Here Comes Another Bubble
In case you have not seen it yet. This brilliant YouTube Video makes the round today in the Blogosphere. It is so funny because it’s true (like Dilbert). Also thought this is a perfect fit for my Blog theme “Straight out of Palo Alto”.
Enjoy!
Using Blackberry Curve 8310 GPS with Google Maps
Last week I upgraded my 2 year old Blackberry to the latest BlackBerry Curve 8310
The key new feature of the 8310 however is the integrated GPS. I noticed on Internet forums that a number of people have challenges using the GPS with Google Maps. I guess that’s not surprising since RIM does not advertise this feature, pushing instead the paid for maps and direction service from TeleNav. After some tinkering I have good news. Free Google Maps works great with the integrated GPS and here is how I got it to work:
1) Make sure that the GPS is working and has connection to satellites. Go to Options -> Advanced Options -> GPS -> select the menu and choose “Refresh GPS”. The display will tell you the number of satellites it can reach and your location. I noticed it does not work in my office in San Jose or in close range to high rise buildings.
2) Download Google Maps from google.com/gmm (using the Blackberry browser) and follow the instructions to install it on your Blackberry (I have Google Maps version 2.0.1). Do not use the Google Suite installer for Blackberry (which includes additional Google apps), since according to some reports has a different Google Maps version which does not work with the internal GPS.
3) Go to Options -> Applications -> Google Maps -> select the menu and choose “Edit Permissions”; Select connections and select the menu to expand it. Make sure you allow “Location (GPS)” and “Carrier Internet” connections for the app.
4) Save the changes. Go back the applications menu and start Google Maps. Hit “0” and it should now show a blinking point which indicates your current location.
Larry Lessig’s Talk – Software Patents and Free Culture
The amazing Larry Lessig now on Slideshare (with audio). His presentation on patents and its impact free culture is an instant classic.
Awesome Flex/Flash Demo: Human Anatomy Book with Cutaway Views
Part of a series of Flex book components allowing developers to develop cool browser based apps related to book browsing/reading. Also check out this one including video in a book (http://demo.quietlyscheming.com/book/app.html) or the whole list (http://www.quietlyscheming.com/blog/components/flexbook/).
read more | digg story
Pownce – Send Stuff To Your Friends with AIR
This is the new project from Leah Culver, Kevin Rose, Daniel Burka, and Shawn Allen. The app (built using Adobe AIR) allows you to send messages, links, files, and events to groups of friends. I hope to get into the private Beta soon.
read more | digg story
Adobe x3 – Apollo now AIR + Beta, Flex 3 Beta + Hardware accel. Flash video
A lot of news from the Adobe camp. Ryan Stewart, Adobe Platform Evangelist, summarizes. Apollo has now an official name… AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) like RIA backwards. Both the beta of Apollo plus the brand new Flex 3 is now available on Adobe labs (http://labs.adobe.com). Finally also a new Flash Player with hardware accel. video.
read more | digg story
Stop Motion Video with Adobe Premiere Elements
Today I played with the cool stop motion video feature of Premiere Elements. Result – A super cool video of Max scooting around the room. Check it out it is only 20 seconds.
How much do you spend on clothes?
Cote from the Redmonk crew asked on Twitter how much people spend monthly on clothes. Thinking about this I found it easier to ponder my yearly spendings on clothes since I go for months without buying and then end up in a shopping spree. I found that I spend on three different categories.
1) The Basics
I think you can get basics like jeans, shorts, sweaters and shirts in good quality for great prices. My favorite stores in the US for these commodities are Target, Costco and Loehmanns. The best however is Muji, which I discovered in Tokyo, but they are expanding to Europe as well. Muji is an abbreviation of the Japanese “Mujirushi Ryohin†which translates into “no brand, but nevertheless high quality”.
“Through the careful selection of materials, streamlining manufacturing processes,
and simplifying our packaging, we have continually introduced high quality Muji brand products onto the market, at lower than usual prices.”
So in total I spend about $250 per year in this category.
