DONDEQUIERA

Burlington Coat Factory Enters Tough Market

2008-07-07T04:59:00.005-04:30

Do you remember what is like when you first starting your family? Or can you imagine what it will be like trying to start one in this economy? Well, when Mrs. Don Dees and I were newlyweds, uhh, a few years back, we remember fondly shopping at Burlington Coat Factory. They had cheap, but good quality, crap at a good price. Just what the valued oriented shopper is looking for, which was the case for us back then; still is I guess.

So when we recently heard that Burlington Coat Factory was going to open a few stores in Puerto Rico, it brought back fond memories. Although I'm sure this has been in the making for years, I think they are entering a tough market at the worst time in the last 40 years. With stiff competition from WalMart, K-Mart, Marshalls, Sears, and recently JC Penneys, they will face an uphill battle.

Not only that, this will be the first locations outside of the U.S. mainland for the Burlington, New Jersey-based company which operates 383 stores in 44 states. Which means they need to understand the cultural translation of their marketing very quickly.

According to them, they are an “off-price” discount retailer, which offers a wide selection of current season, high quality, brand name and designer merchandise at prices up to 60% lower than those at other department stores. Hmm, that's a pretty bold claim when they are stacked up against WalMart, the king of cheap crap.

Together the local stores will feature apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family, baby clothes, furniture, toys, home decor items, and gifts, as well as a selection of its signature coats. One of the first stores is scheduled to replace the old Pueblo Xtra in Plaza Centro Mall in Caguas. Right now, there is no word of when the first store is scheduled to open.

President Bush Boosts Porn Industry

2008-07-04T05:52:00.001-04:30

Bet you didn't see that one coming, right. In what can only be seen as a cherry on top of, in my opinion, the most devastating presidency EVER, a recent study by an independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country. These sites are a surprising beneficiary (really, really?) of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will "boost our economy and encourage job creation." Yeah, in the adult entertainment industry.

According to Kirk Mishkin, Head Research Consultant for AIMRCo, "Many of the sites we surveyed have reported 20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were first sent out, and typically the summer is a slow period for this market."

Jillian Fox, spokeswoman for LSGmodels.com, one of the sites reporting figures to AIMRCo, added, "In a June 15, 2008 survey to our members, thirty two percent of respondents referenced the recent stimulus package as part of their decision to either become a new member, or renew an existing membership."

The economic stimulus plan, which includes a check for up to $600 for individuals and $1200 for married couples (among other benefits), is the product of an agreement between House leaders and the Bush Administration, focused on reviving a struggling economy in the wake of a flagging economy.

Fox also added, "Getting more people to buy porn was probably the last thing Bush had on his mind when he came up with his 'stimulus package,' but we'll take it."

Guinness Confirms Mozilla World Record

2008-07-03T05:29:00.003-04:30

In what can only be deemed a world record word of mouth marketing campaign as well, in a massive grassroots community effort Guiness World Record organization has confirmed that Mozilla has established a new world record.

Mozilla announced it has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The record-setting 8,002,530 downloads coincided with the launch of Firefox® 3, Mozilla’s major update to its popular and acclaimed free, open source Web browser.

Mozilla enthusiasts worldwide drove more than 1.7 million pledges to download Firefox 3 on Download Day, hosted regional download “fests,” and informed more than 43 million people through hosting Download Day affiliate buttons online. The global Mozilla community has been celebrating the historic goal of establishing a Guinness World Record with parties in more than 25 countries, including Puerto Rico's own little party: "Nobox Firefox 3 Victory Party".

“The enthusiasm and creativity of Firefox fans was instrumental in achieving this record,” said Paul Kim, VP of Marketing at Mozilla. “Our community members came together and not only spread the word, but also took the initiative to help mobilize millions of people to demonstrate their belief that Firefox gives people the best possible online experience.”

“As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives,” said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. “Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication.”

Boston Concert Update - Living the Dream

2008-07-02T05:19:00.003-04:30

Well I still haven't been able to find any concert reviews yet, but I did find one place that does have quite a lot of feedback, and from the sounds of it, the tour is going very well, especially for Tommy DeCarlo. You're like who, right?

This is an amazing story that you HAVE to check out. Briefly, after the death of Brad Delp, a Boston fan wanted to demonstrate how much Delp and the band Boston's music had meant to him. After some encouragement by his children, the fan recorded himself singing along with some Boston songs, Karaoke style. He then uploaded the recordings to his MySpace page and then continued on with his regular routine of working for Home Depot.

He later gets a call, which changes his life forever. It seems that Tom Scholz somehow found the recordings and was extremely impressed and sort of freaked out. He couldn't believe how similar Tommy sounded to the recently deceased Delp. So Scholz invited Tommy up to Boston to sing along with the band. After hearing Tommy perform with the band, he was invited to perform live with them in a tribute to Delp. Well, the rest, as the say, is rock and roll history. Everyone was reeling from how close Tommy sounded to Delp, with many fans saying that he sounded exactly the same, including Scholz. So he invited Tommy to tour with the band this summer.

