i-Nexus -- Random Thoughts In Motion

Clean at the Marriott

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:51:00 +0000

So here I am checking the room if I have everything packed... and what do I find under the bed? It made my day (ok, I do realise it may have been there since the last century).

World statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:29:00 +0000

I don't really believe their "updated in real time" claim, but still, interesting yet scary figures are to be found on the World statistics site (link here).

So true: relationships between the advertiser and the consumer

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:51:00 +0000

From BringTheLoveBack, found through the Muse blog.

Hm, I think this is also what the relationship between the customer and the agency is like sometimes.

Mobile advertising the shanghai way

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:24:00 +0000

Here I was, standing at shore of the Huangpu river, quietly overlooking Shanghai, when this came floating by.

Now, there are a lot of screens already all over the city: huge LED billboards on buildings, LCD screens in taxi's, plasma screen in subway stations, gyms and whatnot. You name it, they have a screen with advertising in or on it.

So when the whole city filled up, someone had the genius idea to throw a huge LED screen on a boat, put some ads on it and take it up and down the river. I guess this qualifies as "mobile" advertising. Or visual pollution if you happen to be in the mood to stroll by the water and take in the city views. Nothing is sacred any more.

Passing through China

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:46:00 +0000

Well, I'm not exactly passing through China, but rather visiting Shanghai for the Intel Developer forum. It's an interesting city, and with a population of 18 million people there are actually more people living there than in my own country. Go figure. Actually, that could be a scary thought... or a comforting one, if you take into account the saying that "No matter how great your triumphs or how tragic your defeats, 1.3 billion Chinese couldn�t care less." To be honest, it might be up to 1.4 by now as the 1.3 figure was almost a year ago. Oh, and did I mention that they likely have the largest online population too now. Well, almost.

On board of my KLM flight was also a Dutch delegation on a one-week china trip. Follow their journey on marketingfacts.nl (Dutch only).

On a side-note, It was a bit of an adjustment to see all those people smoking everywhere again, as we've had so many bans on smoking in Europe, that it's hard to imagine that many smokers all over the place again. I was also surprised that I didn't see that many fancy new cars all over the place... mabe I was just in the wrong district.

Trevi fountain

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:23:00 +0000

Over in rome on business

How I lost my faith in wikipedia

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:40:00 +0000

I used to be a big believer in wikipedia and looked up references and information on it for, well, just about anything. Up until now, when I experienced firsthand how factual information can be removed and you're left in the cold when you'ry to do anything about it.

Here is what happened: I'm a member of an official federation (International Krav Maga Federation in Belgium if you must know), so I added a link to the federation's belgian site on the Krav Maga page on Wikipedia at the end of January. After all, we're an official federation, so no harm (note: I didn't remove any links to other federations, not even "competitive" ones. We all want to be known and it's a free world.). One week later the link was removed (by someone from another KM club in The Netherlands, but that's beside the point). I mail the owner of the page and the one who deleted it, and asked for explanation. None received. "OK, an error", I think, and I place the link again (after mailing the helpdesk at wikipedia what to do). It gets deleted again, this time by another user, and I get what seems like an automated comment that I shouldn't place links, and that if I do it again it will be considered "vandalism" (really!). That kind of puts me off ever wanting to contribute anything there again.

Actually, the exact post is:

"The external link(s) you placed in one or several articles, have been removed. Although we appreciate your contributions to Wikipedia, we strive to keep the number of external links at Wikipedia as low as possible. Wikipedia is first and foremost an encyclopedia, and not a collection of links to other websites. We prefer that you add any relevant encyclopedic information to the articles themselves. Thank you for your understanding. Adding the link again without any discussion in advance may be regarded as vandalism. You may provide links like these to various portals on the internet.

Let me take that reasoning apart.

"We appreciate your contributions to Wikipedia." I don't think you appreciate it at all, because you just delete my contribution without ever inquiring or even pretending to check.
"Keeping external links as low as possible". There are four at the moment, including the link to the Dutch IKMF federation and another Belgian federation (VKMF). But yet our link is not allowed. Can someone define what is "as low as possible"?
"We're not a collection of links", translation "we don't like to send people off to too many other sites that may have information you cannot find here"?
"You may provide links like these to various portals on the internet". Done that already, just thought it would be a good idea to add the information also to wikipedia. You know, people tend to go there because they still believe it's a good source of unbiased information.
"We prefer that you add any relevant encyclopedic information to the articles themselves."Like hell I will mess in that system again. True, I'd prefer to update the article itself with a paragraph of information about the different federations active in the Benelux, but now I won't because I don't feel like making the effort to just have my stuff deleted again by someone who doesn't agree, or being banned from wikipedia for trying to add to the system. Don't want to be a vandal.

