row! (Yes, three!! You are reading that right!) Starting with Koninginnedag and then Ascension Day (Which in The Netherlands it’s two days, instead of just one) I am going to be offline enjoying some gorgeous weather till next week Monday! Not sure about you, but I *love* short weeks like this one! First one I can remember and one I could well get very well used to.

Thus as you can imagine I haven’t had much free time just yet to finish up those various blog post drafts I keep wanting to share over here at some point. But, like I have said it already, not to worry, they will come. However, today I just wanted to share with you something that I am sure you are going to enjoy. It is actually a couple of video links that match quite nicely the festive time I have been enjoying whole day today.

The first one is actually a video clip which is part of a videocasting series that is going on inside IBM and which is having a huge success at the moment, to say the least. Some time ago, my good friend, and fellow IBM colleague, George Faulkner came together, with a couple of his colleagues, with this bright idea of encouraging IBMers to shoot short video clips showing where they were working, i.e. the IBM building site, customer location, on the road, whatever, but mostly from the IBM office wherever it may have well been in the world. And that is how "This is where I work…" was born and why, from the very first moment, it became quite a show!

Thousands and thousands of downloads have gone through already and, funny enough, I never thought I would be taking part of it, since I always doubted people would be interested in my home office location. However, while I was in NYC, after having finished a superb week at the IBM Web 2.0 and Beyond Summit event, I spent a couple of days with George, and a bunch of other IBMers, and George, as brilliant as he is coming up with some serendipitous discoveries and fun activities, proposed to me to shoot a short video with several fragments sharing my thoughts on my stay in NYC’s IBM sites and do a clip on "This is where I work … today!". 

He thought we could take a few pictures here and there and get things rolling, but I thought we could actually do it with a little bit of a twist and decide to put to a good service, as usual, my Nokia N95, and we went video. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you would know how much in love I am with the N95 device (And you would probably know my reaction to other fancier mobile devices -no names mentioned in here - hehe) and after those couple of days, even so much more now!

I have been getting lots of comments about the quality of both the sound and the video footage for a mobile device and all I can say is that the N95 beats any other device in this category by quite a bit! One of the best purchases I have done in my short life buying gadgets. And the proof is this blog post.

Thus attached, and without much further ado, here you have got the video clip from that series "This is where I work … today" where you would be able to see yours truly, in various locations throughout the city, talking about what it is like working for a large corporation in the city. All done on the fly, with no script, no pauses, no premeditated wording going around, just pure, informal, on the spot, good fun!

George did both the video shoot and the post-production, more than anything else because he is much more talented than myself, for sure! And if not judge for yourselves. Here I am, talking to you from NYC in front of a video camera for the first time in my life and having a great time at it!

Yes, indeed, after you have watched this video clip I am sure you would understand now, in case you haven’t done so thus far, why I *love* working for the company I work, and why I am still enjoying it just as if it were my first day 11 years ago!! You got that one right, because of the people!

Does it ring a bell? Well, here is another good reason. A bonus clip I put together myself with the Nokia N95 while in NYC, enjoying some of the lovely spring weather I was fortunate to witness throughout the whole week!

Of course, I will be back!! (Even if that means bringing back with me another nasty bug that may take me down again for a couple of days! hehe)

(Time now to go and enjoy a long walk through one of my favourite places over here…)

Tags: Holidays, Bank Holiday, Koninginnedag, Ascension Day, IBM, George Faulkner, Videocasting, Vodcasts, This Is Where I Work, Nokia, N95, Serendipity, New York, New York City, Central Park, 11 Madison Ave, 590 Madison, Fun, Fun Stuff, Work Life Balance, Balance, Life, Work, Things That Matter, Spring, Experiences, Unforgettable Experiences

Here we go with another quick blog post… For those folks who have been asking over the last few hours about how my younger brother was doing, I have got some really good news! The operation, although rather long!, over 7 hours!!, was a total success and earlier on today I have been able to talk to him over the phone from his hospital room!!! Very much relieved, thank you very much!!

We will have to wait for another 24 hours and see how he would react further, but so far the pain he was having from the Trigeminal Neuralgia is now gone! He was even thinking about watching his favourite football team play tonight for the semis of the Champion’s League! That is the spirit, indeed!!

Like I said, very much relieved, but, unfortunately, so much so that I have been caught with my guard off and over the last few hours I have developed a massive cold and a HUGE sore throat that has drained all of my energy that I may have got left. It hurts quite a bit, and just a few minutes ago, I had 39C of fever. Not looking good, eh?

Yes, that is right. In other circumstances it would have been something that I would have taken care of by having a long rest and try to recover as soon as possible. Slowly, but steadily. Yet, this time around is not going to happen, because tomorrow (Those folks who may have checked my Dopplr ID may already know about this) I am on my way to Zürich to attend an important customer workshop on Friday for which a bunch of us have been working really hard for some time and around the subject of social networking.

