Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas Card 2012


Monday, December 3, 2012

Berlin Christmas Markets

Some pictures of Berlin Christmas Markets!









Full album on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4876672757965.187948.1331864974&type=1&l=a94bd4c96e

Monday, November 26, 2012

Think and Grow Rich



Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

This is another book that I wanted to read for a while, since is a well-known old book. The first impression of the book is that is pretty similar to the book called "The Secret" because basically it teach you in a way about how to think to be successful and make money.
There are some parts that I like about the book but there are others that nowadays are quite out of date.
If you have read "The secret" I don't recommend you to read this one, and if you haven't then I recommend you more reading "The secret".

Some parts of the book that I like.
The Major Attributes of Leadership.
  1.  Unwavering courage
  2. Self-control
  3. A keen sense of justice
  4. Definiteness of decision
  5. Definiteness of plans
  6. The habit of doing more than paid for
  7. A pleasing personality
  8. Sympathy and understanding
  9. Mastery of detail
  10. Willingness to assume full responsibility
  11. Cooperation


How To Develop Persistence.
  1. A definite purpose backed by burning desire for its fulfillment.
  2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
  3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
  4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a book that I wanted to read for a while because it is a well known book for everybody. Honestly, I the book is good but I was expecting more from it, I can say that I enjoyed more reading the book How to win friends and influence people, and I think there are right now better alternatives about how to be more effective or efficient.

Here in the picture you can see the famous 7 habits.




Sunday, October 14, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

Views of the city from the US Open Stadium


Last days in USA before going back to Spain.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Go Inspired is announcing new Courses for 2013!


Go Inspired is updating and announcing new courses for 2013.
Check out in Go Inspired website the new yoga courses, commedia dell'arte workshops, interior design in Italy...

Thursday, September 13, 2012

How to manage the expenses of a group of people?

Group Budget is the answer!
Managing group expenses and income has never been so easy...

Description:
Do you want to manage your monthly expenses and keep track of your cash flow? Are you traveling and want to manage the expenses for each person in your group? In charge of a team? Then Group Budget is definitely for you!

Group Budget Manager tracker app lets you:

★ Add as many groups as you want (no limit).
★ Add as many users as you want per group.
★ Manage the users’ cash flow tracking expenses and income.
★ View, print or email each user’s report.
★ Add, delete and edit new categories to have all the expenses and income organized.
★ Lock your app in case you lose your iPhone so all your information is private.
★ And much much more...


How it works:
Create your group expense and income reports directly on your mobile during your activity (group, team, month, travel...). Enter the participants names and their income and expenses, manage each person's cash flow, follow the activity balance and view/email reports.

Uses:
★ In charge of a group of students? Group Budget will help you manage and track the expenses of each student.
★ Are you a counselor on a trip? Group Budget will help you manage and track the expenses of each traveler.
★ Do you want to track the expenses of your family? Group Budget will help you manage and track the expenses and income of each member.
★ And many many other uses! With Group Budget, tracking and managing group budgets has become easier and faster.


Download it now and check out for yourself all the other features Group Budget has to offer.
Learn more at http://www.youngbit.com.

Screenshots:









Wednesday, September 12, 2012

New iPhone App Released!

Taking advantage of the release of the new iPhone 5 in a couple of hours today,  I am announcing that I just released last week a new App compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch (IOS 5).
The new app is called Group Budget and it is a finance tool to keep track of the budgets of groups of people.
With Group Budget you are able to track the expenses and incomes of groups. It is a great tool for counselors, managers...

You can download Group Budget from the App Store.
Group Budget is my second IOS App released after the popular app for tracking people called People Tracker.



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The story of stuff


Interesting video about how the products we buy and consume are made. I always try to buy the less useless things as possible and also to fix and repair things.
From now on, I'm going to try to be even more aware about this problem that our society have created.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

New IOS App coming soon!