For Tommy DeCarlo it has become much "More than a Feeling," it became a dream come true. For not only was he living the life of a rock and roll singer, he was doing it with his favorite band as well. How's that for Rock and Roll Magic?

Boston Concert Update

So, as I said, the only place I've found with any sort of feedback is on Tommy DeCarlo's MySpace Page. There you'll not only be able to hear his original tribute songs, but you can catch the latest comments from his new fans.

I only wish a little bit of that magic would strike here in Puerto Rico, as ticket sales seem to be slow for their August 31st concert at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot. A quick check of the tickets at TicketPop still has excellent tickets available in all sections. I'm sure sales will pick-up as the data nears, but if you want to witness magic, you get your tickets now. Closer is always better, when it comes to rock and roll shows.

Google and Adobe rescue local Flash websites

2008-07-01T14:57:00.009-04:30

Well I'll be [...fill in your favorite expression for being shocked and amazed at the same time, mine is...] a monkey's uncle. Which depending on which side of the argument for the Flying Spaghetti Monster you fall, might be true. Apparently Adobe has heard the cries of anguish and of gnashing teeth of the millions of website owners whose sites were invisible to the all powerful Google, whose 3rd commandment was "Those shalt not use Flash (that is, if you want to your site indexed by our search engine)."

Many of you out there have heard my rants on the over-use of Flash in websites built here in Puerto Rico. Well today Adobe announced that they have developed a special Flash application player especially for the major search engines. The new reader will permit the search engines to run a Flash movie as if the search engine were a regular user of the Rich Internet Application (RIA). With the reader the search engines will finally be able to understand what's inside of RIAs and other rich web content created with Adobe Flash technology and add that relevance back to the HTML page.

Both Google and Yahoo worked closely with Adobe engineers to develop the new Flash player, which to be clear is ONLY for the search engines. Except for improved search results, Internet users like you or I will not be affected. According to Ron Adler and Janis Stipins—software engineers on Google's indexing team:

"the new player will better index all of the text that users can see as they interact with a Flash file. If a website contains Flash, the textual content in the Flash files will be used when Google generates a snippet for the website. Also, the words that appear in Flash files will be used to match query terms in Google searches."

Fracking Amazing News for Puerto Rico Websites

This is amazingly fantastic news for the thousands and thousands of local websites which were done with Adobe Flash. Essentially they will immediately begin to show up in search results without having to do anything. So while local website owners benefit immensely from this announcement, it doesn't necessarily mean that websites will automatically start receiving first page search results. Standard search engine optimization will still be necessary to achieve those types of results. In addition, Adobe recommends that sites make use of deep links so that links coming into a site will drive relevance to the specific parts of an application.

While Google has already implemented the new technology, Yahoo (like everything else as recent events indicate) is lagging behind. Adobe promises to extend the benefit of the new technology to other search engines by exploring ways to make it more broadly available.

Puerto Rico American Idol Auditions

2008-06-30T08:37:00.005-04:30

Despite my disdain for the show and it's evil twin Objetivo Fama, there is no denying that I'm in the minority, because both dominate the ratings. And so it is, that for the first time, American Idol will conduct auditions for the 8th season of the show here in our little corner of the ocean.

On August 2nd, in the Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot, the production team from American Idol will conduct auditions. While the trio of judges, that I think everyone universally hates, but is strangely attracted to, will not be present at the auditions, it is rumored that they will be present when they begin to whittle the list of local contestants down. Or whatever it is they do during the course of the the show, because, I truthfully have never seen an episode of the program. Of course, since I've been doing the whole starving entrepreneur thing for a while now, cable is a distant memory. Anything I want to watch now has to come via BitTorrent, and believe me, my bandwidth is too precious to be spent downloading episodes of American Idol. In fact you can probably count on one hand the number of shows I do consider BitTorrent worthy.

While Puerto Rico has been excluded from the first seven seasons of the program, due to the popularity of Objetivo Fama (OF), I guess they want to jump on the bandwagon and see if they can duplicate the following of OF. I'm skeptical, because there are many factors that work together to make OF so successful here in PR. I guess we'll soon find out. If you start to hear people talking about American Idol everywhere you go, then they will have succeeded.

To participate in the auditions, participants must be between 16 and 28, and be willing to travel to the United States. Two days before the auditions, the production team of the program will be giving out bracelets to aspiring singers, which will determine the time of their audition. They are hoping that will limit the usual insane behavior that that usually accompanies an event of this magnitude. I wish them luck with that, LOL.

Value is in the eye of the buyer

2008-06-29T07:58:00.006-04:30

Seth Godin has many fans. Many of those fans would agree that he is popular because he knows how to self promote. You'll get no argument from me there, in my opinion, he is the most successful self-promoter on the Internet. But, for me, Seth is most successful in identifying and debunking the little lies we surround ourselves with in the business world.

