miércoles, 23 de diciembre de 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah 2009!


We're almost at the end of the year...so I just wanted to tell you...

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

May this new year 2010 bring us happiness and professional success...may all our dreams and goals came true! -:D

Greetings,

Blag.

domingo, 13 de diciembre de 2009

Citrify - Edit your photos a la AIR


Yesterday I was checking my friend Duane "Chaos" Nickull's page called Technoracle(a.k.a "Duane's World") and I found out that he was giving away 50 Free Citrify Licences of course...I took my chances and was gladly choose -:) I'm a Citrify user right now -;)

But...what's Citrify? It's an Adobe AIR based application used to edit your photos in a fun and easy way.


Choose a picture...


You can adjust Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation, Resize, Rotate and Sharpen.


You can use some Touchup with Airbrush, Blemish, Glare, Redeye, Toothbrush and Wrinkle.


Of course...don't forget about the Effects, you can use Halftone, Flashback, Watercolor, Hulkify, Obamify, Sepia, Black & White and Pencil sketch.


Playing along with effects and adjustments, you can make some weird looking pics like this one -:)

I really recommend this piece of software...easy to use, build on Adobe AIR...what else can you ask for?

Greetings,

Blag.

ChessJam - Online chess


I must admit that I'm really bad at Chess...but it doesn't mean I don't like it -;)
So, when I was browsing my RSS Reader, I found ChessJam.

ChessJam is a pretty neat application build on Adobe Flex and ColdFusion running on Adobe AIR.

But you might be asking...what's the big buzz about a Chess game? Easy...you can play against bots or against people from all around the world...chat included...to me...that's awesome -:)


We have to create an account and then log-in.


We can choose to play a single game or chat and challenge other players....


We can choose varios types of games (Depending on the game time play) or enter a Tournament.


We have plenty of room to choose if the want to play against a bot or another human being.


We can choose between a nice 3D look...


or a nice 2D classic view...


When you sign up...you must give out your Country of residence...so the system could run some nice statistics.

So...why don't you give this game a chance? Play it...enjoy it and pass it along -;)

Greetings,

Blag.

lunes, 16 de noviembre de 2009

domingo, 1 de noviembre de 2009

Being an SAP Mentor in Lima, Perú...


Ok...the story goes like this...quite time ago I got invited to SAP World Tour in Lima, Perú. So, as I was still and Abaper I asked by boss for permission to go to the event. He pass the invitation link to the Sales Manager who invited 7 more people. I realize that when I get to the event.

So, after that I get contacted by SAP Perú telling me that we took to many slots...even when they told the Sales Manager to take only 2 or 3 max (counting me of course)...

Anyway...some time later I got invited to an SAP Business Objects event...and I was told to not invite anyone else, so I went to event alone.

Last Monday I got a new invitation for SAP BUSINESS PROCESS PLATFORM DAY 2009, which I thought was some sort of a public event like the SAP World Tour...so I registered myself, pass the link to my boss and one more for my colleague on the Sales Team. Just the 3 of us, like they told me before.

Two days later I got a message from SAP Perú telling me that I was making the same mistake again, that we were taking slots from customers, that I was putting in risk my relation with SAP Perú and so on...

Now put some things in perspective...

1.- I'm making the same mistake again? First time wasn't my fault...It was the Sales Manager fault...I got nothing to do with that particular problem...

2.- Are we taking slots from customers? They assumed that we're going to take 7 or 8 slots again...we were going to take 3 max (including me) as they told me...but they even bother to ask me...they just prove me guilty without hearing my complains first.

3.- I put in risk my relation with SAP Perú? Ok...so what relation? They had never thread like they should considering who I am inside the Community.

So...taking things from the 3rd point...I know that no one is prophet in his own land...but this is kinda lame...I mean...if you compare how SAP USA and SAP Perú thread me...then you could start thinking like me...I'm an SAP Mentor (Only me on Perú, only 3 on South America), SAP Blogger, Top Contributor and many more. But that doesn't seems to be enough for SAP Perú...I know that here is this forgot by God land, the SAP Office is mostly for Marketing and Sales related stuff...but if you stop to think about it...having an SAP Mentor between the audience could really improve things, right? We are SAP chosen experts...SAP rock stars...still...seems to be not enough for this country...

