Foursquare Day in Puerto Rico

It’s happening! 4² Day in Puerto Rico. What’s Foursquare day (4²) you say?

It is a celebration that started in Tampa, Fla in 2010 and it takes place every April 16, hence 4² day. All Foursquare fans get together to check-in, talk, party or whatever they planned.

This is not just for people using Foursquare, this is a great chance to meet the online community. Many people interact with each other on a daily basis and have never met in person; so this is a great chance.

To see if there is a meet up already for your city, go to this link. For more information about Foursquare Day and how you can be a parte of it, visit the official Foursquare Day Blog.

I will be joining the Foursquare meet up in Ponce, Puerto Rico (link of event on Facebook), and hope to see you all there. Even if you don’t use Foursquare, go to the meet up and let’s get to know each other.

Happy Birthday Twitter!

Today Twitter turns 6 and what a better way to remember than having the iconic tweet from one its founders that started it all.

Pi Day!

Happy Pi day!

Geek holiday! 

Image: Wikipedia

To all the women on their day…

I think the image above summarizes very well what the women in my life mean. This is a poster produced by Westinghouse that dates back to 1942 and has “Rosie the Riveter” representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II.

It represents the hard working women that give it all for their family. Grandmother, mother, aunts, cousins, sister, girlfriend, friend, the women in our life mean a lot. Without them we wouldn’t be here.

Congratulations to all the women in the world on their day, specially those that I have come to know in my life.

Image: Virginia Historical Society

Some Tech Bloggers in Puerto Rico Just Want to be Cool Kids with the Latest Gadgets

If you read that title you might be like “uh uh, that’s a strong statement”. The thing is I back up everything I say or write, if not, then I shouldn’t waste my time on this. This is just one more proof on the long list of issues I have with these people.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect them, I just don’t respect how they do things. If you don’t have any ethics, I still respect you, but I will not respect how you do stuff.

In the recent weeks one hot issue in Puerto Rico has been AT&T’s data throttle issue. I wrote a post about it explaining what it is and how it affects AT&T customers. I was hard and continue to be hard on AT&T in Puerto Rico because data throttle is design to help alleviate the network problems AT&T has.

The issue is that AT&T does have network related problems in mainland US, but not in Puerto Rico. Aside from the occasional drop in bars or data speed from place to place, is not a big deal like in Manhattan where you just can’t update Facebook, or can’t place a call in some places in Orlando, etc.

They are two completely different scenarios.

So I wrote about it, other bloggers didn’t. But monitoring the social networks you will find answers to their followers questions regarding this issue, their response was:

“Speed is not unlimited”

Yes they wrote that, more than one of them did.

You sure want to know what I think of that right? It is the single, dumbest thing I have read this year. Still there is a long way to go this year, but they have already set the bar so high on dumb that I doubt it will be surpass.

Speed being unlimited or not is not the issue, data throttle is semantics. “I’m not limiting you data consumption, I’m just making it harder for you to consume it”.

But think about it. When I signed up for unlimited data with AT&T, I signed a contract. The contract clearly states that I have a monthly bill to pay. As long as I pay, you, the carrier, have to give me in return what I’m paying for. Which means that I signed up for a competent network and the speeds you so proudly say you have, no less.

It is called “fulfilling your duty”. If I refuse to pay then you take the service from me.

These bloggers not only said that “speed is not unlimited”, they also said that there is nothing you can do since other carriers do it. Ok, so people commit murder, that means you can also kill too?

Yes you can do something. If you are one of those affected by data throttle, make a formal complaint with AT&T and then at the JRT in Puerto Rico.

This behavior by these people sums up pretty well how these bloggers operate. See, these bloggers will not go after tech companies in Puerto Rico, in this case a mobile carrier. Why? These companies represent a sponsorship opportunity.

Not only this, you can see them on the different social networks openly “lambiendo ojo” “kissing their feet” -mobile companies- just to get into events and get review units. They just act like the cool kids with the latest gadgets.

They take any chance they can to openly engage on social networks with some companies like they’re best friends. Ethics, my people, ethics.

I know lots of people that are honest and say when something is wrong about a company, even when they are sponsors, even if they are in Puerto Rico. I have mad respect for them and I follow their example.

If you are going to write good things about a company, you might also write bad things when there is reason to do so, not just to do it, but things like “data throttle” and criticism to AT&T must be written because it affects the readers, your followers.

