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Gmail Open Sign ups now worldwide ;-)

Today I held a presentation at the Chamber of Commerce in Murcia about "How to sell on the Internet (with AdWords)". I think it was quite a success: It was attended by some 60 people and together with the presentation about Search Engine Optimization by our partner Victor de Francisco (Reexporta, article about the event on their page) we gave the participants an idea of what kind of (commercial) opportunities the web provides for a typical SME.

Although I know that I stepped in for my boss, I still wonder how I became the "Director of Products of Google Spain" so fast ;-)

Interesting (not live changing, though) and sometimes funny presentation of Seth Godin (author of All marketers are liars) at Google Campus from last year. All the great guest speakers would definitely make it worth to spend some time working in Mountain View/ California.

Live Blogging from Hotel Omm in Barcelona. I had a rough day with long meetings, but at least they were very productive.

After that I wandered around (I had no clue where I was!) and ended up having dinner at Kibuka, a Japanese restaurant that does not look very Japanese, but the food is reasonably good (although the portions are pretty tiny).

Some comments about Omm:
- good Caipirinhas
- minimalist design withouth creating a cold atmosphere
- they wanna charge you 30 Euros (!!!) for the Spa
- dispensers instead of disposable shampoo/conditioner bottles: great idea! better for the nature and saves the hotel money (I guess)

1105 days online.
131 posts
73 comments
102 pictures
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...more to come!

Last night I went to see the movie Babel. A very good movie which creates an intense atmosphere and has some great, colourful shots. However, the evening session was sold out and we had to opt for the night session which was good enough for us anyways.

To waste some time in between, we went to check out the new rooftop bar of the hotel Me at Plaza Santa Ana. From the terrace there you have a great view over the city and apparently they have some very good (but pricey) cocktails. I had a Flirtini (sounds a bit girly, I know) made of Grey Goose Vodka, Cointreau, Champagne & Pineapple Juice. While it is still a bit chilly for rooftop terraces, this bar will be an excellent place to hang out in the summer.

Talking about rooftop bars I have to mention the bar/restaurant at the Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo. It has the most stunning view of the citie's skyline and the coolest pool I have ever seen (it is black). Moreover, prices are pretty moderate compared to Europe (which is not always the case in Sao Paulo). Unfortunately, I could not find a good photo on the web, but the one below should give you an idea of this amazing place.

It's true!

I am a big fan of innovative NGO's or good charity ideas. That's why I lit a light at the Darfur wall when I read about it at Mikko's blog.

One of my favourite albums right now is the Evolution of Robin Thicke. Check out the great intro song and "Cocaine". On Youtube I have found a video of a song that is also pretty cool: Lost without you.



Today I stumbled across another music video on Paradeiser's blog and I found the song so convincing that I ended up buying the whole album on iTunes. Herman Dune sounds a little bit like a mixture of Adam Green, Beck and Sufjan Stevens. I hope you like it too!



P.S.(ttt): Another great album is "Begin to Hope" from Regina Spektor (& her myspace site).

It seems that most of the time when I write a blog post here I am announcing to blog more frequently again, because I haven't done so in Well, herewith I do it again! I started the new year with some plans which I'd really like to make happen. Here they are (not all of them, but some):

1.) Establish better Work Life balance
2.) Do more sports
3.) Take language course in Portuguese/French

Point Number 1 has directly to do with writing blogs. It should not mean that I will spend all my freetime in front of the internet, but that I do the things which I enjoyed doing before I started to work at Google more frequently again.

However, even if I achieve this goal, my freetime will be limited. One of my hobbies is cooking and I probably won't get to cook as much as before but therefore I get to go to restaurants more often. That's why I plan to write more posts on restaurants that I liked or really disliked - so expect some serious gourmet critiques here!

This weekend I spend mostly working on my computer, throwing old stuff out and updating essential software, but I also used the time to read my favorite blogs - something I have not done in a long time. It's good to see that most of them are still around and updated frequently. One thing though I am really proud of is that I converted my girlfriend into a real blogger. I know I am repeating myself here, but I really like her stories and her positivism and I would be an equally fascinated reader without knowing her, that I am sure of. You should not miss out on her blog in any case.