Now...back to the 2nd point...as they assume we were going to fill all the slots...they canceled my Boss and colleague's registries...but what about mine? Do they cancel my registry as well? After that I send them a message asking if I could still go or not...as expected...no one answered me...and surely no one will...so I missing the event just because of that...don't you think it's too much? Couldn't they just cancel the extra registries and keep mine? why punish me for my first honest mistake? Too bad don't you think?

Ok...I know that if someone from SAP Perú read this post...my relation with them is going to get completely broken...but should I care? what's wrong about broken a relation that is 10% worthy?...if I got a got a 110% good relation with SAP USA, do I really need a relation with SAP Perú? I think not...I just got bad things from them since the beginning...

P.S: To my SAP Mentor Boss...Mark, please don't call them or mail them...they just not worthy...if they want to ditch their relation with the only SAP Mentor available here...it's their problem...don't spend you time with people who just doesn't deserve it...

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 15 de octubre de 2009

The Blag Show Limited Podcast Edition 3, 4 and 5


I got some problems with uploading...so I'm going to put the files so you can download them and listen later -;)

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Greetings,

Blag.

miércoles, 7 de octubre de 2009

My evil plans for SAP TechEd Phoenix 2009


We're only 4 days away from TechEd...and I was planning to inform about my evil plan this Saturday...but couldn't resist -;)

If you follow my blogs on SCN you might know that on my first TechEd (Las Vegas 2007) I wrote one blog per day...a very difficult task of course, so in my second TechEd (Las Vegas 2008) I wrote a "in a nutshell" blog, summarizing all that happened there...this year, it's going to be my third TechEd...so I want to do something different from last year...I want to share even more! -:D

So...my evil plans are this:

*"The Blag Show - Limited Edition Podcast" to be launched this Saturday...and one per day...

* A short blog per day on SCN.

* Video Blogging, mostly on RIA Hacker Night and Community Clubhouse.

* Blagbert comics about TechEd funny situations. Yes...Blagbert is going to TechEd too -;)

* Twitter stream for sure -;)

* Assist @jspath55 giving out @SCNotties awards.


A Gapinvoid comic strip kindly send to me by Mrinal Wadhwa (@mrinal)

Greetings,

Blag.

lunes, 5 de octubre de 2009

uCertify - Certifications made easy...


Have you ever took a Certification Exam? If you do, did you pass it? It was easy for you? Or if you haven't...you think it was too hard? You didn't have enough time to study?

Well...with uCertify there aren't more excuses.

uCertify brings you a powerful software used as a training and exam simulation, so you can study and took exams to prepare yourself for the big challenge.

I'm currently evaluating this course BH0-006 – ISEB ITIL Foundation v.3 Practice Test


The contents are separated into themes and definitions, which makes it even easier to learn and remember.


When you took test, you can a history showing how many times the exam has been taken, what score you achieve and more interesting information. (I'm still learning so you're not going to find anything on my History List)...


uCertify provides a lot of packages for certifications and even discounts on list prices, which make them even more interesting to try and buy.




Enough said, uCertify brings certifications to your home...you must only study, took the exams and get more than ready for the real thing.

Disclaimer: This blog is based on my own personal thoughts and experiences.

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 20 de agosto de 2009

Wait a second! Am I famous?


Today, Mark Yolton from SAP Community Network gave me really wonderful news...follow this link and tell who's that handsome and smart guy on the picture...

InsideSAP

Cool isn't it -;)

Greetings,

Blag.

viernes, 7 de agosto de 2009

Learning on Demand by SAP


As an SAP Mentor I receive a lot of goodies and free stuff from very nice people.

Today I get access to Learning on Demand by SAP, so of course I started to play with it.


