Miguel Carrasco's Real World

Rick Mercer Talking to Americans

Get Ready for a laugh, Rick Mercer is the ideal Canadian comedian!  Smart, funny, and extremely witty.  Talking to Americans aired on 22 Minutes on CBC.  In 2000, Rick Mercer became an international name when he included the then presidential candidate, George W. Bush in one of his segments.  In Talking to Americans, Rick Mercer travels to major cities in America, and conducts basic interviews on the street.

Although this video is funny, I look on it with two sides.  On the one side, yes we laugh at how silly and uneducated they seem, but it should also serve us in Canada as a reminder of how arrogant we can be about other countries.  While we laugh that some American's might think that we only have 1,000,000 people in Canada, how many people does the United States have?  Do you come close?  Don't Google it!

Canada is such a multi-cultural country with so many people from so many different places, and we all get along so well!  Let's remember to not just get along, but also to learn about the cultures in other countries.  Lets not laugh at the American's, and then not know what the capital city of Australia is!  Sydney?  Sorry that would be wrong.

 

 

 

Some of the funny lines that Rick Mercer manages to get the Americans to say on camera include:

• Congratulations Canada on Legalizing Staplers! 
• Congratulations Canada on preserving your national Igloo! 
• Congratulations Canada on allowing Dogs as house pets! 
• Congratulations Canada on a second area code! 
• Congratulations Canada on moving to the 24 hour Clock!

I really enjoyed watching Talking to Americans, it is one of the most brilliantly put together segments CBC has ever aired.  Hopefully you don't miss the hidden message, which is how nice and genuine they were on camera.

Google Calendar Sync

I was researching some online calendar web sites for an application we are working on and bumped into Google Sync for BlackBerry!

One of the major problems I have had with Google Calendar is its inability to stay in Sync with my Outlook Calendar, and my BlackBerry more than anything.  One the main reasons I don't use Google Calendar is the fact that I already spend hundreds of hours a month keeping things up to date in my Outlook Calendar.  Why on earth I would spend additional time keeping Google Calendar up to date is beyond me.

Have you every used Google Calendar?  It's a very slick AJAX application that lets you easily add events, reminders, appointments to an online, always available application.  The fact that you can get to this application on any device, at any time is a real draw, verses having to have your laptop handy.  I personally always have my BlackBerry with me, however in some instances, it would be nice to just pop onto a computer and use a large screen and keyboard to make changes, create new meetings, or even just review the day.

Google Calendar Sync for BlackBerry solves this problem!  Simply point your BlackBerry to: http://m.google.com/sync, download the application, and you are ready to Sync your calendar!

A new icon will appear on your main window.  Simply sign into your Google account, and press "Sync".  You are done!  Enjoy the benefits of having all your information up to date on your Google Calendar, BlackBerry, and Outlook!

Travel Tips for Frequent Flyers

I travel all the time!  Its crazy really.  I have been travelling constantly for the last 8 years.  I tell you this is I have learnt how to travel!  And I love it!  Travelling is a funny thing... at first you love it.. It's new, refreshing, people say things like "Oh you get to travel to all these awesome places!", but then suddenly it becomes something you hate.  One day you wake up after falling asleep in an airport and go.. "Where the heck am I...".  You have to learn pretty quick how to make travelling enjoyable again, or it can eat you up and make you a pretty miserable person!

What makes travelling goodness is a few simple tips that keep me sane.  So without further wait, here is the road warriors survival guide to travelling and managing a software team.

I will keep updating this post constantly, so please feel free to bookmark using your favourite blogging software!  Also I love comments, so If you have any tips of your own, please pass them along!

