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.

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.

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.

During my presentation in the plenary session

University Tour​

During October, I also went on a university tour visiting Seville, Castellón, 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).

Talk at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón

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.

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!

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:
   • When it comes to work, I try to document all procedures.
   • Procedures or work that I later share; for example, in articles on this blog like: Partner Agreement, Template for Creating an Analytics Plan, etc.
   • I tend to use many task management tools that I later reuse in my work.
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? ^_^

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).

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.

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

• Identifying the best areas to live within a city (based on certain criteria)
• Solving problems like: what is the best location for my next business?
• Creating location-aware mobile applications that incorporate behaviors associated with their location.
• Setting up dynamic and interactive 3D scenarios (similar to Second Life)
• Representing and communicating large amounts of information in a more understandable (map of England) or attractive way (map with incredible places).
• Conducting simulations, analyzing geolocated data (e.g., purchases) and predicting future situations (queues in stores, etc).
• Other 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!

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?