One thing is to criticize tech companies like Apple that do not have presence in Puerto Rico and does not represent sponsorship opportunities, a whole other thing is not to criticize those companies in the island because you are afraid they might not invite you for drinks and a phone.

You owe yourself to the readers, not just to companies. Did you know that tech companies value honesty? Guess not.

And all of these should be a lesson to everybody, that when you choose to only say good things about tech companies, there is no way you can say you have credibility. This is important when posting reviews, where is your credibility?

Full disclosure- this represents my own view and not that of the tech sites I work with and represent.

Image credit: SocialMediaMagic

Life is Fragile, I Know It First Hand

I have been taught that life is fragile. My parents didn’t teach me that, not even Steve Jobs when he said it at All Things D8 in 2010, I got to learn it first hand. In April 16, 2004, I fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a wall at a gas station just two minutes away from home.

Because of the impact I broke my leg, the femur to be exact, and thanks that I was wearing my seat belt nothing worse happened. But I did have some bad time having to received three blood transfusions.

This teached me a lot of things. Not only that I had to rest more, that wearing my seat belt is important, but most importantly, that I should cherish life even more. 

Why I write this today? After finishing a live weekly show for Tecnético in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, I hit the street to get home in the south part of of the island, Ponce. Just minutes after I started driving, I passed Montehiedra Shopping Mall and I saw a van parked in the emergency lane.

I continue driving looking at it to make sure I drive safely as I passed by. Getting closer I notice the driver’s door was open and out of it comes a man waving its hands and stood in my lane. I freaked out, change to the inner lane (thank God there was nobody) and missed hitting that person. He never moved. He wasn’t looking for help, he was looking to die. 

As I passed by he was staring in shock at what was happening, he was wearing a shirt from Autoridad de Energía Elétrica. I will never forget his face.

After I passed by I looked back and he was mad because he didn’t got what he wanted. 

I honestly don’t know why he did what he did. I don’t know if he actually was looking to die, I just know that at that moment I feared for him as I feared for me.

I will never know what he was actually looking for, but I just will say that life is fragile, and trying to get rid of your life is definitely not the solution.

If you ever feel like that try to get help, there are countless organizations that can help you. 

When I almost died on my car accident, one thing that I always carry with me since then is that I give thanks because I can be here for some more time and my goal is to make a difference.

Photo credit: Physiciandiary

Some Quality Control Over Tech Blogs is Needed

For those that don’t know, I’m currently editor and founder of The iOS Post. I’ve been around writing about tech for almost 3 years now. Might not be much compared to many bloggers but there is one thing that separates me from many, and that’s ethic.

  • First, I never created my blog to be some kind of copy machine, so you won’t be seeing exact same paragraphs from other publications, with same pictures and even same tittles.
  • You won’t see me publishing the 1,000s of rumors about the next iPhone or iPad that are spread on a weekly basis and that are result of many sources from many sites that I don’t have the slightest idea of who they are, therefore I don’t trust.
  • I create content, which is the driving force of the site. If you will be copying or like a friend of mine said, re-blogging what others publish after some hard work, then don’t even bother setting up a site.
  • It is all about content, not about a futuristic design. That’s why you can visit my site (www.theiospost.com) and you will see a minimalistic design. The focus is the content and the reader doesn’t get distracted.
  • I get products for review, I do not go whining and kneel on the ground to beg in front of companies. I see bloggers shamelessly saying nice things about companies on Twitter (in public!) just to get on those companies good graces to get invited to events and get review units. That is unethical. 
  • When I review I say what is good and what is bad. Bloggers I know review products and don’t agree with me in some things because they obviously want to be nice to companies so they can continue going to events and get review units. I say what is good and what is bad and if it doesn’t work I will say it. We owe ourselves to the readers, not the companies. Companies respect when you honestly say what you think about products.
  • What about writing? Some of these bloggers don’t even know what a spellchecker is? In Spanish, people doesn’t use “acentos” anymore, and what’s up with “Anglicismos”? Get a dictionary please.
  • I use @TheiOSpost Twitter account solely for the site’s purpose. Some use their site’s Twitter account for individual purpose, therefore saying inappropriate things that are not even closely related to their site. And its worse than you think when you consider that they do own personal twitter accounts. Who of the followers of your site care if you are eating? Leave that to your personal account.
  • I respect competition, but do not respect mediocrity. If you are a blogger from other site and do things the right way then I respect you. I have many tech friends I follow and respect. Many I don’t respect for being unethical, misleading and copycats. And I have the biggest grudge for those that make up stories out of nowhere.