2) Urban Streetwear
Always need to have comfortable but funky clothing for hanging out in the Mission or the Haight on the weekend. I also just enjoy discovering the latest trends in funky stores with clothing from local Bay Area designers. My favorite store in this category is Upper Playground on Fillmore in the Lower Haight.
Another great option (not only for clothing) is Giant Robot (again my love for Japan). Karen got me this great T-Shirt for my birthday.
Other favorite shopping options include Villains in San Francisco and for upscale streetwear Fred Segal in LA.
Typically I buy a couple of pieces a year (some T-Shirts, Polo shirt and a Hoody) which total around $300.
3) Designer clothing
Yes, I have to admit I continue to be a sucker for nice Designer clothing (what do you expect I am European after all). I indulge in buying a few nice pieces a year (ideally when they are on sale). My favorite brands are Prada and Giorgio Armani and I buy modern but timeless pieces which I can wear for many years. Typically this includes dress pants, dress shirts and sweaters. For jackets I prefer Stone Island, but they are hard to find in the US (Fred Segal has them). Another great designer is Martin Margiela. Check out his uebercool retro web site and don’t let the intro screen (“This site is not under construction”) deceive you.
Finally my shoe purchases fall mostly in this category as well, since I tend to wear a favorite pair for years. Currently my absolute favorite shoes are from Medium, which is somewhere between Designer and Urban Streetwear (if you meet me it is very likely I wear the Medium Soloist). The dress shoes I mostly wear this year are from Trippen, great shoes from Berlin. I am eyeing however Paraboot which I saw in Tokyo.
Again I tend to buy only a very few pieces a year so I spend probably around $1,000.
There you have it. Total is $1550 per year which averages $130 per month. Hopefully this gave you some inspiration to look beyond the regular mall clothing. Also let me know about other cool stores/brands I should check out.
“Boing” makes Max laugh
Here is a little clip I recorded of Max recently. Everytime I say “boing” I am shaking my head, which makes him laugh.
Enjoy and cheers!
Three Years of Flickr: My Top Ten Pictures – Part 2
So here are my top five pictures on Flickr (ranked by number of views). It seems that Flickr users are primarily interested in girls (no surprise here) and computer memorabilia (probably also no surprise given the number of geeks who use Flickr).
#5 Girls in Tub @ Tao in Las Vegas (1380 views)
I took that picture less then a year ago when I was partying with some friends at the Tao night club in the Venetian. The club is great, but I still prefer the Sunday School parties at Body English (Hard Rock Hotel).
#4 Friendly Elevator Service (1388 views)
I was staying in the Hilton for the ASUG annual conference in Anaheim. The girls were there for another event (obviously) and had hijacked the elevator. Back then Craig Cmehil, who commented on the picture, was still a software developer at Hella. How times change. Now he is a Community Evangelist at SAP and probably is traveling more then me.
#3 Original Apple 1 (1542 views)
Another cellphone camera picture taken at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. If you are ever in the Bay Area make sure you visit this great exhibition. They also have a good speaker series.
#2 Adobe Illustrator 1.0 (1626 views)
More views then the Apple 1 picture… Makes me proud to work at Adobe. It is amazing what a loyal community of users Adobe has in the creative community. Who knows, maybe one day my first Apollo application picture will be featured in the Computer History Museum.
#1 Girls Gone Wild (19,028 views and counting)
Well, what can I say… I posted this picture on Flickr with the specific purpose to get many views. A little experiment to see how many people would find and view a photo with cute girls and tag baits. Eventually I put it also into four photo pools. While I expected about 1000 views the result was astonishing. Over 19,000 views (10 times more then any other of my Flickr pictures). Also even so the photo is over 2 years old the number of views continues to increase at a steady rate. I have to admit that I even didn’t take this picture. While I was working at a trade show in Vegas my brother Thomas and his friend had fun at the Palms Hotel pool and they took the picture with my camera.
I will check back again in three years and lets see if any other of my pictures will get more views eventually. I heard that cute baby pictures are also popular 😉
