Technology Development

Fiction turned into reality. Today we are able to use gadgets that in the past were only an idea or a dream. Almost every idea can become a reality, and ingenuity is not stopping but getting its momentum. The technological advances acquired in the last 100 years have situated humanity in a better position. Every aspect of life is getting the benefits from technological developments. The pace is just accelerating to create new applications for technology. I was really amazed by the following article: Smartphones become capable of sensing human emotion.  The link to read it is:  http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/142486-smartphones-gain-the-ability-to-sense-human-emotion

As I read this article I was thinking to myself, what great ideas are still there waiting to see life. Thanks to technology, no matter how impossible or crazy it sounds, if we can think or dream about it, it is almost possible to make it a reality. Usually technology is developed for specific fields, but then it finds its way into the public and it becomes a source of wealth by improving life at every level.

What is new today may be obsolete tomorrow. Creativity has no limits any more. 

TED TALKS

First, what a great website to visit when some ideas or inspiration are needed http://www.ted.com/talks

I chose a short but very energetic presentation by Richard St. John: 8 Secrets of Success. http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html

 The argument in this presentation is:  What leads to Success?

Why do people succeed? Is it because they are smart? Or are they just lucky? Personally, I always made myself those questions about some people that I know.

According to Richard the 8 Secrets to succeed are:

1.-PASSION: We must do things for love and not just for the money. But at the end money will follow.

2.-WORK: Nothing comes easy, we must work hard and also try to have fun at what we do.

3.-GOOD: We must become damn good at what we do. It takes practice, practice...

4.-FOCUS: Focus ourselves on one thing. Keep it in track.

5.-PUSH: We must push ourselves physically and mentally. Push thru shyness and self-doubt also. I will add here: "Never give up".

6.-SERVE: We must serve to others. Millionaires serve others something of value.

7.-IDEAS: We must listen, observe and be curious, and then we'll become problem solvers.

8.-PERSIST: We must persist even thru failure and crap.

Richard used a Power Point presentation filled with humor. It is a successful presentation that inspired me to be on the road of success no matter what. It is a fast paced presentation, as I mentioned filled with humor, I like the CRAP description given by Richard. Persist thru CRAP:  Criticism, Rejection, Assholes, and Pressure.

Organizations and Social Media

The purpose of many organizations is to provide some service to the community. In order to do that they need to be known by the public. In the past, we didn't have the advantage of knowing details about specific organization in the way that we can access it now. It is an advantage for both, the organization and the people that need their services.
I researched two organizations that are dedicated to serve the needs of kids and provide support to the parents also.


Penfield Children's Center is a place where kids receive therapy and other services that helps them to improve their lives. My family learned about Penfield when the pediatrician noticed that my son Gabriel wasn't developing his motor skills according to his age. He spent almost two years going to Penfield until he turned 3. Thanks to the therapy that he received  at Penfield, Gabriel improved his development. Penfield has a website that is well organized and informative. They are active on Facebook and also on Twitter. In Facebook they post Picture of the Week, usually one of the kids that receives services there. Most of the comments are from parents, but you can see that other business and organizations that support them also post pictures and comments. On Twitter they could do a little more, but maybe they don't get too many tweets. They are doing a good deal of using social media at this time. And I am glad that they do that because they can reach parents of kids that can benefit from their services.



Now let's talk about an organization that is more familiar to every one. Ronald McDonald House Charities is an organization that supports family of children hospitalized at Children's Hospital across the country.  RMHC  does a wonderful humanitarian mission. In 2000 I learned about their mission when I met a couple from Florida whose daughter was hospitalized in Children's Hospital. This family took just enough money and goods and drove to Wisconsin trying to save the life of their daughter. They didn't know anybody but Ronald McDonald House provided them with a place to stay while their daughter was in the hospital. Unfortunately she lost the battle against cancer.
RMHC has a nice website, their Facebook is filled with pictures of parents and families that receive services there. Their twitter account is very impressive, they have a lot of followers and thousands of tweets. They are very active tweeting and posting on their Facebook. Their audience is people that may consider receiving help from them while their kids are at Children's Hospital, it could be overnight or for several days. They also  are connected with organizations that help them to continue with their wonderful mission. They are doing a great job serving people's needs and communicating using social media.

Why I am at MATC?

I finished High School in 1983, and I started working. My first job was in Guatemala in the Accounting Department of Juan Waelti, Sucs. This was a company dedicated to export coffee.
I worked there for two years and moved to USA in 1986. The first thing I did here was to attend MATC, and take ESL for two semesters. Then in 1988, I started working at El Rey Mexican Products until 2008.

I started at El Rey doing Accounts Receivable, some of the duties were to post purchase activities for wholesale customers into their accounts. This postings were done in a ledger that used a magnetic strip to register activities like purchases, payments, balances, etc.
In those days, El Rey was moving to the computer age, and started using a computer that posted sales to the accounts, generated: invoices, statements and kept a more accurate record.

Soon the owner found out that I was the right candidate to operate the computer. Because of this finding I became a person of interest in the business. I started taking phone orders for the wholesale customers, most of them restaurants. Then I entered those orders in the computer to generate invoices. I coordinated those orders for delivery. Basically I controlled the whole department with the help of the computer.

I loved my job because I had a lot of communication with people in the food-service industry. Unfortunately for medical reasons I couldn't work for 6 months and lost my job in 2008. I was getting depressed and  decided to continue my education at MATC in order to look for a new opportunity in the job market. Then in 2011, I started the IT Programming/Analyst Associate in MATC, and I am discovering and learning the necessary tools for a new job.