Thus there you have it, with that sense I should be having a long long rest for the next couple of days, I am currently busy finishing the packing of my suitcase, then have a lovely chicken soup, some antibiotics and straight off to bed, hoping that tomorrow I will feel completely new! (Fingers crossed!)

I would have loved to meet up folks while I am there, for sure, but unless I recover to a pretty good state, I would suggest you stay out of the way and perhaps meet up some time again in June, when I have got another trip planned for Zürich. We shall see.

So this is just another short blog post where you can see that those highlights on the Web 2.0 and Beyond Summit from IBM, it will still have to wait for a few days, till I get back and feel better. Also there is a whole bunch of stuff I would want to share, but right now the only thing my body wants to do is hit the bed, sweat it all out, and be completely new tomorrow!

Let’s hope so… Regular blogging activities would resume shortly as well … Have a good one!

Tags: sick, travelling, customers, workshops, getting-well

I am sure that there are plenty of folks out there wanting me to let you all know about some of the main highlights from the IBM Web 2.0 and Beyond Summit I attended last week, plus some other really exciting stuff that is going on right as we speak and coming from various fronts, but you would have to forgive me for not doing so right away and having to wait for the odd day or two.

Just as I was getting back home yesterday from the US, I got a call from my mum telling me that my younger brother finally got everything arranged and in place, after having waited for a couple of months, to go through an operation to help fight some Trigeminal Neuralgia he has been suffering from for the last few months. Those of you who are familiar with such illness would know it is one of the most painful ones known to mankind, so we were happy that finally came through.

And just this morning he went through what was supposed to be a three hour operation, which in the end extended itself for a total number of seven hours!! He is now resting in intensive care for the next few hours and the next 24 hours will be crucial. Doctors (And my entire family) are very confident about the outcome of the operation, but we need to wait…

So I am hoping you would understand how my blogging from here onwards, and till things get better for him, will be very light, if not non-existent. I care passionately about all of this work I am doing in the social computing space, but I am sure you all know where I put all of my money any and every time: my family!

It’s the only one I got, thus that is where all my attention is going right now wishing my younger brother a speedy recovery knowing he is a tough guy and will get through this one in no time!

Hang in there, bro! We all love ya! :-)

(And from here a special thanks! to all of those folks on Twitter who have been sending along their get well soon wishes for him. Know that he really appreciates them, and so do I! I said it once and I will say it again: you are all a special bunch and I am very proud of hanging out with you lot!)

Today has been one of those days that, although there haven’t been too many meetings or conference calls, has been packed solid all along and without taking even a breath throughout! Phew! Yes, I know, one of those days. In particular there have been a couple of instances from different interactions, specially with tools!, that have been everything, but enjoyable (Including the fact that http://elsua.net has been down for some time earlier on today, still is a bit shaky, while I am checking things out with my Web hosting provider ). So I am really glad that is now all over and here I am, once again, sharing that weekly blog post giving you a glimpse of what it is like living in this gorgeous island of Gran Canaria.

But this time around I am going to be mentioning something else that I thought was really really cool and that I was rather excited about. As you well know, on this weekly series of blog posts about Gran Canaria I have developed the tendency to share both some pictures and short video clips of various places that have impressed me all along from this island and way at the beginning I was actually making use of DailyMotion to store those videos, well, it looks like things are going to change from here onwards.

No, I am not talking about stopping with the sharing of those videos. On the contrary, I am going to keep it going stronger than ever. For sure. What I am really going to start doing is making good use of the wonderful new feature that the fine folks of Flickr have put together. Yes, video!!!  How awesome is that? Right next to the good bunch of pictures I have been sharing all along I will now be able to add Flickr videos as well and share them as part of the same flow. Love it!

Yes, yes, I know that most people have been indicating how sharing videos in Flickr is a little bit limiting, since you can only upload videos which are 90 seconds long, but I tell you what, that’s just more than enough for me! In fact, most of the video clips I am planning on sharing will be that length anyway, so it makes perfect sense to place them together next to the pictures, don’t you think? And for those video clips longer that 90 seconds? -You may be asking, right? Well, I will continue to make use of DailyMotion, of course!

So let’s get the ball rolling then! Earlier on today I went ahead and shared a couple of short video clips in Flickr in almost no time, with a very user friendly interface and along the same lines of flow you get with sharing pictures and they are both part from a single series I created from one special place in my heart that gives me shivers every time I get to go there.

The name of the place is called Meloneras and is just on the very south of the island of Gran Canaria. It is one of those emergent touristy spots in the area where you will be able to find some of the finest hotels from the south of the island. Definitely, a good place to stay. For sure. However, what it also has is one of those stunning everlasting boulevards that would allow you to take long long walks along the coast enjoying quite some marvelous sunsets, both in winter and summer time! The most spectacular ones are the ones happening during the winter time when the sun sets across the Atlantic ocean. Just brilliant!