When you log in you can browse the available courses, which might not be many but are going to grow in time.


Of course, first thing I did was to look for ABAP courses -;) I might be a Project Manager but still I'm crazy about ABAP Development.


I found TAW11 - ABAP Details and start reading it...it's very well done, easy to follow and with useful information.


Something I really liked was the fact that I was expecting just a bunch of Power Point slides...but in fact, it's a bunch of slides with voice -:)


I think that LoD is a great idea...a place where you can learn various topics, with very good material. My recommendation...let it get more mature and then buy your subscription. Being a fairly new service, it needs to fix some thing and maintain a bigger library...

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 6 de agosto de 2009

Twitter is down...but don't panic...


Believe it or not...Twitter is down again...so what can we do now?

Relax...there's always a nice and elegant solution to this kind of critic problems...just visit this site... When Twitter is down

Greetings,

Blag.

sábado, 1 de agosto de 2009

This post sucks...I know that...


Sure, this post sucks...but I don't really care -:)

I been playing Wii Sports today...and after 1 hour and a lot of sweat I come to a wonderful idea...if this had been done before...don't tell coz I don't care, I'm going to do this anyway...


So...what I'm going to do? Easy fellas...this are my stats to today

1/08/2009 --> Wii Age: 61 --> Weight: 89,9 Kilos (196.211 lb).

So I'm going to keep playing everyday (In the morning before I go to work) and keep track of my progress. Of course I'm not planning to post everyday...next month...September 1st I'm going to post my results...and I'm going to loose some weight? gain more muscles? get more handsome? Let's find out in a month -:)

BTW...Nintendo is not paying me a dime for making this kind of promotion to Wii Sports...I really thing they should...so they are free to mail me so we can get a marketing deal...some free Wii games maybe?

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 18 de junio de 2009

My favorite BlackBerry apps...and games...


I own a BlackBerry Pearl 8100 with OS 4.5.0.108 and had download this wonderful app's and games -:)

Zum-Zum


Great, fun and difficult game.

Jetris


A Tetris clone...everybody loves Tetris -;)

Quick Stop Watch


Simple and useful stop watch application.

The Weather Network


It's raining Mike...it's raining...

Medieval Kings Chess 2
(Go to Mobile.BlackBerry.com then Games and finally Free Games.)


Totally awesome game! I suck at Chess...and still love this game -;)

Pacman


Great clone of an all time classic game.

Opera Mini



Best Berry browser...

Google Mobile App


A must have! Includes GMail, GMaps, News, Reader, Calendar, Docs, Photos, Notebook.

Google Sync


Sync your google stuff with you Berry...stay always update -;)

Mobipocker Reader


I just can't live without this! Read PDF books on your Berry! -:D

Got any other free great App or Game? Please let me know -:)

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 11 de junio de 2009

TechEd Phoenix Countdown for BlackBerry


If you follow me on Twitter you might know that I bought myself an BlackBerry Pearl 8100 cellphone...my first smartphone BTW...

First thing I do, of course, was to download some needed applications and games...but also download the Eclipse Plug-In that allows you to program applications for the Berry.

As you might remember, I build an SAP TechEd Phoenix 2009 countdown using Adobe AIR so this time I wanted to build the same but using Java for BlackBerry.

From my development experience...I gotta say that it took me too little modifications to translate the ActionScript version to the Java version...so programming for the Berry is both easy and fun -:)

Wanna tried it? Download it here. It includes the .ALX and .COD files so you better need to use the Desktop Manager.

BTW...it's a very simple app...but what do you expect from a countdown app? -:)

Greetings,

Blag.

sábado, 23 de mayo de 2009

Blag's Flex 3 compiler - Executable edition


Last year, I wrote a blog on SCN titled Blag's Flex 3 Compiler which was basically, a Ruby application using WxRuby for the GUI and Flex 3 SDK to compile Flex and AIR applications.

You may wondering why I'm posting again after 1 long year...easy...I finally could get an .EXE version working.