While it's not usually my style, I just can't help but reproduce his blog post entitled "No such thing as price pressure," because it cuts straight to the heart of the problem we are having with DóndeEs.com. Here's what Seth has to say about commodity pricing of your products:

"Your sales force and your customers may scream that you need to lower your price.

It's not true.

You need to increase your value. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging.

You're not selling a commodity unless you want to."

I think, the crucial point here is the "perception" of value. Especially when the value you are offering is intangible, or worse than intangible, technological. For when it comes to technology, nothing becomes more difficult to perceive for your customer than something they fundamentally don't understand or perceive as a necessary evil, like anything related to computers (unfortunately here in Puerto Rico it's almost always all of the above).

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: jurvetson

Starbucks Coffee losing steam in Puerto Rico

2008-06-28T08:19:00.001-04:30

Either our economy is much worse than anyone is actually saying or Starbucks Coffee is guilty of over-zealous expansion, because this week they announced that they would be closing three stores. According to a report from the Forbes web site, the stores will be closed in June, and all of the employees would be transferred to other stores.

Although the Chicken Little in me wants to say it's the former, I have to be honest and say that it's probably a little bit of both. As I've said before, Starbucks growth in Puerto Rico has been surprising for many people, but of course, if you've traveled to any major city in the Unites States it isn't that much of a surprise. In the heart of most cities like New York, Boston, or Portland, you'll commonly find what seems like a Starbucks on every other corner. Of course, much like when I predicted that Macy's wouldn't do well here in Puerto Rico, what people missed is that it was never about the coffee (just as I missed that Macy's was never about their merchandise). What Starbucks offered was a unique experience unmatched in the marketplace. It made you feel special when you finally figured out how to order what you wanted; you joined an exclusive group that made you feel superior to those that were clueless (just as some believe when they are walking around with a Macy's bag in their hand).

According to Starbucks spokesman in Puerto Rico, Adolfo Santana, the stores struggled financially because they were too close to other Starbucks locations. There's probably some truth to that, but I think when Outback, Ruby Tuesdays, and TGIFridays are also closing stores, the poor economy has to be equally responsible. The conclusion: for this market Starbucks may have reached its limit, especially in the San Juan metroplex.

What will be curious to see is if they continue with plans to open additional stores in other locations. If you check our map of Starbucks locations, there are at least three locations that I would open if I were Starbucks. The locations, in this order of priority, are: Mayagüez, Ponce, and Aguadilla or Arecibo.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: hlkljgk

Ohh the humanity. Trivia contest bombs.

2008-06-28T07:40:00.006-04:30

Ahh, what a disaster. Well we didn't get any takers for the free Palco tickets. Pity. According to Tom Peters, one of a hundred such business gurus, those companies that learn to "Fail Faster," succeed. If the trivia contest was any signal, LOL, we're going to start succeeding VERY soon.

Anyway, we learned a few lessons:

Launching a short time limit contest on a Friday in the summer, uhh, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But we had no choice, we didn't get the tickets till late Thursday night.
Once again, we are frustrated and stumped on our inability to generate any response from readers of the blog; as well, we still don't get many users to enter Events or Ratings over on DóndeEs.com.
In the end, this is a numbers game, just like everything else. Successful sales is a numbers game. For example, in order to make 5 sales a week, you need to visit 25 potential clients. In order to get 25 appointments, you need to talk to 125 business owners. In order to talk directly with decision makers (business owners, usually), you have to make 625 calls. All assuming a 20% success ratio.

So it is with reaching and joining into a conversation (engaging in some sort of interaction) with Internet Users, in a very interesting article I found about "Nuggets from Social Media workshops as of late…", Sean O'Driscoll shared some powerful insights into the social sphere, the most pertinent to our trivia fiasco is:
"Let’s assume we can generally agree that ~70% will lurk, 20% join, 9% will be regulars and 1% participate in the community in extreme ways."
Looking at out traffic numbers for yesterday, we had approximately 107 visits to the blog, it could be more, but we don't have anything else to go on, but Google Analytics. So yesterday, the blog got 107 visits, if Sean's assumption is right, means that maybe only 9% are regulars, 9 visitors, and only 1% will participate in extreme ways, that's (holy crap) 1 visitor. So you see why point number one is so valid.

On the bright side, did get quite a few number of users to register over on DóndeEs.com, for the family ticket give-away. So thanks everyone for your support. For those who actually won tickets and attended the game, we hope that you enjoyed the courtesy tickets. And for everyone that is registered on DóndeEs.com or a fan of our DóndeEs.com Facebook Page, maybe soon we'll invite you all for a Palmolive bien firiiita. Very soon.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: s-t-r-a-n-g-e

Box Seats for Puerto Rico Islanders Game Tonight

2008-06-27T06:46:00.004-04:30

We've been able to score two box ("Palco") tickets to the Puerto Rico Islander game tonight against the Minnesota Thunder. We're going to give away those tickets to one lucky winner. To participate just answer the trivia question I'm about to give. If you answer the trivia question correctly and you are a registered user in DóndeEs.com, then you will become eligible to win the box seats. You'll have until 1:00 p.m. to submit your answers. At 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, we'll randomly select from all of the eligible participants and award the sweet box seats.