The funny thing is that I happen to live about 7 to 10 minute drive from there, so I get to go every now and then with the dog and spend one hour or one hour an a half unwinding from everything else and enjoying just one of those special places that only when you get there you realise the kind of beauty you are contemplating. I tell you, very few things can get better than that! And if not judge for yourself with these two videos I shared earlier on:

What did I say? It kind of makes you think you would want to be there, right? Well, that is just how I felt myself earlier on today a couple of times while I was struggling with a couple of tools. Perhaps next time I should just leave it and enjoy another one of those unforgettable sunsets @ Meloneras!

Want to join me?

Tags: Gran Canaria, Meloneras, Costa Meloneras, Sunsets, Daily Motion, Flickr, Flickr Video, Life, Life Work Balance, LWB, Tourism, Boulevard, Unwinding, Walks

I am sure that at this point in time of another week about to finish you were expecting from me to share with you the weekly blog post on the current experiment I am conducting on giving up e-mail (Work related e-mail, that is). However, I am afraid you would have to wait a few more hours as I am just too excited at the moment about the progress made this week and several interesting conversations I have bumped into as well, during the course of the last couple of days. So you would have to allow me to take some time to digest another wonderful week of events at the same time that I get to put together that progress report when all of that excitement wears off a bit. Not to worry, you won’t have to wait too long. Just a few more hours …

Thus what would I talk about today then, right? You may be wondering. Well, continuing with that fashion of putting together shorter blog posts, I would just like to point out to you an AMAZING blog post that a very good friend of mine, Rob Paterson, just put together earlier on and with which I feel, if anything, truly touched!

Most people out there, who have been following this blog for a good number of months, would realise about how excited I have been all along about social computing both in the corporate world and outside. I am sure that you may have experienced some of that excitement here in this blog. However, today I have got something for you that will certainly help you understand where all of that excitement comes from.

Go and read Rob Paterson’s article titled: "The Mystery of Attraction on the web - Luis Suarez"

I am going to keep this entry rather short, since Rob’s post is rather long, but, believe me, if you ever have to justify the business value, or just simply the value, from Social Computing, I would strongly suggest you keep forwarding and linking to Rob’s entry, because it is just as good as it gets, regardless what some other people may tell you. It is an essential and indispensable read that shows you the magic of serendipity, some wonderful knowledge discoveries and how we are all somehow connected with one another through smaller villages inside of that major metropolis that the Web is at the moment.

Like I said, keeping it short, go and read this unique and wonderful article and you will get to find out why over 5 years ago I decided to get involved with social computing and become what I am today: a social computing ambassador as excited and thrilled as back in day one!! And still going strong!!

Have a good one everyone!

(And a SPECIAL thanks to Rob for a superb and unforgettable conversation through Skype, earlier on this week, that would be difficult to forget throughout the years! Rob, many thanks for allowing me to be part of your small village! It is certainly a great honour and the pleasure was all mine!)

Tags: Rob Paterson, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Social Media, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration, Web 2.0, Communities, Villages, Serendipity, Knowledge Discovery, Essential Readings, Evangelist, Ambassador, Business Value, Value, Life, Internet, Web, Technology, Awesomeness, Work, Life Work Balance, LWB, Islands

Continuing further with the series of blog posts I have started putting together a couple of weeks back on video clips and pictures I have been taking here in Gran Canaria, here I am again at it, this time around sharing a couple of short video clips I took with my Nokia N95, once again, from one of those places that, if anything, is just breathtaking. And I am probably too short with that description. Yes, I am talking about La Caldera de Bandama, up in the north of the island.

Here is a quick description of what you will find there:

"[…] a volcanic crater – 1000 m (3300 ft) in diameter and 200 m (660 ft) deep – with a 569 m (1,867 ft) high peak, the Pico de Bandama, to which you can drive up. This peak has an observation platform, from where – despite its relatively low height – you can enjoy breathtaking views of the entire north and east coast and towards the mountainous centre in the west. With a clear sky you might even get to see the neighbouring island Fuerteventura in the northeast."

If you would want to read some more about it, you can certainly go ahead and check out Centre Tour - Caldera de Bandama, which provides a quick, short description of what makes that place special. And once you are done with it, here are the couple of videos I have shared earlier on today where you can see how every now and then I get to go there, just to chill out and admire the work of nature. Like I said, stunning!!

Gran Canaria - Caldera de Bandama - Part I:

Gran Canaria - Caldera de Bandama - Part II:

(And worth while a visit if you are around… No doubt!)

Tags: Gran Canaria, Nokia, N95, Caldera de Bandama, Bandama, Volcanos, Landscapes, Hiking, Life, Balance