When I first developed the compiler I tried to build an .EXE using RubyScript2Exe and Exerb, which are amazing Ruby to .EXE scripts...but both failed when I came to WxRuby...

A couple of days ago...I found Ocra. Gotta say this...Ocra rules badly! It's fast, compiles anything and most important...keep the generated .EXE files relatively very small...

So, here the link for the compiler...And don't forget to read the README file -;)


Greetings,

Blag.

lunes, 18 de mayo de 2009

Is this good for you? It isn't for me...


Ok...Let's drop a story that might be or not true...

One day, Consultant X working for Company A is asked to develop a course for company B. They told Consultant X that the course should last 4 days. As Consultant X knows how consultancy works he prepare the course for 5 days. He finishes the course and send it to Company B.

After 2 weeks, Company A call Consultant X asking him, if he had finished the slides for the 10 days course...10 days, Consultant X asks...Yes, 10 days Company A answers...didn't we told you? No, answers Consultant X clearly annoyed...And I can modify my slides because I'm currently assigned to another project. No problem said Company A, we're going to assign Consultant Y, because we need to give the slides to Company B in two days.

Consultant X talks to Consultant Y who is taken by surprise...the day before, he could only delivered 6 slides, and promise the other 4 for end of the weekend.

After that Consultant X realizes that Company A plans to give the teaching of the course to Consultant B...8 classes for him and 2 for Consultant B, also Company B wants to left no trace of Company A or Consultant A and B on the slides. They seem to have bought not only a course, but all the content of the slides.

Everything gets a weird turn, because Consultant A is currently on a project and Consultant B is going to assign to a new project so he told Consultant A, that he's not going to be able to give the course...so who's going to make it? Ask Consultant A even more annoyed...I really don't know, but I don't think it's our problem anymore, answers Consultant B, also annoyed.

So...do you think it's fair to ask a Consultant to develop a course, that's is not going to be own by him anymore and it's doesn't even going to be teach by him? I don't think so...one think is to sell IP of programs developed in a Company because they paying for consulting work and after all they are going to use the applications developed...but if you buy a course...can you claim to be the owner of this course? Can you cheat you worker to develop a course that is going to be sold without his permission? In this case, there's nothing else to do...you have been cheated and need to face the consequences...the course doesn't belong to you anymore...so the only decent thing to do, it's refuse to teach it is they ask you...

This story might be true or false...it can happen to you or me...in this world of consulting, you have to be aware of everything, because you don't know when the odds are going to play against you...

Greetings,

Blag.

jueves, 30 de abril de 2009

If you hit F5 enough...you might see me...


This is something that I had been requested for a very long time...but of course I can't take the credit...maybe it's just a simple coincidence...but anyway, the fact is that I think that it's a wonderful idea!

So what it is? Basically, replace the old static picture of the TechEd Homepage with dynamic pictures of the SAP Mentors.

Now, if you hit F5 enough...you might see me -;)


Greetings,

Blag.

miércoles, 29 de abril de 2009

Legends of Zork


A couple of weeks ago I started playing Legends of Zork. But wait a minute...don't think that it's a new version of the all time hall of fame game Zork.

Legends of Zork is a nice game, web based, created by Jolt Online.


When we log in, we are presented to a map so we can choose our destination.


When we explore a territory, we can see our status (life points, money, number of action points and experience points).


In fights, there nothing we can do...only wish that our power, armor and statistics helps us to beat the monsters. Anyway...it's fun to watch how many points you lost trying to beat them up.


While fighting, you can be lucky to find the mysterious Fanucci cards...which can grant you more power (Body, mind or spirit).


So, if you asked me...sure I love this game...it's not a fancy game with 3D blasting graphics...but surely going to give you a lot of fun -;)

Greetings,

Blag.

viernes, 24 de abril de 2009

Kudos to Craig Cmehil and FMR24H!!!


What Craig Cmehil started yesterday April 23 of 2009, was completely awesome...He stayed awake for 24 hours! Transmitting live from his house just to support Doctors without Borders (Doctors and nurses volunteer to provide urgent medical care in countries to victims of war and disaster regardless of race, religion, or politics.)