Over at CrunchNotes they seem to have experienced the same:

"While wikipedia appears to be open to all, I�ve seen numerous examples of changes getting immediately deleted for what appears to be political reasons rather than the pursuit of pure knowledge. And I�ve also seen people be attacked for making changes that appear to be factual and correct. The TechCrunch listing on wikipedia has a number of errors. But there is no way in hell I�d ever think about fixing those errors. The wikipedia community has completely intimidated me to the point where making a change to that site is unthinkable. So I do think Wikipedia needs to be fixed."

I couldn't agree more with them. Sadly. The system is flawed. Well, maybe not the system, but it has not accounted for human nature.

More on the International Herald Tribune and The Register.

Nokia Morphing

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:26:00 +0000

Ok, impressive. I didn't think they had it in them anymore (I've been a Sony-Ericsson convert for a number of years now), but the Nokia Morph concept looks very interesting.

From the press release: "Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces."

More here on nanotechnology and the future of mobile phones. Now to make it come true.

Will we be matched by machines by 2029?

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:52:00 +0000

Tagging on my previous post on "shift happens", ever serious site BBC Machines states that machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029. And we'll be having nanobots inside our bodies.

Click here for the full article.

Shift happens

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:08:00 +0000

.. and it is still happening. At an ever increasing pace. Check out the presentation.

| View | Upload your own

"Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational power of the human brain." I'm especially interested in this one; I should be around to witness it. Let's just hope that supercomputer doesn't turn out to be Skynet.

Here is the original "Did you know 2.0"

Read more at Shift Happens

*Update*
There is also a Shift Movie in the works. Watch it here.

We have come a long way since 1996

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:08:00 +0000

Since 1996,the WayBack Machine site has been archiving about 85 billion web pages. I've gone in and looked at the history of my site ... boy, have I come a long way too. :-)

Over at this site someone went in and looked as some big brand names like MacDonalds, CocaCola, Pepsi and Lego. It's "interesting" to see how primitve websites were back then in what we seen now as the stone age of the Internet (but which very exciting and cutting edge at the time.)

Where is Marc Wallis?

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:09:00 +0000

I ran into my friend and colleague Marc Wallis again at the Mobile World congress this year. Why would I care to mention that on a blog you ask? Well, because exactly one year ago (ok, give or take a couple of days) we were exchanging ideas on blogging, and I showed him how I blogged from my mobile phone (I think I actually explained it to him again this year, but that's beside the point).

So he went on to register a site to track himself, got a blog account, and started to take pictures of wherever he was on his travels.

And so the whereismarcwallis.com photoblog was born. Happy first anniversary, Marc!

Blogging over at the Mobile World Congress

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:46:00 +0000

I'm officially one of the bloggers at our Technology Blog over at the Mobile World Congress.

So go over there and see what we're thinking about the new technologies we see at the show.

Spotted in Barcelona

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:37:00 +0000

Mobile WiMAX demo

Party over at google's place

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Who would be on the invite list if there was a party at Google's place? See if you can recognize them all.

Link through Flabber.

They key to life is ... running and reading

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:41:00 +0000

Wise words from Will smith: Running and reading are the key to life. Look here as he explains why.

Found through StrongLifts. Have a look there for his analysis. I'm off to running now. ;-)

Wired on the iPhone history

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:33:00 +0000

Wired's report on the history of the iPhone and its impact on the US carrier market.
Read more here

Wildbeaming

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:05:00 +0000

It's all about getting people to notice you, so here is a nice video of how they did it by wildbeaming, a form of beamvertising. Pretty cool. Limited to cities though.

Video also available on YouTube

101 dumbest moves in business

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:45:00 +0000

It's list time again ... check out the 101 dumbest moves in business for 2007.

Hack the planet

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:16:00 +0000

Something I had to share: Wired has come up with a list of 10 rather "special" ways that people are working on to save our planet.

Taking Lifehacks to the max.