Puerto Rico Islanders Trivia Question

Here is the question, to enter send your answer to info at dondees dot com using the email address you provided when you registered at DóndeEs.com. If you're not already registered, take a quick minute to register here. We'll match your email address up against our database to determine eligibility. Alrighty then, here is your Puerto Rico Islanders triva question:

Question: "The original Islanders soccer team was moved to Houston Texas in the United States, and eventually folded in the year 2000. What was the name of the team after it moved?

By the way: The email addresses that you provide during registration are kept in the strictest confidence. We will never use them for anything other than sending you information about events, contests, and information from DóndeEs.com. We will NEVER sell the rights to use those e-mail addresses to anyone else, EVER.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: akeg

Did you know? Puerto Rico Energy Trivia

2008-06-26T06:17:00.005-04:30

Here are a few shocking facts that are shared in the "Coge Pon por al Ambiente" campaign:

Puerto Rico has more automobiles than people with a license to drive:
- 3.3 million vehicles registered
- 2.3 million people with a license to drive
Source: Departamento de Transportacioón y Obras Publicas (DTOP)
Puerto Rico consumes a thousand million gallons of gasoline per year. This represents 8% of our total energy demand, when the average gasoline consumption around the world is 2%.

Source: Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental
In urban areas, the automobile is the most contaminating mode of transportation.

Source: Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental
The contribution of each Puerto Rican to global warming and climate change is 230% more than the average per person throughout the world.

Source: Consejo para el Avance en Puerto Rico de la Innovación y la Investigación Cientifica (CAPRI)

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: NARA/EPA via pingnews

Ten ways Puerto Rico can save gas

2008-06-26T04:32:00.008-04:30

Today is "Coge Pon por al Ambiente" day, which is sponsored by Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. Today, they are suggesting that, instead of your normal habit of jumping in your car and screeching away, you take a bus, use the Tren Urbano, or catch a ride with a friend or family member (carpool).

According to the publicity campaign for the event, you could save $7 a day, by permanently switching to one of these transportation alternatives. Of course, for some (most?) people in Puerto Rico, these alternatives just don't seem very reasonable. They require too much sacrifice (investment in the future?) to be viable options.

Ten ways Puerto Rico can save gas

For those people that just can't seem to find a suitable alternative means of transportation, then here are 10 ways that you can save as much gas (and Money) as possible:

Slow down - Simply reduce your speed.
Check your tire pressure - Under-inflated tires are one of the most commonly ignored causes of crummy MPG.
Check your air filter - A dirty air filter harms performance and economy.
Accelerate with care - accelerate moderately.
Keep a constant speed - it takes less fuel to keep moving.
Get back to nature - At lower speeds you'll save fuel. At higher speeds the A/C may be more efficient than the wind resistance from open windows and sunroof.
Stay with standard tires - Wider tires, will create more rolling resistance and decrease fuel economy.
Clean out your car - You could carrying an extra 40 or 50 lbs. of stuff.
Downsize - Smaller cars are more fuel-efficient.
Don't drive - Duh.
BONUS: Turn it off - Shut off the engine when waiting in lineups or picking up friends and family.
DOUBLE BONUS: Switch to regular - Most cars today don't require high-octane premium gas. Check your owner's manual for the recommended octane rating.
TRIPLE BONUS: Combine all of your small trips - Continuously starting and turning off your car is pretty tough on your gas mileage. If possible, find one location where you can take care of banking, grocery shopping and other chores.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: * Jerry *

A taste of PRWeb Tweets

2008-06-25T08:24:00.002-04:30

Puerto Rico Web Entrepreneurs Blog

2008-06-25T05:05:00.011-04:30

Well, it's not like we didn't know that it was going to be tough when we started DóndeEs.com. Some might have even said, "a web startup in Puerto Rico?" Good luck with that. However, just like a rebellious teenager who disregards all counsel and seems determined to make their own mistakes, we plunged into the world of high-tech entrepreneurialism, ignorant of what we were really starting.

As we near the second anniversary of the launch of the original web site, we, I think, are finally understanding the reality of what we have gotten ourselves into. So it's a pity that we didn't think of this earlier, but we still think it is going to be of value for those who are insane enough to follow.

What did we think of? Well, we decided to start the "Puerto Rico Web Entrepreneurs Blog (PRWeb)." Besides giving us a place to vent our continued frustrations, its purpose is to give other entrepreneurs a "look-inside" our effort to turn our blood, sweat, and tears into a successful web start-up. To the extent we can share what is really happening within the company, we will. Of course, the names will be changed to protect the innocent, or guilty if that's the case.