His initial target was to collect $2,000 to give them away to those amazing people trying to make this world a better place...How much he get after 24 hours? The amazing amount of $4,412 and still counting.

Wanna see the link? Here it is FMR24H, but of course, don't expect Craig to keep transmitting...He must be sleeping and recovering forces...He truly deserves it.

Gotta say that Craig is an SAP Mentor just like me and many other friends...so apart from my donation to the cause, I drop him a nice Blagbert cartoon
called Craig Cmehil and FMR 24 hours marathon, also Dennis Howlett build a cool video called Craig Cemhil's 24 hour show raising awareness and money for Doctors without Borders.

Of course I took a little screen shot, so you could see him in action -;)


Last words...Craig, you do such an amazing job...I once had to stay awake for 24 hours at work...so I totally understand that you put all your heart and soul in this...specially because you did it for the better good. You're such an example to follow, a role model and really, really good friend -:')

Greetings,

Blag.

martes, 21 de abril de 2009

Excuse me...Can I have 30+ seconds of your time?


Our beloved Craig Cmehil wrote a blog called You and your 30 seconds! Asking us to produce a 30+ seconds video with us talking about ourselves.

Why I think this is important?

1.- It's always fun to shoot a video.

2.- It's nice to about yourself -;)

3.- Actually...You're promoting yourself and helping to gain more visibility.

4.- You're doing for a good cause

So why don't you pick you cam recorder, webcam, camera or whateever and tell us who you are -:)



Be sure to check out the WIKI! More cool videos in the making -;)
Greetings,

Blag.

Who I had meet at TechEd...And who's missing -:(


As you may know...I have attend two SAP TechEd events...first was TechEd Las Vegas 2007 and second was TechEd Las Vegas 2008...this year of course I'm attending TechEd Phoenix 2009 -;)

So...I wanted to drop a list of all the people I have meet in real life...caution...this is a very big list -;) in no special order (Sorry if I'm forgetting someone)...and no direct links...I'm kinda lazy you now, and don't want to browse SCN looking for WIKI profiles LOL

* Mark Yolton
* Marilyn Pratt
* Craig Cmehil
* Graham Robinson
* Dagfinn Parnas
* Ed Hermann
* Rich Heilman
* Thomas Jung
* Stacy Fish
* Dan McWeeney
* Mathias Zeller
* Leonardo de Araujo
* Mike Prosceno
* Jimmy Whales
* Zia Yusuf
* Vishal Sikka
* Marcelo Ramos
* Stefan Thibeault
* Alex Giguere
* Gregor Wolf
* Gretchen Lindquist
* Christine Godek
* Greg Chase
* Jim Spath
* Karin Tillotson
* Amir Blich
* Sonia Tellez
* Bhanu Gupta
* Brian Bischof
* Christopher Solomon
* David Halitsky
* Dennis Howlett
* Harald Reiter
* Ignacio Hernández
* Ingo Hilgefort
* Jon Reed
* Joseph Zeinoun
* Mark Finnern
* Horst Keller
* Thomas Ritter
* Robert Briese
* Somnath Manna
* Suresh Datti
* Vince Kohli
* Lisa London
* Vinnie Mirchandani
* Ryan Quackenboss
* James Governor
* Michael Coté
* Andre Salazar
* Federico Babelis
* Chip Rodgers
* Keith Elliot
* Marco ten Vaanholt

People I haven't meet yet in real life! -:(

* Abesh Bhattacharjee
* Anne Kathrine Petteroe
* Anton Wenzelhuemer
* Darren Hague
* Detlev Beutner
* Durairaj Athavan Raja
* Julius Bussche
* Markus Döhr
* Martin Gillet
* Michael Bechauf
* Michael Koch
* Michal Krawczyk
* Mike Pokraka
* Nigel James
* Oliver Kohl
* Richard Hirsch
* Sergio Ferrari
* Tobias Trapp
* Uwe Schieferstein
* Terry West
* Kathy Welch
* Chris Dalby
* Puru Govind
* Luis Felipe Lanz

As you can see...By attending TechEd Phoenix 2009 you could meet a lot of very interested people...but most important...you could meet me! -;)

Greetings,

Blag.

viernes, 3 de abril de 2009

A little bit about me *Egocentric post warning*


Just wanted to take a little time to you a little bit about me...

