Felipe's World

Three months in Canada

Felipe — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:59:08 +0000

I had been so busy lately that I almost forgot that today makes 3 months that I arrived in Canada (and now I’m eligible for free health care - which I hope I won’t need to use). I’m loving Montreal. It’s definitely my favorite city so far.

I do feel I haven’t explore much here yet… I’ve been working so much on YowTRIP in the past 3 months, but hopefully in a few more weeks, I’ll be done with the development… and then the fun part starts!

Anyway, gotta get back to work… Just didn’t want this date to pass without noticing…

And what happened to the snow??? Everybody is getting snow, I heard it even snowed in Atlanta today!

What has changed?

Felipe — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:37:49 +0000

I was browsing through the AU College of Engineering website, where I worked at as a student… I still find a lot of photos of me that I hid throughout the site… So what has changed?

Take a look at Ben, Asim and me… We look a bit different now: Ben has gained some weight, Asim lost his hair, and I got a lot more gray hair…

Yeah, time is flying guys!

Want to learn more about what to do in Montreal?

Felipe — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:56:00 +0000

If you’re new to Montreal, planning to visit Montreal and simply want to discover new activities in this amazing city, check out this blog: Breaky with Becky. It’s a weekly bulletin of the various activities that you can enjoy in Montreal with whatever unplanned leisure time you may have during the week.

While you’re there, help them out by filling out this survey about what kind of information you’re looking for!

La Fondation du Maire de Montreal

Felipe — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:37:36 +0000

If you’re in Montreal/Quebec and you’re looking for funding to start a business, you should check out the grant opportunities available in Quebec. On Thursday I went to an information session for La Fondation du Maire de Montreal. Their deadlines are in February, May and September, so check out their website for more information and to see if you’re eligible to apply.

Here’s a couple other sites you should look into too: SAJE and YesMontreal.

Some more travel sites…

Felipe — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:20:35 +0000

The Travel Innovation Summit happened this week in Hollywood, CA. I want to congratulate the companies who were selected for this conference. This conference wasn’t only about “innovation” but also about “money.” Companies who are not backed by VC money had little chance to attend this conference as the application cost $500 and, if selected, you’d still have to pay $7K to attend it (besides travel expenses).

So, here are the 32 companies selected to demo their site:

AdventureLink - Offers a connection between adventure tour operators and travel agencies.
Cadabra - Travel planning.
Clairvoyix - B2B, customer relationship marketing.
DealBase - They claim to be the best site for hotel deals and discounts.
Ekit - Phone cards / International phones / SIM cards.
Escapia - B2B, vacation rental managers.
Farepool - B2B, travel agencies and suppliers.
Fogglight - B2B, travel tools on demand.
Innovata - B2B, aggregates and distribute travel and hospitality content.
Im@ - Geo-aware travel content provider: accomodation, transportation and entretainment.
LiveRez - Vacation rental software.
NileGuide - Travel planning.
PlanetEye - Travel planning.
Rezgo - B2B, Online tour reservation software.
Roundtrip Systems - B2B, a service for travel management companies to automate handling of email-based trip requests.
Sabre Holdings - Provides distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry.
The Society - Rent vacation homes.
TravelBeen - Social search engine for travel.
TravelMuse - Travel planning.
TripChill - Automated travel assistant.
Tripit - Travel assistant, travel organizer.
TripJane - Social travel: search/booking, share/connect, events.
Triporati - Explore and discover destinations. Personalized recommendations.
TripSketch - Travel planning.
TripTelevision - B2B, online sales and marketing platform.
UpTake - Travel planning.
VacationRoost - Vacation rentals.
Wandrian - B2B, technology solutions that simplify the planning and purchasing of train travel.
WorkLight - B2B, enables organizations to do business securely using consumer web 2.0 technologies.
WorldMate - Travel organizer. Sync wih mobile devices.
Yapta - Travel assistant. Track price of airline tickets.
YourTour - Travel planning.

The six finalists were: Wandrian, Fogglight, Tripit, Yapta, Im@ and Triporati.
Mashable Open Web Awards also announced this week the selected travel sites:

CouchSurfing - Connects travellers with the local community.
EuroCheapo - Expert reviews of cheap hotels in Europe.
GeckoGo - Travel planning.
GoPlanit - Travel planning.
ResortQuest - Vacation rentals.
Spotted by Locals - Cityblogs for travellers who like to experience cities ‘the local way.’
TravelMuse - Travel planning.
TripFilms - Informative travel videos from real travellers
Tripit - Travel assistant, travel organizer.
WanderingEducators - Global community of educators sharing travel experiences.
Yapta - Travel assistant. Track price of airline tickets.
Yellowstone Park - Park official website.

Big week for: TravelMuse, Tripit and Yapta!

Atlantis fireworks in Dubai

Felipe — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:58:20 +0000

Swimming…

Felipe — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:29:51 +0000

Best of Leon

Felipe — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:23:37 +0000

If you like Curb your Enthusiasm, you’re going to love this… That’s a funny show!

Remember: This is not TV (It’s HBO)

Crowded market? (Part 1)

Felipe — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:42:32 +0000

I listed below some (most) of the travel sites available today.

If you look at this list and you think this is a crowded market, you clearly have no idea about most of the sites below nor about the size of the travel industry.

So, time permitting, I’m going to try to educate you in the next few days…

Interesting, eh?

Felipe — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:02:34 +0000