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Sometimes my friends, family or work mates ask why I write this blog in English. As the map below shows, it's not to be smart or something. It's simply because I get to share my little world with people from all over the planet. And that is one of the really fun things about this world wide web thingy.

Watch this!

... and learn what web 2.0 is basically about: stop being afraid and set your content free!

If you love something, set it free

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Redesigning for shelf presence

I first watched this video years ago, but I still think it's great fun. And besides that, it is a perfect metaphor for so many business mistakes made in fields other than design. The video speaks for itself ...

Internet timeline

This is a rather cool application. I especially like the slider at the top where you can set the time period you want to see. And great fun to see so many of the  videos and internet events from the past again. Enjoy! :)

Really, really, REALLY fast art with Jamie and Adam

Digital identity graveyards?

Got yet another invtation to join Facebook today. And since it came from one of my all time favorite people, I finally caved in and created a Facebook profile. You can see it by clicking on the banner. Nothing to it. The big question is: will Facebook survive, or will it disappear?

How many of these online networking, profiling, "friends"-based pseudo-sites do we need in order to keep track of our acquantances, post little photos, market our band or personal brand? How many do we have time to visit and update and expand in order to keep them alive?  Is there such a thing as online identity spam? And how many such useful/useless online profiles will we create and leave to die during our lifetime?

I don't know. LinkedIn has proven useful as a professional networking tool. Blogs are fun (when you have the time to keep posting, that is). And now I expect that Facebook will be a private version of LinkedIn - aimed at keeping track of the personal network.

No, Microsoft Vista is NOT copying Mac OS X!!

If you thought that Microsoft has copied a lot of features from the Mac OS, think again. In this video, it is proven, step by step, that Microsoft is, in fact, a company with innovative ideas all of its own!

Narcissistic Blog Disorder

According to Wired, narcissistic blog disorder is:

"[...] characterized by the creation of a blog in which the individual consistently denigrates not only the opinions of others, but the very fact that others have opinions, saying things like "nobody cares what some overpaid starlet has to say about global warming" and "nobody cares what some crusty career politician thinks is wrong with society today." Simultaneously, the individual assumes that people do care about what he or she has to say, in spite of the individual's only political or activist experience being watching the movie Dave twice."

Hahahahaha!  Spot on! Being a fairly regular blog reader, I've come across quite a few bloggers suffering from this particular disorder - spending huge amounts of time and effort denigrating everybody in that "as if anybody gives a f***" kind of way. While not contemplating whether anybody actually gives a whole lot about their flaming self.

Read the full article on Wired.com if you want to know more about similar disorders, such as Bookmark Loop Disorder, E-mail Gullibility Syndrome, Atemporal Fad Disorder, Pugilistic Discussion Syndrome or Amusement Identify Disorder.

Autobahn Amoogle

Now there's a post title that'll give me loads of  hits from Google! I bet lots and lots of people search for autobahn amoogle info!

*coughs*

The other day, the cabin personnel of SAS (the Scandinavian Airline) went on strike.

Again.

Within the last 6 weeks, I've had to go to Dusseldorf (in Germany) on three occasions, and on all three, there's been a strike. This time, the strike meant that instead of traveling for 2-3 hours, my trip to Dusseldorf lasted 8 hours. As did my trip back. By train, car, plane and taxi. Annoying!

The car ride lasted about 3 hours, and even though it was a little tiring (I dislike traveling by car, and especially at 160 km/h on the German autobahn, but that's a whole other matter), it gave me the opportunity to talk a bit with both the client and the colleague, with whom I was traveling. We talked about a whole lot of stuff - but on the way home mostly about technological trends.

Therefore, as one of my traveling companions requested, here is another Google-related video. It is less a conspiracy-type thing, and more a prediction of how the information landscape will evolve until 2014. Quite interestingly, the film merges Google and Amazon into a powerful entity named Googlezon. Which makes me ponder a bit about other probable names.

Godzillazon? Amoogle? Gamazoogle? Googlezan? Google-san?

The Power of Google

I love Google.

I admire Google.

Google seems to do everything right.

Their business strategy rocks. They understood the potential of free internet apps long before anyone else dared to seriously venture into that field. Google earth is a fantastic service, Gmail rocks, and I'm not sure I go back to living without Google image search. Not to mention GoogleTalk, Google calendar, Google desktop, analytics, groups, video, Goggle Picasa, docs and spreadsheets. And Blogger. And just for the record, there is a whole shit load of other new and exiting stuff coming to you in the near future from the Google playground.

Therefore, I felt both fascinated and frustrated, when I saw the video below on one of my favorite lunchtime reads: The Presentation Zen Blog. I like conspiracy theories. They are such fun. And this one actually did make me think a little.

PS. If I had the time to present all my ideas like this ... whoah! BTW, you can watch a high-res version of the video on the Master Plan site.

Genesis

To be honest, I've tried to avoid this. I know myself well enough to know how absorbed I can get with this kind of stuff. But since this thing is growing - and since my curiosity is stronger than my rationality - I've done it! I have been born in Second Life.

Besides investigating the place from a business perspective (I do believe that 3D interfaces are the internet to come, and that this is the *beta* version of that), and for plain personal fun, I'm also going to blog about it for computerworld.dk (in Danish). This way, I'll look at what goes on from a professional angle - as well as a personal one. And I like it when my private and professional self merge. In a good way.