After launching People Tracker App one month ago which is a GPS tracking system in real time, Young Bit Apps is developing a new one which is going to be release soon!
Stay tuned!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Wellmount Accomodation in Athlone

Last February I wrote a post about Wellmount Student Village, I tried to explain there my point of view of the place.
Right now I just received the deposit back and I wanted to explain again my point of view of the situation because I think it may interest some erasmus students who are looking for accommodation in Athlone (Ireland).
After being in wellmount for 9 months I just received the amount of 101 € of deposit, some of my friends have received a little bit more and some a little bit less, and even some of them haven't received any amount yet from the deposit.
To receive that amount of money was a nightmare, and it was a nightmare because I sent to the manager like 5 emails and I didn't receive any answer so then I tried calling them and after calling like 3 or 4 times they lie to me a couple of times, like:
"Don't worry Manuel, tomorrow we will make the deposit so in two days you will receive the money."
And it is frustrating when you heard that a couple of times and then they don't send you the money back.
And finally the last point is that because they during the whole year don't show you any legal electric bills, you don't really know how much electricity you are spending and at the end they just give you the deposit back but they don't show you any break down of all the invoices, so I don't really trust how honest they are.

Conclusion, I don't recommend staying in Wellmount in Athlone, there are better places for better prices closer to the AIT Campus.

Because there are good things in Athlone, here I show you some pics:





Saturday, July 14, 2012

People Tracker App


People Tracker App is already in the App Store!
People Tracker is an app that allows you to stay connected to your employees, friends, family, co-workers... or anyone else you want to locate in real time.
The most important features are:
  • Location in real-time. See the location through your cell phone, on a map in real time. 
  • Create regions. Create regions allowing you to see who is in/out/near a particular region.
  • Integrated. Share your exact location by email easily. 
  • History. See people's latest movements. 
  • Exact location. See street name, city, state, country, zip code, longitude and latitude. 
  • Groups. Create groups of people and see where all those people are at the same time.
  • More features. And much much more...
Check for PeopleTrackerApp.com for more information.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

How To Win Friends and Influence People


I bought this book last Christmas in a small library in Bethel (CT) and finally I've got some time to read it and I just can say that is a must read for  everybody.
Here there is some information about the book.

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

  1. Don't criticize, condemn, or complain.
  2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
  3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
  4. Never show others that you are not interested in what they have to say.

Six Ways to Make People Like You

  1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
  2. Smile.
  3. Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
  4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
  5. Talk in terms of the other person's interest.
  6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

  1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
  2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say "You're Wrong."
  3. If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
  4. Begin in a friendly way.
  5. Start with questions to which the other person will answer yes.
  6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
  7. Let the other person feel the idea is his or hers.
  8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
  9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
  10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
  11. Dramatize your ideas.
  12. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

  1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
  2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
  3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
  4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
  5. Let the other person save face.
  6. Praise every improvement.
  7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
  8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
  9. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Six-Figure Second Income


The Six-Figure Second Income is a book that explains how to start and grow a successful online business without quitting your day job.
The book explains basically how to create a website to sell products. The information is quite good but if you have already experience on the field maybe is too basic for you. I was expecting more detailed information about how to market products rather than how to create a website.

Friday, May 25, 2012

How To Become CEO


 
How to Become CEO: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization is like a bible for everybody who works in a big corporation and wants to climb the corporate ladder.
A must read book.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Steve Jobs: The Biography


I wasn't expecting enjoying this book that much, one of best books I have read this year.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Howth Portrait

Howth Portrait by manuel escrig
Howth Portrait, a photo by manuel escrig on Flickr.

Howth Red Boat

Howth Red Boat by manuel escrig
Howth Red Boat, a photo by manuel escrig on Flickr.

Howth Sunset

Howth Sunset by manuel escrig
Howth Sunset, a photo by manuel escrig on Flickr.

Monday, April 23, 2012

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be

Another book read it, probably one of the most famous books about being creative in marketing ideas.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Erasmus in Ireland - Interview in Vox Uji Radio

Talking about studying abroad at Vox UJI Radio in the The English Tertulia with Margo and Dave.
Date: 21/02/12

Click here to listen the interview

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Engineer in Society - Apple manufacturing in China


This is a video that my classmates and I have created for a subject called the engineer in society in AIT. We parody the topic of Apple manufacturing in China.
I hope you have fun watching it! We have had fun recording it!

