Today is BlogDay, a fun exercise where bloggers around the world post an entry recommending 5 blogs. A great way to share new experiences.

Here are 5 of my favorites:

I love Stop Motion (ilovestopmotion.org): Simple and clean way to watch some of the greatest Stop Motion videos created out there.

Robert Scoble’s Blog (scobleizer.com): One of the most informative sources of technology and entrepreneurship activity out there, especially in the Silicon Valley area.

Smashing Magazine (smashingmagazine.com): Are you a digital designer looking for inspiration? This one’s for you.

37Signals’ Blog (37signals.com/svn): 37Signals is a Web company from Chicago with a very focused point of view, always making the Web a better place by sharing ideas and experiences on their blog.

Toni Mascaró’s Blog (tonimascaro.com): Innovation, marketing, and so much more from this entrepreneur in Barcelona.

One more thing… if you are in Palma de Mallorca or plan to visit soon, check out Cafe y Más (cafeymas.net) to find out about some of the best hidden cafe spots in the city. You won’t regret it.

Happy Blog Day!

Javier is a very active person in Internet in Spain, and an entrepreneur with great experience having founded among others Loogic, Inventa Internet, Hostarting and Recomendar.com.

This morning I had the pleasure to talk to him from the terrace of Hotel Horizonte, where he shared with us his impressions from the event, his challenges this year, and a few words of advice for those seeking to start a new business in Internet.

You can watch the video in YouTube and in Vimeo. Note: content in spanish.

Thanks to Javier for his time and for sharing his advice with us. Until next time!

-Franklin
@franklintello

I made the switch to Google Apps a few years ago, and even though it’s still missing a few “power-user” features I became used to with Microsoft Outlook and the Office Suite, I’ve never looked back. I’ve even helped and supported many of my corporate clients to make the switch as well, and have yet to come across anyone within their quarters who missed Outlook enough to switch back. On the contrary, most comments I hear are about praise to the efficiency and mobility they gained in their work.

What caught my attention about this letter is how well thought out is their approach. First there was an official Blog post about it, and now this letter (I included the full version below) stating clearly why they are doing it, when it’s happening and which Applications are being affected. I also like the fact that they are providing a note within their apps for users of these older browsers, so that they are reminded of the change.

As we move forward with innovation in the Web industry (and we do it fast!), most of us will be faced with similar situations, and as much as we believe in the innovation, it is still important that we take our users and customers into consideration. Not every one is as fast at keeping up with the pace for multiple reasons, and we need to ease them into change and show them how to do it. This way we avoid facing rejection or losing customers.

Here’s the full letter in case you’d like to read it:

Dear Google Apps admin,​

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

The Google Apps team
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Have you “gone Google”? What do you think of their approach?

Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.

I’ve been reading and following the reactions from the technology, new media and the publishing industry, and have been exchanging brief impressions with close friends from different cities like Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Madrid, Barcelona and my current home in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

And after these 24 hours, I must say I’m very excited about the opportunities the introduction of this new device brings.

That’s not to say that I don’t agree with most of the points being made around the world about what the iPad is missing. Excellent and valid points like the ones being made by the editorial team at Engadget or the guys at MacLife on some of the key features that would have made this a killer product right off the bat.  I can’t help but agree with some of Stan Schroeder’s comments in Mashable, on what Apple announced hidden between the lines. But perhaps we need to dig a little deeper, right through the false expectations and hype we created over the last few months, to truly appreciate the potential and the significance of the new iPad.

As much as I too would have loved to see some key features that reputable and knowledgeable people in our industry are mentioning the iPad is missing, none of these features, of lack thereof, can lessen the excitement I feel for the new opportunities it just opened for all of us.

For one many writers and the whole publishing industry are without a doubt very excited to count on a new device that is sure to inspire and bring a great deal of creativity and attention to it, and it is certain that most of the innovation it inspires will trickle down to other devices, both current and new.

There are also people in the sales and marketing industries thinking up of ways to take advantage of such a device.

And that’s just the thing, I firmly believe that it is up to us to make something great out of this device.  Apple has just done half the work by bringing this new device out, at an affordable price point.  It is up to us to build exciting content that pops out of its screen and takes full advantage of the features that ARE there, so much that we forget what’s missing.

Take for example my passion for cycling.  I am re-reading Lance Armstrong’s book “It’s not about the bike.” It’s a great read on the subject of cancer, and what the sport of cycling is all about, and as I flip through the pages and read about the cancer treatments, the creation of the Livestrong Foundation, the sacrifices in training for the Tour de France, and highs and lows of his career, I can’t help but wonder how amazing it would be to watch interviews and videos from the racing, see photos illustrating his feelings and amplifying every detail of his story.  The potential is there and it is up to us to enrich the user experience with this device.

Let’s build something truly exciting with it!

-Franklin