All this is a result of the frustration of seeing everyday tech blogs appear from nowhere. One thing is to know about tech, another is to know how to communicate, be ethical, professional and do things the right way. 

Why this frustration? I fear that this breed of “bloggers” is hurting the bloggers that really do things the right way, that bust their behinds doing real work, creating content.

Maybe I’m the one that is wrong, you tell me. The thing is that for me, blogging and writing about tech is a career not a joke to impress people.

Photo: Huffington Post

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Twitter is a great tool, but once in a while…

I think of Twitter as an amazing platform. Many people think is a waste of time, I think is the opposite. And I can even go further as to say that is even more important than Facebook. 

Twitter is the go-to platform for getting all information on the go, in real-time where you get all thesesources, information regarding a certain event taking place and from many different angles.

It is also a way for people like me that need to distribute our work to the public. But certainly there are many people that do not use it properly. This is when social networks and platforms start to fail.

I’ll give a couple of examples on how people do not use properly such a great tool like Twitter.

  • CAPS: users don’t get it, when using all capitalized letters is like if you were yelling. It denotes call for attention, is looks bad. Some news media accounts or individuals that for for news outlets use this method of using CAPS and it certainly looks like they are panicking.
  • Media links without descriptions: I found this from time to time and simply don’t understand the point of it. If you post a photo to twitter, but do not type a description how on Earth will people know what it is. I’m not clicking on every single media link to see what it is.
  • One word tweets: “tired”, “here”, these are just few of many examples that people tweet about. 
  • Using an official Twitter account for a business or site as a personal account: profanity, personal status and personal conversations with friends do not have a place in business accounts, period. If you have a personal account use it for that purpose. This is very unprofessional.
  • Profile description: this has turned into what dragged My Space to the bottom. I tend to think people do not care about who reads them. 
  • Flooding: Many people flood timelines by just saying something, even if it is very stupid, every second.
  • Trolling: I’m always against this. Trolls think that because there is Free Speech, then you can say anything. Really? What do you get by insulting, criticizing everything or everyone’s work? I think there should be Free Speech, but there is a point when it can become harassment and insult. Many of this trolls never have the slightest idea of how much work is put behind everything we do. Does anyone really know what, if anything, does a troll really does something to contribute in society?

Again, Twitter is helpful, a way to express, but the use of it really diminishes the capabilities of the platform. There’s always going to be people that will not use these tools properly and will justify everything under the assumption that they can do whatever they want. That’s how mediocrity is fueled.

Thoughts About Tech Bloggers: “Should I call myself one?”

I have been blogging for almost 3 years now. You start from the bottom up. Trying to learn, not only how things work on a blog, but also how to write properly, how to express the right way.

Since then, I’ve been running a tech blog related to Apple news and products. I take it very seriously and professionally. I run social network accounts for my blog as professional as I can be. I work very hard day and night to provide content to my readers and to attract more people into visiting the blog.

But is hard when you see how others do some related work, mediocre work, which damages all the effort I put day in and day out. It really tarnishes what bloggers are and diminishes their capacities.

One time I criticized the idea that there are people out there that just copy stuff from other blogs. Hey, is fine as long as you give credit, right? But there is a point when those blogs do that %98 of the time that it really bothers me. 

I “tweeted” once, “there blogs that should never exist because they copy even the weirdest and absurdest rumors related to iPhones”. Somebody answer saying that “it was a slow week in Apple related news.” I responded saying, “it is never a slow week. That’s where you become creative and create original content as reviews, announcements of products related to the platform, tutorials, video tutorials, etc.”

There are people out there that become tech bloggers because they think they have what it takes to do so, because they know about tech. It has never been whether you are a tech expert or not, the real test is also not reporting about obvious news, the real test is whether you are capable of creating original content and not copy everything others do. 

One thing is to write about news that is more than obvious that all blogs should have, (for example, Apple just launched an iPad 2). But posting about every rumor out there about the next generation iPhone just really makes me sick.

Seeing one paragraph, 4 line posts really makes me wonder how much brain functions were invested creating them. Make a post with four lines and then posting the press release is really something mediocre. And I’m not even going to go into proper spelling, which appears non existant to some people.

I do not think I’m the best tech blogger out there. I just take very seriously what I do. I work very hard, and when others are nothing short of inept really makes me wonder if I should really be called a tech blogger.

It all begins by thinking how seriously you take it, and how professional you can be. Is not that you can say that you are, you have to show it.

Photo credit: alamodestuff