As I have mentioned before, one of the underlying goals of everything we produce is to prove everyone wrong and become a successful web company. Success can take many forms, there is, of course, financial success, and don't get me wrong we do want that kind of success. However, just as important as financial success, we also want to pave the way for other companies to follow along after us. We want many other web companies to become successful, and not just as life-style businesses, but as true high growth start-ups.

So we started the "Puerto Rico Web Entrepreneurs Blog" to pass along the hard won lessons we had to suffer through, with the hopes that others won't have to face the same problems.

We did one thing a little different with this blog. We are using a new service called Twitter, which is all the rage on the rest of the Internet. If you haven't heard about, it's being called the next greatest thing (we've heard that one before right?). Anyway it's a micro-blogging site that not only allows publishing using RSS, but if you want to, you can follow along through text messaging. To learn more about Twitter, or subscribe to the RSS you can visit my Twitter home page here. You can also sign-up with Twitter (it's free) and start receiving PRWeb through your cellular phone.

Since it's RSS we are republishing PRWeb here on Dondequiera, it's in the middle column, just after the links section. It's also available through the DondeEs.com Faebook Page in the Blog RSS Feed Reader application.

We dedicate PRWeb to all web entrepreneurs today, and those that will follow. Stop. Learn. Ask. Think. Share Ideas. Enjoy!

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Randy Son Of Robert

Morton's to help make wishes come true

2008-06-24T21:56:00.005-04:30

It's been a pretty active summer so far for Don Dees and Family. We've been to the beach quite a few times and several of those were accompanied by the faithful portable barbecue. Somehow, freshly cooked hamburgers at the beach seem to taste better. But when it comes to hamburgers, I don't think anyone beats Morton’s The Steakhouse in San Juan.

Did you know?

Morton’s $19.78 prime sirloin burger isn't just any hamburger – it’s what lead to Morton’s creation 30 years ago. When Morton's co-founders Klaus Fritsch and Arnie Morton first worked together at the Playboy Club, Fritsch made his signature hamburger and sent it out for Arnie Morton to taste. Morton proclaimed it the best hamburger he'd ever tasted. From that day, they started the business partnership that has become Morton's The Steakhouse. Now in its 30th year. “This is the burger that started it all,” said Eric Wilber, general manager of Morton’s in San Juan.

Morton’s to raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation

In an offer you can sink your teeth into and get the satisfaction that your helping to make wishes come true, every Sunday from July through September, Morton's will donate five dollars of each hamburger and French fries entrée to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Puerto Rico Chapter.

“It’s appropriate that we celebrate our anniversary with our signature dish,” said Wilber. “And what better way to give back to an organization that does so much for some very special children in our community? We’re pleased to be able to support Make-A-Wish in this way.”

About the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Puerto Rico

The Make-A-Wish Foundation in Puerto Rico grants wishes to children older than 2½ years and under 18 with health conditions that put their lives at risk, bringing strength, hope and joy.

The Puerto Rico Chapter of Make-a-Wish was established in 1990, becoming the only Puerto Rican foundation dedicated exclusively to grant wishes. In its 18 years of operation, they have issued over 1,500 wishes. Their target for this year is to grant 105 wishes.

Noche de San Juan in Isla Verde

2008-06-22T16:04:00.006-04:30

Just a quick note. Blogging will be light, if any, over the next couple of days as I head to Isla Verde to partake in the Noche de San Juan celebration Monday Night. When I get back we'll jump into the Puerto Rico Islanders trvia contest for registered members of DóndeEs.com and fans of our Facebook Page.

If you haven't register yet, there's still time to win Islanders tickets, just register on our home page or become a fan of the DondeEs.com Facebook Page.

Also when I get back I'll have a report of the insane craziness that is Noche de San Juan, reported from one of the most crowded beaches in Puerto Rico.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: BluEyedA73

Update: Fotos from Robot Attack

2008-06-22T13:34:00.008-04:30

In our continuing coverage of the robot attacks last night at Telemundo Studios, we've been able to obtain some exclusive photos of the destruction and pandemonium. Warning: These images contain scenes of intense partying and may not be suitable for under-age children.

Once again, I'd like to extend my thanks to our hosts Nobox for throwing the coolest party ever. I'd also like to thank Wilton Vargas for his encouragement and for expressing his support for DóndeEs.com during the event. Please know that you can count on the support of DóndeEs.com in your efforts to consolidate and focus the Internet development community in Puerto Rico.

Well without further adieu, the graphic photos:

To see the remaining disaster photos check out our DondeEs.com Facebook Page photo album.

Review: Nobox Firefox 3 Victory Party

2008-06-22T00:28:00.006-04:30

...And this just in. We are receiving reports that robots stormed Telemundo last night. If you're just now waking up. Here's what we know so far. Around 8:00 pm last night local Firefox enthusiasts begin to gather at the Telemundo studios. Lured there by the promise of music, giveaways and an exchange of ideas, the crowd was caught off guard, according to one survivor.

