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· 2 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

Welcome to my new website!, it was time for a change...😁

Some of you might remember the old website I built back in 2013:

Screenshot of rauljimenez.info old website

Back in the days, I decided to build that website to introduce myself, share some thoughts, and give updates about my life to my friends.

Today I have decided to replace it for this new website built with docusaurus.io for several reasons, but mainly because I will be:

  • Easier to maintain and update (no backend and almost everything in markdown),
  • Able to share resources in Spanish and English.
  • Allow you to contribute/repurpose the content I share (it is hosted on GitHub).

So, the next step is to start migrating the content I could rescue from my blog and put it here.

I have always thought that it is a pity to create resources and leave them in a drawer, so from now on I plan to start taking many of the resources that I have created over the years and share them in what I have defined as my "🧠 Digital Brain".

I'm starting by compiling all the resources I could share, so please, if you are interested in one in particular let me know in the comments.

This tool is not meant to be a social tool where you can subscribe, so if you want to stay up to date on what I share I will be republishing my articles in two channels:

I hope you like it, and any suggestions are more than welcome.

· 3 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

And... once again, the number of birthday wishes keeps growing!! Compared to 146 in 2014 and 2013, 120 in 2011, 115 in 2010, 89 in 2009, and 48 in 2008.

Thank you very much for remembering (or for taking the time to write when Facebook/LinkedIn/Skype... gave you the heads-up haha) to:

Photo of RaĂșl and his current wife

The first little gift... by MarĂ­a ^_^

Dad, Mom, MarĂ­a del Mar, Carmen, Brother, IvĂĄn, Milagros, Verde, Luisette, Mota, Analice, Jose Antonio (Copera!), Dani SEO, Ali Boscan, Sara, MarĂ­a, Patri Zamora (team!), Borja Dlb, Oguz, Jorge Ferreiro, Pedro GonzĂĄlez, Sonia HernĂĄndez, Nacho, Javi RincĂłn, Gustavo, Oscar CumĂ­, FĂĄtima, Carlos Iglesias, Ana MarĂ­a Palop, Mari Carmen, Gerardo Casas, Eva Merlo, JJ Merelo, Pepe Moles, Paco Montes, JosĂ© de la Chica, Javi AbadĂ­a, Alex Hidalgo, Antonio Remirez, Irene, Loli, Milagros, Pepe y Jose (in-laws! :D), Estrellas, Patri Romero, Aida M, BelĂ©n Carvajal, Cristina GonzĂĄlez, Fernando Benito, Tomas, Sergio Lillo, Silvia Bootello, Belen, MĂłnica, Almudena, Jorge Margenta, MatĂ­as, Jordi PĂ©rez, Kini, Tita Angelines, prima Isabel Pilar, Álvaro Mora, Ana Paniagua, Pelos, Pablo Capilla, Guaning, Luisa, Alejandro (Mr Simar), Celia Maracena, Álvaro Maracena, Nico (Maracena), Gerardo (Maracena), Jose (cabeza), RocĂ­o (Fever), Isaac, Marta (prima), JosĂ© Manuel Cartes, Josep, Pili DĂ­az, Zam, Gloria, Alex Vega, VĂ­ctor, Antonio (Tony Ryan), Jason, Ana MC, Nuño, Juancho, David Cuenca, Pablo Hinojosa, MarĂ­a Platero, Guille, Chaparro, Antonio Rabago, Karla, Javier Rivero, Oliver Calvo, Luis A. Nerja, Tita InĂ©s, David Arroyo, Nieves, Paula, Natath, Miguel Calero, Jessica Plegue, Elaine, Francesc y Tita Espe, primo Oliver, Guillermo Sanz, Tita Pili y Tito Paco, Yirli, Diego Bañales, prima Pilar, Fede, Francesc, Jorge Barrachina, JesĂșs GarcĂ­a Villar, Juasmilla, Fernando MTC, Milu, abuela, AngelID, Jon Garrido, Uri, Fran canario, Mari Carmen LĂłpez, Rubert Pacheco, MarĂ­a GonzĂĄlez Jaime, Cristina Granados, JosĂ© Manuel Robles, AndrĂ©s Bayona, Yisus, Max, JosĂ© MÂȘ Berlanga, Juan Antonio Franco Rojas, Eugenio Morarescu, Antonio Fdez Ares, Gonzalo Fdez, Virginia, Pascual, Pozu, Santiago Aguilera, Mercedes, Sergio JimĂ©nez, Chilli, Rufa, Dani Molina, Miguel Fdez Calero, Manu (Quea), Yusep, Fran Servia, David GalĂĄn, Noelia RodrĂ­guez, Marina Azagra, Priscila, Fernando RodrĂ­guez LeĂłn, Miguel Ángel Lozano, and Dugo!!

And... sorry once again if I forgot someone! It's really complicated to keep track with so many channels: wishes in person, on Facebook (wall+messages), calls, WhatsApp, Hangouts, SMS, LinkedIn, emails, etc.

Thanks once again and... see you next year! (as we used to say when we were kids... if Johnnie Walker wills it! ;-P)

· 2 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

Google Glass and Android Wear​

Although I already told you that I had acquired Google Glass and how they worked, since September I also have a G Watch with Android Wear. Additionally, I have been motivated to develop a basic geolocated alerts application that works both on the watch and on the glasses.

We Won the 1st BEEVA Hackathon​

On September 25th, I participated in a BEEVA (BBVA) Hackathon where we won first prize with the development of a geolocated promotions application prototype for smartwatches with Android Wear and ArcGIS Online.