The Unconventional Guide To Working For Yourself


The Unconventional Guide To Working For Yourself is book easy to read that explains how to start making some money on the internet. Is quite small, it has just 54 pages and you can read it in a couple of hours.
The book is not going to tell you how to make a fortune but it will tell you how to start being more entrepeneour and maybe it will help you with small projects.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Developing a Web Store in Grails

This is an example of a Grails Project about developing a WebStore called Web Shop, here you can see some screen shoots of it.
I linked the pdf project file with all the description of the project and the all the code.







Download the PDF Project file here.
Download the web application here.

Tomato Alarm Clock!

Tomato Alarm is a Java Application that I developed as an assignment for a subject in AIT.
Here you can see some screen shoots of the application.





If you want to download Tomato Alarm for Mac, you can download it here and try it for free.
Download Tomato Alarm!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Blink: The power of thinking without thinking

I just finished reading Blink, another book from Malcolm Gladwell, the book is quite good but I would say that I prefer Outliers or The Tipping Point.
Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making.In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like.--Barbara Mackoff

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Wellmount Student Village in Athlone

Since I have been living in Wellmount for the last 6 months I want to write a post explaining my point of view about this place.

Wellmount is a group of houses, each house has like 4 apartments, the 2 apartments on the ground floor has 3 rooms, 1 bathroom and 1 kitchen. The other two apartments on the first floor has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 kitchen and 1 living room.
The apartments some of them are better than the other because it depends of the people who has been living there before, they can be fine or they can be quite old with the walls dirty and doors that don't close well. For example in the apartment I am living right now the main door doesn't close well and sometimes if we don't pay attention we leave it open without realizing.
In the 4 bedrooms apartment the fridge is quite small so for 4 people is kind of inconvenient.
In general the apartment are fine, but just fine because is kind of expensive, we pay 65€ per week per person and for that price there are better places but some are closer to the campus some others not.
The Internet is included with price but this year we had some problems with the Internet and it has been Dow sometimes for a couple of days which is totally inconvenient.

Finally, the location is not bad, I mean is like between the AIT and the center so you can reach the campus walking for 15 minutes and you can go to the center for the same amount of time.

What I wanted to say is that the price for the washing machine and the dryer is quite expensive, 3€ to put the washing machine and 3€ also for the dryer so in total is 6€ which it means is overpriced, and the place is just open from around 10 or 11 to 7 or 8, sometimes is not open and also is closed on sunday, and you need a token to put on those machines and to buy those tokens is like impossible because you gotta buy them to the manager who is just there from 1 to 2 on week days and obviously at that time you're in class, what a nightmare!

Anyway, I want to upload some pics or a movie about the place and also I want to write a post about the college. I hope this information is useful.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Courses Around The World

We just bought the domain Courses around the world so now Go Inpired has two main domain:

http://www.coursesaroundtheworld.com/
http://www.goinspired.com

Remember, Go Inspired is a company specialized in creating unique cultural experiences. Check out our Programs and Courses that we offer in our different destinations.

Check out Go Inspired Blog!


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Art of Happiness at Work

I just finished reading another book. My opinion about it is that if you are bored at work, then I recommend you reading it, otherwise don't.

Friday, January 13, 2012

The Holstee Manifesto Lifecycle Video



Me encanta este video, os recomiendo que lo veais. Voy a ponerlo en practica este manifiesto siempre que pueda!

Bancaja (Bankia) es una vergüenza.

Bancaja, o ahora conocido como bankia es una vergüenza de banco, es
un chiste, es una broma, en definitiva, es ridículo.
Punto 1:
Solo se pueden pagar recibos los Martes y Jueves de 8:30 a 10:30. Que si trabajas, estudias o en definitiva, haces algo en tu vida y esas horas estas ocupado, pues simplemente te fastidias y te complicas mucho la vida
para algo tan fácil como es eso.
Punto 2:
Por que los bancos en España no abren por la tarde? En mucho paises desarrollados los bancos logicamente abren por las tardes, tienen un horario mas amplio que cubren las necesidades de sus clientes, si, se preocupan por los clientes, y no los engañan, les dicen mentiras y los tratan sin respeto como hace bancaja con sus clientes (por lo menos a mi y a unas cuantas personas que conozco).
Punto 3: 
Esta es una historia que me paso con bancaja hace unos meses, simplemente voy a copiar los mensajes del servicio de atención al cliente.