* I work as a Senior ABAP Consultant and ABAP Instructor
* I'm an SAP Mentor at SAP Mentors
* I'm an SAP Blogger at Blag on SAP Community Network
* Blogger in Spanish and English at El Blog Tecnológico de Blg and Blag's bag of rants
* I'm a programming books author at Blag's Store
* I'm a geek comics author at Blagbert Comics
* I'm a Forum moderator at SAP Community Network and SAP ABAP en Castellano
* I'm a freeware developer at Blag Software
* I run an Internet geek show at The Blag Show
* I'm married and have a daughter.
* I do programming on ABAP, PHP, Ruby and Flex.

P.S: I know...This post is really egocentric...But come on! You must promote yourself sometimes -;)

Greetings,

Blag.

miércoles, 1 de abril de 2009

SAP Inside Track Lima 2009


I know there are still several months for July...But with all Inside Track event coming around the world, I think this is a good time for tell you about...

SAP Inside Track Lima 2009

This event is about sharing knowlegde, spreading the word about SAP and it's related technologies, so it's all about you. You giving or attending sessions, you sharing experiences with other SAP professionals.

So the basic questions...

Where? Need to be confirmed, but of course of Lima, Perú.

When? Saturday 04, July 2009.

Cost? Free of couse.

Why?
Because official Community Day is no more. We need to put even more power to local events.

When can I sign up? There's a link on the WIKI...but...Here's the direct link:

For Attendants

For Sponsors

Hope to see you there!

Greetings,

Blag.

domingo, 15 de marzo de 2009

My "Watchmen" review


Ok...When I first saw the Watchmen ad on the street, my thought was..."You really expect me to see some unknown and bad dressed super heroes? No way man...".

Then, I saw the ad on television and kinda get interested...my thought was..."Ok...This doesn't look bad at all...Maybe I should try it...".

A couple of days later I was listening to Enterprise Geeks Podcast - Prepare to Qualify and my friend and Geek hero Mr. Thomas Jung was talking about the movie...After that I realized that it was a graphic novel published by DC comics and written by Alan Moore.

Before that...my thought was..."You stupid looser! Go to see the movie no matter what!"...So when my wife ask me if I wanted to go to the cinema I told her "Sure, but let's go watch Watchmen".

Then...The journey began...

I love everything about the movie...The soundtrack, the special effects, the caracters, the plot...This is now one of my all time favorite movies...A masterpiece...And even when Rorschach is completely insane...He's one of the coolest super heroes I had ever seen.


If you haven't seen the movie yet...WTF are you waiting for?! This movie rocks in so many levels! -:D

When we left the cinema my wife told me "We should really need to get this movie on DVD...Wanted to see it again..."

Me too of course...This is one of the movies that you must see twice...or maybe more...You can't get tired of a movie like this...Really -:)

Greetings,

Blag.

martes, 10 de marzo de 2009

Geeks and Sports


Last Sunday, Milly and I get back to our Tennis lessons...I took us almost a year...But we're back on the field -;)

Now...You may asking yourselves...So, how this is supposed to be related with Geeks? Easy answer...Take a look at this...


Still not Geek enough for you? Then look at this...


You know how much I love SAP...And I try to show it every time -:)
Finally...I wanted to show you how I end before the 1 hour class...BTW, Milly played a lot way better than me -:(



Greetings,
Blag.

jueves, 19 de febrero de 2009

New downloads on Blag Software


These last days I have been playing with Flex/AIR for a while and had released a couple of applications for Blag Software.

Phoenix TechEd Countdown


Digital Clock


Greetings,

Blag.