1. Get a Blackberry
   I can't really stress this enough.  I love technology that just works, and this is one of those devices that does just that.  I land in a city, I power up my Blackberry, and in comes the emails, moved appointments, and wav files of any voice mails from home and office.  We have BES setup so its pretty much instant push from the exchange server.  This is truly an awesome device that has saved me from having to boot up the laptop just to check my emails at the airports!  I love it!
2. Ask for Exit Row!
   For some reason everyone seems to be afraid of the exit rows in air planes.  I have news for you, if that door opens, its not just the one row that will be affected.  Anyway, you get twice the leg room here, and with recent squeezing on almost every airline, you wont be able to open your laptop if you do not get this row.  Yes some airlines are charging an extra 15 bucks now for this row, but its worth it!
3. Get an iPod
   Ok, if you are travelling and do not have one of these yet... then... well.. BUY ONE.  You will spend so much time sitting, and walking from gate to gate, that you simply can not waste that time!  Every once in a while when you have -5 minutes to get to your flight you might want to put on some jamming tunes!
4. Get a subscription to Audible.com!
   So you have an iPod, or some sort of MP3 capable device, now is the time to load it up with some relevant materials.  Audible.com is awesome for this!  you can get books in audio format, speed them up by about 2x on your iPod, and in a 4 hour flight, you could read/listen to the Da Vinci Code!  Prices are actually really good.  I ended up subscribing monthly, and I get two books for "free" every month.
5. Use Flight Aware!
   This is one of those sites I check just before leaving.  Shows me all the aircraft that are in North America at a glance, as well as departures and arrivals for most major centres.
6. Check SeatGuru!
   Seat Guru is awesome.  It has complete seating charts for all the major airlines.  This includes their own custom configurations, because as you know, same aircraft, does not mean the same seat configuration.  Like I said before as long as you get an exit row, and even a window, and then the aisle seat, you should be ok, but its always nice if  you have time to check before you pick your seats.
7. For U.S.A. only, Check the FAA!
   This is a very reliable site that I have book marked in my blackberry.  lets you know quickly if flights in the major hubs are delayed.
8. Travel Light! Carry on!
   Why bring so much stuff!  So many people I see check so many bags and I really have a hard time understanding why.  If you are going on a few days business trip, you should do well with just one laptop bag, and a carry on suite case.  This is the best way to avoid loosing your luggage, which trust me, is one of the worst things that can happen and NOT FUN!
9. Get some snacks and a Magazine!
   Food on flights these days are terrible!  In an effort to cut costs, you literally will get maybe 10 little tiny sticks of pretzels in a bag, and a half a can of coke for a four hour flight.  If you're really lucky and the flight is delayed enough, you might get two whole helpings.  Save yourself the aggravation of waiting for food that really is never coming and get some snacks.  You can carry them on the plane, and don't have to worry about what they will give you for snacks!
10. Bring a decongestant and some gum!
    My ears never bother me, but when they do.. make sure you have the supplies you need to make the pain go away.  If you know your ears will hurt because you have sensitive ears, take the decongestant before the flight.  Also chew gum so you are constantly swallowing, this will help relieve the pressure building up in your ear.
11. Check your Gates Regularly.
    This is especially important if you land for a connecting flight and are laying over.  Gates change all the time.  Make sure you know the gate, the section of the airport so you don't miss your flight!
12. Try The Universal Packing List.
    This is really neat!  It lets you enter in the parameters of your trip, and then creates a list of things you need to pack and remember for your trip!
13. Using the Subway?  Save Subway Maps to your iPod with iPodSubwayMaps.
    If you are going to be doing any serious subway travel once you get into the destination, you will want to be ready!  This site lets you download images of different routes around the world, and save them to your iPod!  This is awesome!
14. Get Local Car Plates.
    Once you get to the destination, and you go get your vehicle, you will probably be tired, and just hop in the car and go.  Before you do that, CHECK YOUR PLATES.  Sometimes someone will return an out of state vehicle, and you will be given a car with out of state plates.  This is perfectly legal except you will be drawing some un-wanted attention to yourself.  Last thing you want is your car broken into.  Insist on local plates, they have to comply.
15. Cary an Extra Laptop Battery!
    For my Asus V6V I carry two batteries with me at all times.  Just in case one dies, you can swap in the other one and get another 4 hours of battery life.  Laptop batteries in general are still pretty useless but this tip will ensure you stay up for at least double whatever your stinky laptop can give you now.  My battery for my Asus looks like the barrel of a riffle, so it makes for some interesting stares when I pull it out mid flight.

Besides the annoyances that can occur, flying is really one of the best ways to travel.  It is also very safe, I've hardly ever experienced any scary situations while travelling in an air plane.  Following the steps above, all thought they may seem straightforward to some, will ensure you have a great and enjoyable experience!

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Happy Travelling!

Las Vegas

I've been traveling about 80% of the time over the last three months, and at the same time trying to finish all our wedding plans for July 4th in Kelowna. A lot of work! At the moment I'm in Las Vegas at Infor Inforum, a software conference at Mandalay Bay. Vegas is not as much fun as you would think when you are trying not to spend to much money. You have to come down here willing to flop down a good couple of grand to really enjoy the whole Vegas experience.

After a year of development we have almost completed our first software product that we will begin selling and marketing in September. Most of my travels have been to sales offices across the United States to try and get a better feel for the demand for our product. It's looking fantastic.

We are also well underway with our new office layout and re-design. We are also extremely close to launching our new company that has been internally coined "Price Business Solutions", however our new name and marketing of our brand will blow you away. We now have a team of 12 software developers and 3 business Analysts full time working on software products only. No Consulting. I'd love to say more but by the end of the year and moving into next year we are striving to become the biggest software development firm in Winnipeg. Although that's not the largest accomplishment, it will be a start!

Go Detroit Red Wings!

Cool Sites I've Been using:

www.pageflakes.com
www.live.com
www.flickr.com
www.riya.com