Don Dees, one of the surviving attendees recalled the surprise attack: "We were all just laughing, standing around enjoying our free Medalla Light beers, when the explosions started, and then it was like total chaos." According to eyewitnesses, the attack started later in the evening after numerous cases of beer had been consumed and many snacks were eaten.

Following the first wave of attacks, the real destruction began. "They were giving away stuff right and left, poster bombs, t-shirt missiles, and even computer bunker busters. The second attack by the robot armies was a nightmare. The devestation was almost unbearable," shared Don Dees through bleary eyes and hoarse throat.

Then, without any explanation or reason, after the second attack, the robots just disappeared. With all of the coolers empty, the people begin to wobbly leave the destoryed Telemundo building and find their cars amongst the rubble. In the end there were luckily no causilties, however, several attendees suffered bruised egos and those that missed out on all the give-aways were jealous of the partiers walking out with their hands full of swag.

"We don't know where the robots came from, or where they bolted off to, but we're glad to have survived the event," said a weary Don Dees. Who were these maniacal robots? Where did they come from? This experience has raised more questiions that demand to be answered. Who sent these twisted robots? And will they ever return? For this intrepid reporter, he longs for another opportunity to encounter these diabolical robots, the sooner the better...

In all seriousness, I want to congratulate Mozilla and NoBox for throwing a very cool party. As I stare at my exclusive 'Gran Paradiso' poster, I want to thank everyone, especially host Wilton Vargas from Tecnetico.com and the 'Guru' from NoBox; great party guys. I want to give a special shout out to my old buddies PJ, Cesar, and Lenny. It was almost like OSCON '05, good times, and once again it looked like we all had a great time. Sweet!

Word of Mouth Marketing Roadmap

2008-06-21T08:44:00.004-04:30

For many in the marketing community, the new road that is being blazed by the likes of YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, and most importantly the social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, etc) ventures into foreign territory. This new road doesn't follow the familiar routes that traditional marketing has taken for the last 50 years. No sir-ree, this new road has most "traditional" marketers feeling very uncomfortable and out of place; which is not a place that no anyone that is supposed to understand how to reach consumers should be.

Word of Mouth Marketing Roadmap

Well I ran across an article that I think lays out a new road map. A road map to understand how to successfully pierce the fog of confusion surrounding this new road, but without getting lost. As most people, traditional marketers, are hesitant to stop and ask for directions (help) from explorers (entrepreneurs) who are unafraid of driving around on this new road until they find their way, no, old-school marketers would rather just wish that the new road didn't exist in the first place. Unfortunately for them, this road continues under construction as daily tens of millions convert it from a two lane country road into a 8 lane super highway.

Entitled the "The Microfame Game," this article from Rex Sorgatz of the New York Magazine describes an eight step road map to micro-fame. And while micro-fame is certanaly not the goal of most marketers, the same essential steps are involved in getting your brand, product, service noticed. And while I'm just a starving high-tech entrepreneur and not really understand or believe in traditional marketing, in these days of mass-marketing over-saturation, I do know that getting noticed is the goal of marketing in this new territory.

The article is extremely well researched and gives you plenty of examples to study and imitate. As I've said earlier in this blog, YouTube plays a signficant role in this new road-map and any marketerer who chooses to ignore this new channel will do so at their own peril.

Well I'll leave you to start your analysis of these new steps, and a little word to the wise, don't be like the proverbial alpha-male who refuses to ask for direction when lost in the country, find an intrepid explorer (entrepreneur) of this new road as a guide. You'll get where you want to be a lot faster and you'll please your clients in the process.

8 STEPS TO MICROFAME

Self-publish
Stylize
Overshare
Respond
Ally
Diversify
Create Controversy
Persist

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: twenty_questions

Firefox 3 Released, So Let's Party

2008-06-20T22:24:00.005-04:30

This week marked the release of the next version of Mozilla's insanely popular Firefox browser. To commemorate the historic event, Mozilla organized a Guinness World Record attempt. The goal was to have 8 million people download the new release within a 24 hour period.

While the servers they were using to host the downloads burned white hot, and the downloads sputtered, they were able to reach their goal. I should know I was there when it happened. Your's truly, was one of the lucky 8 million to download Firefox 3 first, and here's my certificate to prove it.

If you're not using Firefox, you should. It's really the only way to browse the Internet. If you're still using Firefox 2.x, then I'd definitely recommend upgrading as soon as possible. The touted memory management and speed improvements seem to be working. Ever since installing Firefox 3, I'd say my browsing is a little more snappy.

Nobox Firefox 3 Victory Party

And as if just having Firefox 3 installed and improving my browsing already wasn't enough, I just learned that NoBox Marketing Group is hosting a Firefox 3 Victory Party tomorrow, Saturday 21st. The party has an open invitation, so if you love Firefox as much as dear old Don Dees does, then I guess I'll be seeing you there. The Mozilla Party website has more details on the NoBox gig, so head over there to get the time and location of the party.

