USA
Goodbye, Boston
I initially planned to work from home, but it didn’t take long for me to start experimenting with different coffee shops. After a few weeks, I picked this place next to my father’s office and began coming here regularly. I wrote many of my podcast scripts, blog posts, and chapters of my books at this Starbucks.
This is the third time I have lived in Boston. It is now time to leave. Again.
We are leaving soon, and it’s been hard to say goodbye. Part of my family lives here, and the city itself holds a special place in my heart.
Thank you, Boston!
RunKeeper no Apple Watch
Essa quarta, assisti a uma apresentação do pessoal da RunKeeper na loja da Apple falando sobre a versão do aplicativo para o relógio. Uso o RunKeeper no iPhone desde que foi lançado. Atualmente, acompanho meus passos via Breeze e controlo as corridas com o Pebble. Será que a Apple finalmente me conquistará via app de monitoramento de atividades físicas?
A apresentação foi relativamente curta, mas interessante. Na primeira parte foi dada uma visão geral do aplicativo para o telefone e em seguida foi feita uma demonstração usando o relógio.
Algo que imediatamente me agradou foi a possibilidade de iniciar a corrida via Apple Watch. No Pebble, isso não é possível. O que faço é iniciar via telefone e, logo em seguida, pressiono a pausa. Depois, posso escolher um podcast, colocar o telefone na braçadeira e, quando começo a corrida, desligo a pausa via relógio.
Pode parecer bobagem, mas não é. Uma vez perdi uma corrida inteira. Terminei a atividade, usei a pausa via Pebble e esqueci de encerrar no telefone. Resultado? No dia seguinte, apaguei a corrida anterior por acidente quando tentava iniciar uma nova.
Apesar dessa pequena vantagem, a versão do RunKeeper para Apple Watch ainda é basicamente uma extensão da tela do iPhone. Além disso, atualmente a Apple não permite acesso de apps (terceiros) a diversos recursos, como o monitor cardíaco. Porém, acredito que, como aconteceu no iOS, essas barreiras cairão com o tempo.
O problema é que essas restrições sempre complicam um pouco a vida dos desenvolvedores. Por exemplo, o app de atividades físicas da Apple não é tão completo quanto o RunKeeper. Após algumas corridas, ele compara seus passos com a distância calculada via GPS no iPhone e depois você pode passar a correr somente com o relógio. Já o app RunKeeper, depende 100% do telefone.
Concluída a apresentação, funcionários da Apple trouxeram alguns relógios para a mesa e foi uma experiência diferente. Além de testar o RunKeeper, pude, pela primeira vez, usar o relógio no braço e navegar com mais tempo entre os recursos. Disparamos até mesmo uma selfie via Apple Watch.
O relógio mostra tudo que está sendo visto pela câmera do telefone e junto um botão para fotografar. Mas, definitivamente, ainda não foi dessa vez que saí da loja com um relógio da Apple. Além do preço, que considero elevado, não estou convencido a respeito da utilidade do relógio.
Para falar a verdade, ando ansiosamente aguardando a atualização do sistema operacional do meu Pebble. Quero muito experimentar a nova timeline anunciada há algum tempo. O novo relógio—Time—começa a ser vendido no próximo mês e, depois disso, ocorrerá a atualização dos antigos modelos.
First AeroPress Coffee
This is the big mess I made a few days ago, when preparing the first coffee in our new temporary home. I don’t like this type of coffee maker, but this is a furnished house; it was also our first morning here, and after searching the cabinets, that’s what I found.
It was the perfect excuse I needed to finally order an AeroPress, which just arrived.
Palo Alto Flash Tour
Another company I was eager to visit this time was Flipboard. I keep a relatively popular magazine on the platform and have collaborated with them on some blog posts. It was nice to finally meet some of the people I have been in touch with via email for a long time.
And since I’m here, why not stop by the HP’s garage?
What I wasn’t expecting during this Palo-Alto flash tour was to accidentally walk by a door with Pebble’s logo. I love my Pebble, and as I write this, I’m already regretting not having approached and requested a tour. The worst thing that could happen would be them saying it was not possible.
Visiting Evernote
I decided to stay in San Francisco for a few more days after the Evernote Conference to visit Evernote and some other companies.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the building, so these and other similar photos are all I have from my visit to Evernote headquarters in Redwood City. Fortunately, I was given a full tour.
At the entrance there is a small cafeteria where employees can make their own coffee and drink it in Evernote cups. There’s also a small shop selling items from the Evernote Market and the famous chalkboard wall.
The first floors of the building are empty. In fact, they are quite raw; there isn’t even any finishing to the space. I was told the size of the building was thought to still fit everyone when the company grows. The upper floors are where people actually work and where I had the opportunity to meet and talk to different teams. One thing that surprised me was how many people knew who I was.
One interesting detail I noticed were the many walls pained with a special paint that makes them work as a whiteboard. Sometimes, people meet in front of a wall, have a conversation about a project, write or draw something on the wall, and then take a picture with Evernote. Pretty cool!
Before heading back to San Francisco, I had lunch with the marketing team at the cafeteria.
It was a nice experience to see where my beloved app is being built.
More present than his other suppliers from across the city
When I began consulting for Amaral Maia Sociedade de Advogados, located over 1.000 km away from me, many of my customers were already remote. But this was the first time a CEO told me something so special.
Even though it was a long project, the CEO and co-founder, Antonio Maia and I only met in person at the 2014 Evernote-Conference. That’s when he told me that I was always more present than his other suppliers from across the city. I always believed in building strong relationships with my clients, regardless of distance, so this was such a lovely compliment to receive.
The consulting project with Amaral Maia Sociedade de Advogados was selected by Evernote for my presentation at the conference, which you can watch below.
Evernote Trunk Conference 2012
There are so many good things happening currently in my life. Not only am I currently writing a book about Evernote, but I was recently selected to join the companies’s Ambassador program. And then the unimaginable happened. I was invited to the 2012 edition of the Evernote Trunk Conference. This is such an honor.
It’s great to be here, but it could have been an entirely different outcome. My US visa was valid, but my passport was expired. The issue I faced was that Evernote’s invitation was extended just a few weeks before the event, so I had very little time to go through the process of renewing my passport. I got it two days before the trip, so I think you can imagine how stressed I was.
Anyway, after that holster of emotions, there I was at the Concourse Exhibition Center & Trade Show Facility. It was great to be among so many enthusiasts like me.
Blending Analog and Digital
Listening to Phil-Libin share his ideas and vision for the product was a fantastic experience, but there was more. The announcement of the Moleskin partnership happened in such a clever way. When we got back to the conference room, we found this envelope with the words “Do not open.”
After listening to Arrigo Berni, the CEO of Moleskin, we were finally introduced to this new product. The Evernote camera will “understand” stickers that come with the Evernote Moleskin, automatically save them to a preselected notebook, and even add tags. I can’t wait to use this and share my thoughts.
And to top it all off, I managed to snap a pic with Phil-Libin before I headed out. It was such a great day. Thank you, Evernote, for inviting me! I loved every minute of every moment of it.