Flashback: The Double Life

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:48:00 +0000

For years, I've lived a double life.
In the day, I do my job - I ride the bus, roll up my sleeves with the hoi-polloi.
But at night, I live a life of exhilaration, of missed heartbeats and adrenalin.
And, if the truth be known, a life of dubious virtue.
I won't deny it - I've been engaged in violence, even indulged in it.
I've maimed and killed adversaries, and not merely in self-defence.
I've exhibited disregard for life, limb and property, and savoured every moment.
You may not think it, to look of me, but I have commanded armies, and conquered worlds.
And though in achieving these things I've set morality aside, I have no regrets.
For though I've led a double life, at least I can say - I've lived.

Yes, it's the immortal PlayStation ad. Check it out on YouTube and look here for some analysis of it.

The Abilene paradox

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:10:00 +0000

The previous post on the Asoh defense led me to another real gem, the Abilene paradox.

Where I work, they have something called "disagree and commit". It's a good principle if it works, and when there is ample time to discuss, as this post explains. It tends to get a bit scary when the discussion bit is omitted (by fear of displeasing management or whatever the reason may be), and people end up with the Abilene paradox. This is a paradox in which a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that is counter to the preferences of any of the individuals in the group. It involves a common breakdown of group communication in which each member mistakenly believes that their own preferences are counter to the group's and do not raise objections. Scary, isn't it? The paradox is usually inllustrated by the below story:

"On a hot afternoon visiting in Coleman, Texas, the family is comfortably playing dominoes on a porch, until the father-in-law suggests that they take a trip to Abilene [53 miles north] for dinner. The wife says, "Sounds like a great idea." The husband, despite having reservations because the drive is long and hot, thinks that his preferences must be out-of-step with the group and says, "Sounds good to me. I just hope your mother wants to go." The mother-in-law then says, "Of course I want to go. I haven't been to Abilene in a long time."

The drive is hot, dusty, and long. When they arrive at the cafeteria, the food is as bad. They arrive back home four hours later, exhausted.

One of them dishonestly says, "It was a great trip, wasn't it." The mother-in-law says that, actually, she would rather have stayed home, but went along since the other three were so enthusiastic. The husband says, "I wasn't delighted to be doing what we were doing. I only went to satisfy the rest of you." The wife says, "I just went along to keep you happy. I would have had to be crazy to want to go out in the heat like that." The father-in-law then says that he only suggested it because he thought the others might be bored.

The group sits back, perplexed that they together decided to take a trip which none of them wanted. They each would have preferred to sit comfortably, but did not admit to it when they still had time to enjoy the afternoon."

Sounds familiar?

The Asoh Defense

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:57:00 +0000

The Asoh Defense is real simple:
If at first you don't succeed ... just admit it. "Yup, my fault, I f***ed up."
Not something you ever really here in the corporate world, do you?

Click here for the story behind the Asoh defense.

The part where they link it to the organizations really hits home. In a lot of a corporate cultures, the reality is more that of "crime and punishment"; something goes wrong and the great game of �Scape Goat� starts where everyone runs and hides while trying to find someone to be "it".

Through MetaFilter.

Dumb moves on facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:43:00 +0000

Imagine telling your boss you're off for a family emergency.
Imagine going to a halloween party instead.
Imagine posting a picture of you at the party on facebook.
Imagine your boss also being on facebook.
you can imagine the result here.

Was the Matrix wrong?

noreply@blogger.com (Johnny) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:35:00 +0000

Troed made an interesting comment yesterday: statistically there is a high probability that we are all avatars. Welcome to our self-chosen Matrix... Read all about the debate on the simulation argument website

The site is a debate about the possibility that we may be living in a simulation. A brief introduction is in order. The paper on the site argues that at least one of the following propositions is true:

i. It is possible that a civilization could create a computer simulation which contains individuals with artificial intelligence.

ii. Such a civilization would likely run many � say billions � of these simulations (just for fun; for research, etc.)

iii. A simulated individual inside the simulation wouldn�t know that it�s inside a simulation � it�s just going about its daily business in what it considers the �real world�.

Then the ultimate question is � if one accepts that points 1-2-3 are at least possible, which of the following is more likely?

a. We are the one civilization out there in the universe that will eventually develop the ability to run AI simulations? Or,

b. We are one of the billions of simulations that has run? (Remember point iii.)

While you're at it, take some time to read the simulated reality wiki.

I did get a funny feeling when reading Troeds post on the Matrix ... I don't think I would want to spend my life in a pod, no matter how good the reality. I think I'd end up taking the red pill. But then again ... how would I know? (Remember point iii.)