I'd recommend also checking out NoBox's news section on their website to get some inside information about the party. It's pretty cool that little old NoBox from Puerto Rico provides such fantastic work to one of the icons in Open Source Software and the Internet. We wish them continued success, especially their recent expansion to Miami.

Legal iPhones coming to Puerto Rico

2008-06-20T04:30:00.003-04:30

Well sort of. While there are already a few die hard Apple minions using first generation iPhones on the island, the effort they had to go through to accomplish the feat truly shows their obedience to the cult of Steve Jobs. Recently Jobs announced his continued evil-genius plans to the world in the annual Apple World Wide Developers Conference.

As many expected, Jobs announced the second generation iPhone, complete with 3G, GPS, and a new software SDK to promote the development of iPhone applications. In addition, Jobs announced the expansion of the distribution of the iPhone to 77 countries. Unfortunately, while many anticipated Puerto Rico would be among those countries, ultimately it was not. According to AAPLinvestors, a collective of Apple, Inc. investors and traders, while Puerto Rico was originally included in the list, it was removed. While there has been several promises made that the iPhone would be sold through Claro or AT&T, for now, Puerto Ricans will not be able to buy iPhones in Puerto Rico.

But the good news is that we can now legally "use" iPhones in Puerto Rico. Like silly things like laws, rules, or restrictions have stopped us before. Am I right, mi gente? Anyway, now we can buy an iPhone in the United States, but in order for it to work in Puerto Rico without roaming fees, it must be activated with a 787 area code. I'm not sure what are the steps needed to do the activation, so once the new phones become available in July, hopefully the process to activate them in Puerto Rico will become more common knowledge.

The Apple Handheld Juggernaut rolls on...

In anticipation of the new iPhone 3G announcement, The Macintosh News Network reported that:

Apple is likely to sell 45 million iPhones by 2009, according to analysts from research firm Piper Jaffray, who raised their price target on Apple shares a whopping $20 -- from $140 to $160. "We believe Apple can sell 45 million iPhones in calendar year 2009," the analysts said. "While this may seem like a bold prediction, we believe a number in this area is not as far of a reach as some may think."

Which company is leading the way?

2008-06-19T07:29:00.005-04:30

I finally just got fed-up with throwing them away. When our local recycling program rejected plastic shopping bags, I really had no other option. Either I continued to save them, or I had to start throwing them away. Since I was running out of places to save the bags, that's when I started throwing them away. But I felt so bad, I started saying no to plastic bags.

When I had to buy milk, I would have to tell the clerk that I didn't want a bag, often to very confused and startled faces. You wouldn't believe how adamant I had to be to get some clerks to accept that I didn't want a bag. But after a while they begin to know me as the crazy gringo who doesn't want bags, some would even joke with me about it.

About that same time I started taking my own cloth bags to the supermarket to carry my groceries. Oh and what fun that was! The shocked look on faces of clerks and baggers often made me feel like I was shoplifting or something. I even had one bagger ask for his supervisor to make sure that it was acceptable for him to use my bags instead of the store's plastic bags. The supervisor was like, whatever, but the clerk just couldn't believe what was happening.

Of course, now many supermarkets and stores are starting to promote re-usable bags. So hopefully, the strange looks will start to diminish as more people beside Don Dees start using reusable bags.

Kudos, Wal-Mart of Puerto Rico

So I was ecstatic recently when I heard that Wal-Mart, as part of its commitment to protecting the environment, announced a program to introduce plastic bags made of 15% recyclable materials and to provide recycling containers in all its Puerto Rico stores for customers to return their plastic bags for recycling.

In addition, Wal-Mart also announced the introduction of reusable bags for packing goods. The cloth bags will be available at all Wal-Mart at affordable prices for the convenience of consumers who want to develop sustainable lifestyles. Using this type of bag contributes to saving energy and raw materials used in the preparation of disposable materials, while helping to reduce the amount of material reaching landfills. (By the way, I just used cloth bags I had from conferences, conventions, and other give-aways. I fold them up and put them in one mega bag and carry them with me when I go to the supermarket.)

Finally, the company has a comprehensive plan to gradually replace all its plastic bags with alternatives made made from 100% recyclable material. Wal-Mart will implement a pilot program in the Fajardo store, with a view to expand to the other 13 units around the island.

Did you know?

The plastic bags that are traditionally used for packing goods in department stores and supermarkets around the world are petroleum products (another dependence on foreign oil) which do not decompose. They are part of the thousands of tons of needless waste reaching landfills each year.

Wanted - Families for free PR Islander tickets

2008-06-18T07:21:00.007-04:30

Households with large families are some of the hardest hit during these challenging economic times. And as the recession lingers, experts predict that the impact for lower and middle income families will only grow worse. As Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy Institute senior economist put it: "We're worried about the impact of the downturn on the families whose incomes haven't recovered from the last recession." We at DóndeEs.com are too.