2014-09-30_09h55_32

Iniciador Madrid​

On September 26th, I attended the Global Meeting of Iniciador, an event organized by the Iniciador Foundation for organizers and former organizers to discuss various issues affecting the organization.

There, I was able to reconnect with many old friends and meet new ones, but the best part is that after that event, I decided to collaborate with Iniciador again both at the national and local levels. So, starting this month, I will be helping organize Iniciador Madrid.

GMIniciador

Photo at the Global Meeting

Afterwork​

On October 6th, I was on Capital Radio's Afterwork program in an interview with Enrique O’Connor, founder of Spotlinker.

Esri Spain Conference​

On October 22nd and 23rd, we held the annual Esri Spain conference, a large event where we showcased the full power of the ArcGIS platform to professionals of all kinds. Here is a video where I demonstrated a mini-application I developed for my watch with Android Wear ^_^.

You can find all the conference videos on the Esri Spain YouTube account.

Conferencia Esri Espana

During my presentation in the plenary session

University Tour​

During October, I also went on a university tour visiting Seville, CastellĂłn, Complutense in Madrid, and Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) to explain the professional opportunities available if they specialize in application development using technologies we offer at Esri (ArcGIS).

GeoDevUJI

Talk at Universitat Jaume I in CastellĂłn

Google Developer Festival​

On Friday, October 31st, I was at the Faculty of Granada at the Google Developer Festival talking about wearable devices with Google Glass, Android Wear, and ArcGIS Online.

B1RQZUGCUAAXImr

· One min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

For a long time, I wanted to experience how Google Glass works, and after a long wait, I have finally been able to try it myself (and with calm). So for those of you who had the same questions as I did, I decided to record these videos where I try to explain how they work.

In this video, I do a mini demo (as far as the glasses allowed me xD):

I would love for you to tell me if it is clear, ask me any questions you have, if you want to see something specific, etc.

Hugs!

· 2 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

Today I wanted to share another thought I had, this time it is: "everything has a positive side, even having a bad memory", although perhaps Leonard Shelby (from Memento) wouldn't think the same xD.

Those who know me know that I am a quite active person, always coming up with new ideas, projects, etc., and you know that I always say I have a bad memory (which is true). Sometimes I think it's because I don't exercise my memory much, although sometimes I think it's due to my "hyperactivity."

Who knows why.... the thing is, sometimes it "annoys me" to think that "I am this way," but this time I reflected and thought... well... having a bad memory is not always bad. Why? In my opinion, because:

  1. It forces me to be more structured, for example:
  2. Also, I make myself write more about what I have done so I don't forget it
    1. For example, my life summary posts which also serve to keep my friends updated on how I am.
    2. And to share articles like this one, which are thoughts I want to internalize (and writing helps).
  3. And finally, it also helps you forget problems sooner or lessen the importance of many of them.

In short, if someone ever criticizes you for having a bad memory, maybe you can counter-argue that... having a bad memory also has its advantages, what do you think?

By the way, this reasoning also applies to "having scattered attention," anyone dare to justify the good in this? ^_^

· 2 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

As I mentioned in a previous article, I have joined the Esri Spain team as a Developer Program Manager... and what does that entail? Very simple: helping and inspiring developers to create applications that solve problems related to location (whether it's the user's location or anything else).

Photo of the Developer Summit, developers playing ping pong

Esri Developers Summit in the USA

For those of you who are not familiar with the company, let me tell you that Esri is a company that started in the United States over 40 years ago (currently with more than 3,000 employees worldwide) and, in my opinion, has created the best software in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) sector: ArcGIS.

esri

And what is that used for? Well, let me give you several examples:

So, it can be used to solve problems, optimize processes, communicate better, etc., and therefore, the applications are numerous and can be useful for individuals, companies, and governments.

If you are a programmer and are interested in learning more about this field, I invite you to join the Geo Developers Meetup that I created to organize talks, workshops, etc., and help each other by sharing knowledge.

See you soon! :D

· 2 min read
Raul Jimenez Ortega

Many people still hesitate to take the step of paying a fee to subscribe to a good online training service; and today I wanted to advocate for it because I believe it is more cost-effective compared to other formal training alternatives. In my case, I decided to bet on CodeSchool in June of last year, for me the best platform that exists to stay updated and improve programming skills.

Personally, when it comes to educational platforms, I prefer those that require me to submit exercises to obtain certification, as they involve putting what I've learned into practice and therefore, I believe, provide some validity. Here are a few other platforms with MOOCs that follow this line where you can find free courses (with paid certifications): Coursera, Miriadax, CodeAcademy, and EDX (thanks Pino for this last one!).

Well, in my case I pay a $25 per month subscription on Codeschool, which over these months (including discounts) has amounted to about €125, and although this may seem like a considerable amount, I think if we analyze what I've gained in return it offers a different perspective.

For example, during this time I have completed 9 of the 36 courses they have available:

– Javascript Road Trip Part 1 (Free)
– Javascript Road Trip Part 2
– Javascript Road Trip Part 3
– Coffeescript
– Real-Time-Web with Node.js
– Discover DevTools (Free)
– Fundamentals of Design
– Try Git (Free)
– Try Ruby

Doing the math, each paid course has cost me about €20 and I have invested ... I would say between 4 and 8 hours in each. If we do the math, I think it comes at a very reasonable price since the courses are of tremendous quality and include a lot of practical exercises that I believe are making me a better professional.

What do you think about this, in comparison to other training options: workshops, training sessions, master's programs, etc. Don't you think it's a good price?