Mensaje 1:
Hola, Soy el cliente Manuel Escrig, y me pongo en contacto para pedir explicaciones sobre el pago de la cuota anual de la tarjeta de 12 euros. Cuando hize la apertura de la cuenta, pregunte sobre los gastos de dicha cuenta, y se me explico claramente que la tarjeta no tendria ninguna cuota anual, por lo que acepte a beneficiarme de ella. Por lo que me gustaria obviamente que se me reingrese dicho pago de 12 euros. Muchas gracias. Manuel Escrig
Respuesta 1:
Estimado Sr. eSCRIG: Estos son los nuevos importes a aplicar en el alta y tenencia de tarjetas: - On Line y Prepago: Alta: 8 eur. Tenencia anual: 17 eur. - On Line ONG y Afinidad: Alta: 9 eur. Tenencia anual: 18 eur. - Telepeaje: Alta: 30 eur. Tenencia anual: 13 eur. - Compras: Alta: 16 eur. (Principal), 12 (Adicional) eur. Tenencia anual: 32 eur. (P), 24 eur. (A). * *Exenta por compras > 4.000 eur. - Compras ONG y Afinidad: Alta: 17 eur. (P), 13 eur. (A) Tenencia anual: 33 eur. (P), 25 eur. (A). * *Exenta por compras > 4.000 eur. - Compras Oro: Alta: 35 (P) 18 (A) eur. Tenencia anual: 68 eur. (P), 36 eur. (A). * *Exenta por compras > 10.000 eur. - Platinum: Alt:a: 55 eur. Tenencia anual: 110 eur. (tanto P como A). * *Exenta por compras > 20.000 eur. - Free: Alta: Gratuita Tenencia anual: 32 eur. (tanto P como A). * *Exenta por realizar una compra/traspaso al año. - Free +: Alta: Gratuita. Tenencia anual: 68 eru.(P), 36 eur. (A). Gracias por su consulta.

Mensaje 2:
Muchas gracias por vuestra respuesta. Es realmente agradable que para un estudiante al abrir una cuenta le digan que no pagara ningun cargo por la tarjeta y que luego al cabo de varios meses le apliquen un cargo. Me siento completamente engañado, supongo que es vuestra politica engañar de negocio el engañar a los clientes.
Respuesta 2:

Estimado Sr. Escrig: Actualmente, por tener la nómina o pensión domiciliadas en la Entidad, por ser menor de 26 años, o ser su cuenta, cuenta vinculada a una cuenta de valores con al menos 1.000 acciones de Bankia, se podrá beneficiar de las siguientes ventajas: - Sin comisiones de Administración ni Mantenimiento de la propia cuenta. - Una tarjeta de débito (On-line estándar) sin cuota de emisión ni de tenencia por cada titular de la cuenta. - Sin comisiones por ingreso de cheques en euros de plazas nacionales sobre dicha cuenta. - Sin comisiones por emisión de transferencias nacionales en euros y transferencias en euros a Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, hasta 50.000 ¤ (reglamento 924/2009), realizadas a través de los servicios telemáticos financieros (internet, cajeros automáticos, Banca Telefónica o Bancaja SMS, y ordenadas desde la cuenta nómina/pensión (o cuenta joven o vinculada a la cuenta de valores). En caso de cuenta perceptora de pensión, se exime de comisión en transferencias también ordenadas en oficinas. En su día se le informó correctamente, a los menores de 26 años no se le cobran las tarjetas asociadas a la cuenta. Bankia pone a su disposición la posibilidad de presentar una queja o reclamación ante el Servicio de Atención al Cliente a través del formulario que puede encontrar en www.bancaja.es, en el apartado "Atención al Cliente" situado en la parte superior de la página, a la derecha. Para ello, una vez cumplimentado, impreso y firmado, puede depositarlo en cualquier oficina de Bankia o enviarlo por correo postal a la siguiente dirección: BANKIA S.A.U. Servicio de Atención al Cliente Apartado de Correos Nº 61267 28080 Madrid Si la reclamación está amparada en documentación complementaria, ésta deberá remitirse junto con el formulario de reclamación. Reciba un cordial saludo.