So we are bringing back the free ticket offer for the Puerto Rico Islanders. We have a 100 more tickets to each of the two Islander games against the Minnesota Thunder. The games will take place on Friday June 27th at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday June 29th, at 6:00 p.m. Once you've been identified as a winner, you'll have the pick of which game you want to attend, first come first served

Rethinking the Puerto Rico Islander Give-away

During this contest we want to make sure that families can participate. So if you register on DóndeEs.com or become a fan of the DondeEs.com Facebook Page, we will give you up to 6 tickets per family. If your newly wed and it's just the two of you fine, two free tickets for you. But if your married with children (up to 4 to be exact), then 6 free tickets for you.

Not sure it's worth your time?

After the last contest, we received a nice email from one of the winners. Juan Carlos Ribot had this to say:

"Gracias, por las taquillas. Ayer fui al juego y nos lo disfrutamos mucho."

The rest of the rules are pretty much the same. Oh and by the way, you don't even have to pick-up the tickets if you win. We'll make sure the tickets are waiting for you at the will-call window of Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium. What could be simpler?

So head on over to the registration page or the DondeEs.com Facebook page and get signed up to take your family to see the PR Islanders. If you've already registered and become a fan, thanks for your support, it's very important to us. For you, stay tuned, we're going to be giving away tickets through trivia and other activities here at the blog and over at the Facebook page, so pay attention.

Remember to tell your friends and family about the Dondequiera contest! Can you imagine all of your friends and family going together to see the soccer game for FREE? Wouldn't that be a great time?

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Lasre

Please don't give in to the status quo

2008-06-18T05:34:00.003-04:30

Occasionally you'll find something on the web, which resonates with you and your situation so much, it's freaky. Well, that's how I started out my morning. I just happened to take a peak at Seth Godin's Blog and got really freaked out.

In his latest post he asks "Is it worthy?" He goes on to describe different scenarios, and concludes each one by posing the question, "Is my effort, consistent with everything I've invested, been afforded, and/or is at stake? For example, he asks:

"Is cutting corners to make a buck appropriate when you consider what you could have done? What would someone with a bigger vision have done instead?"

I encourage you to read his post and consider how many different ways this question is perfect for what we are facing in Puerto Rico. For it is so very easy to blame the gas crisis, or the government, or the politicians, but let me assure you, there is plenty of blame to go around. So much so, we may have more blame than we can throw around.

However, ironically, it may be that we are still not failing enough. The distinction is what we are failing at. As Seth concludes:

"The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all"

I think Seth nails it right on the head of the problem, when he says we take too much for granted. For far too long, we have taken for granted that our island's beauty, our economy, our future is set, unchangeable, should I even go so far as to say guaranteed. We became hypnotized by that false assurance, and now find ourself facing so many fundamental problems, so many special and conflicting interests, such a lack of vision in our leaders that we are nearly paralyzed.

And let me tell you, there is nothing more disruptive and de-motivating than to live/work/attend school/volunteer/attend church beside people who have surrendered to the paralysis and feel powerless. It's contagious, infectious, it seeps into our thinking, or judgment, our attitudes, and our ability to help ourselves. So ultimately you end feeling helpless as well, and then stop trying, stop caring, and accept the status quo. That my friends, is the single biggest problem we face; please don't give in to the status quo.

Express a Band-Aid Moment and Win

2008-06-17T05:43:00.005-04:30

In a household with young children, there are a few essential items that you should never be without. And if those children lead active life styles, Band-Aids (curitas), are essential. With a constant string of cuts and abrasions, Band-Aids, carry magical healing power that starts working as soon as they are stuck on the golpe. Throw in some Neosporin, and you have a perfect healing combination, guaranteed to provide rapid healing. The only thing that seems to work even better is a magical kiss from Mami or Papi.

Johnson and Johnson, makers of Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages, is sponsoring an art contest to find the best drawings illustrating a situation where you need Band-Aids. There is nothing required to participate in the contest, all you need to do is express a Band-Aid moment from your life.

Using whatever materials you like, draw your moment on a 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. Parents and friends are allowed to help, but hopefully this won't be like all of those crazy assignments teachers give where it's obvious that the parents have to do most of the work. You have until July 27th to submit your entry.

There are three age categories, each with its own grand prize. For ages 12-15, the winner will get a pass for Galaxy Lanes for a pizza party for the winner plus 2 friends and 3 adults. In the 8-11 age category, the winner will receive a pass to Wonder Park in Carolina for a pizza party for the winner plus 4 friends and 5 adults. Finally, for the little ones, ages 3-7, the winner will receive a $100 certificate for Build-A-Bear in Plaza Las Americas.

Once finished, send your child's artwork along with your child's contact information (name address, and telephone) to:

Culinary Entertaintment, Inc.
Calle 2-A, No 115
El Palmar de Torrimar
Guaynabo, PR 00969

For more information, or to receive a copy of the rules of the contest, email miguel@ejenet.com.