Punto 4:
Y esta la ultima historia, una conversación que tuve también el año pasado preguntando información sobre el precio de transferencias internacionales. En esta conversación con el servició de atención al cliente me sentí completamente engañado.
Copio los mensajes originales, atención a las fechas.

Contenido del mensaje 1 
De: Atención al usuario
Referencia: W0036653592
Fecha de recepción: 11-09-2011
Fecha de lectura: 12-09-2011
Asunto: Transferencia Internacional
Texto del mensaje

Hola,me gustaria saber cual es el precio de una transferencia internacional a una cuenta bancaria de irlanda para un importe de 100euros. Muchas gracias
Respuesta

Estimado cliente: Bancaja no cobra comisiones a sus clientes particulares por: - emisión de transferencias nacionales. - emisión de transferencias a países de la Unión Europea reguladas por el reglamento 2560/2001 (son las realizadas entre países pertenecientes a la Unión Europea emitidas en Euros, que cumplan los siguientes requisitos: -Importe hasta 50.000,00 Euros - Datos de la transferencia válidos y completos: código de identificación bancaria (BIC) de la entidad beneficiaria y número internacional de cuenta bancaria (IBAN) del beneficiario). - Y gastos, en la modalidad "SHARE" (compartidos). No obstante, siempre se le informará en la pantalla de confirmación de datos, y antes de introducir la firma digital y aceptar la operación, de la comisión a aplicar si la hubiera. Reciba un cordial saludo.


Contenido del mensaje 2
De: Atención al usuario
Referencia: W0036805651
Fecha de recepción: 22-09-2011
Fecha de lectura: 22-09-2011
Asunto: Re: Transferencia Internacional
Texto del mensaje

Hola, la semana pasada pregunte cual era el precio a pagar por realizar una transferencia internacional, y me constestais diciendo que era totalmente gratis si la realizaba a gastos compartidos. Ahora al relizarla se me cobran 1.25 euros. ¿A que jugamos aqui? Vamos, o no os explicais claramente o decis mentiras.
Respuesta
Estimado Sr. Escrig: La aplicación de estas comisiones dió comienzo el 13-09-2011, pero antes se lanzó en Bankia la acción comercial "Bankia cero comisiones", en la que sólo por tener la nómina o pensión domiciliadas en la Entidad, por ser menor de 26 años, o ser su cuenta, cuenta vinculada a una cuenta de valores con al menos 1.000 acciones de Bankia, se podrá beneficiar de las siguientes ventajas: - Sin comisiones de Administración ni Mantenimiento de la propia cuenta. - Una tarjeta de débito (On-line estándar) sin cuota de emisión ni de tenencia por cada titular de la cuenta. - Sin comisiones por ingreso de cheques en euros de plazas nacionales sobre dicha cuenta. - Sin comisiones por emisión de transferencias nacionales en euros y transferencias en euros a Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, hasta 50.000 ¤ (reglamento 924/2009), realizadas a través de los servicios telemáticos financieros (internet, cajeros automáticos, Banca Telefónica o Bancaja SMS, y ordenadas desde la cuenta nómina/pensión (o cuenta joven o vinculada a la cuenta de valores). En caso de cuenta perceptora de pensión, se exime de comisión en transferencias también ordenadas en oficinas. No obstante, siempre se le informará en la pantalla de confirmación de datos, y antes de introducir la firma digital y aceptar la operación, de la comisión a aplicar si la hubiera. Para cualquier aclaración al respecto, rogamos consulte con su oficina. Reciba un cordial saludo.

Bueno, simplemente queria denunciar de forma publica la irresponsabilidad de esta entidad con sus clientes y la forma en que los trata, la cual des de mi punto de vista es vergonzosa. Simplemente no me queda mas que otra opción que cambiar de banco. Un cliente menos para Bancaja y espero que no sea al ultimo, haber si de alguna forma se dan cuenta que los clientes somos nosotros y nos merecemos un respeto. Somos personas humanas no un simple numero.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

NYC

Crossing things from my bucket list.