Anyway - creating ones Second Life avatar poses a challenge from the outset. Should I try to make it look as much as myself as possible? Or should I create an avatar that is either completely freaky - or somehow the ideal image of what I'd like to look like - if nature hadn't already decided that. I chose the first option. More fun and less teen-like, somehow.

So now I'm tweaking and tweaking and tweaking to make that avatar look right. And even though I decided NOT to spend any money in there, I've already bought a leather outfit, and I'm desperately looking for some proper hair! Frustrating experience! Although I've visited more than 10 hair shops with 100s of hair varieties - I haven't been able to finde one single curly version. Nobody wants curls, I guess.

I've posted a picture my first attempt. I've got the weirdest Simpsons-looking hair ( which is why I'm willing to pay real money for a better version) and my mouth and eyes are too big. *sighs*

Bonfire of the vanities! I'll keep you up to date with my genesis. :)

Coming up: EuroGEL 2006

Usually, I'm not exactly thrilled when I'm going to seminars or conferences. The intellectual anticipation can best be described as playing Russian roulette with 5 bullets and one blank.

Most conferences and seminars are shite. The conferences are intellectual deserts (with the occasional shady palm tree), and the seminars often end up as embarrassingly bland sales pitches for the companies or organisations giving them.

The common presenter is completely oblivious to the fact that people are paying to hear his or her stuff. The speakers are NOT selected for their entertainment factor or communicative skills. Endless Powerpoint presentations (usually slide after slide with bullet points) add to the general impression that you're trapped in a blur of meaningless repetition. Ever saw the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? You know what I mean, then.

However, this Friday I'm attending a conference that I am actually looking forward to! Immensely! I'm going to the European version of the GEL 2006 (Good Experience Live) conference arranged by Mark Hurst - the web guru of good experience.

It's creative. It's brave. It's innovative. It's intelligent. The goal of the conference is basically to open minds. To make way for a real life, cross-cultural and cross-competency perspective of what constitutes a good experience.

The speaker list is inspiring in its variety. Architects, artists, musicians, scientists, web-gurus ... you name it!

The US conference (GEL 2006) was held in New York in May. If you want a little taste of what it is all about, watch Seth Godin's presentation from the conference about things that are "broken" (ie. bad user experiences). Great fun and very interesting. Do watch it, it's just 20 minutes long. Or go visit Mark Hurst's site This is Broken on the subject of lousy user experiences.

I've added a link to Seth's blog and dotcom website in the Mind Candy category in the side bar. At the EuroGel conference, Godin will be an attendee rather than a speaker, so I hope I'll get the chance to say hi. If not, there are about 500 other fantastic minds I'd like to meet.  :)

A boy and a camera-phone

I got a new cell phone a few weeks ago. It's not a high end, drool-provoking gadget, but it's a whole lot nicer than the other cells I've had. I've been hopelessly lo-tech in the cell arena.

This is my first camera-phone. So I'm just beginning to enjoy some of the enormous fun that can be had with the low quality camera. About a decade later than everybody else.

A few days back, my 8 years-old son, Konrad, borrowed the phone and took a lot of pictures while we walked home after having dinner at a restaurant.

When children take photographs, they often naturally hit a spontaneity that adults have to struggle to achieve. Their photographs lack intellectualizing. Their choice of motives are direct and devoid of incomprehensible philosophical intent. The world they depict through the lens is present tense, and the meaning they involuntarily convey through the pictures is honest and simple.

I've assembled some of his Konrad's photos in an album. I haven't cropped any of the photos, they are exactly as they came via the infrared port onto my pc. There are also a few I took of Konrad.

You can see the album here, or click on the link in the side bar. Just above the Beijing album.

Kill Bill's browser!

I'm not a great fan of Internet Explorer.

As are most things Microsoft, it is unelegant, needlessly complex, full of bugs and security-holes, and you get it rammed down your throat without even asking for it. And, not to forget, it's ugly too!

The vast majority of people believe that IE is the only choice they have if they want to roam the internet. Sure, they may have heard their geek cousin mentioning exotic software such as Mozilla, Opera, Safari, Firefox ... but that's just geeky stuff, and most people dare not venture into the dangerously dark and deceptive jungle of freeware or open source software. Who knows what weird catastrophes may happen if they stray from the trodden Microsoft path?

I use Firefox. It's a better browser. End of story. It is simple, it is sophisticated and it works. And it looks better than Internet Explorer. Nothing to it. Click, download, install, run.

It comes with a Google search field as standard - and I guess this is why Google supports a new and aggressive attack on Bill's browser from Hell.

The concept is simple: if you get people to use Firefox instead of IE, you'll get 1 dollar for each person you convince. All you have to do is download and install Explorer Destroyer, and your visitors will get an offer to download Firefox when they visit your site. IF they use IE and if they click and download, you get paid. By Google! Mwahahaha! Google rocks!

I don't have enough visitors here to make a buck and a half that way, but I've installed the "Explorer Destroyer" button in my side bar. Simply because it will make me very, very happy if you people would STOP LOOKING AT THIS BLOG IN BILL's CRAPPY BROWSER!!!

And because, as they state it so beautifully on "Kill Bill's browser": "It will make Bill Gates soooooooooo mad

Seriously-- super, super mad. And even more than Bill, let's think about Steve "I'm going to fucking kill Google" Ballmer for a second (actual quote). If there's anyone that's going to absolutely blow a gasket when they see this website, it will be him.

(video proof of Steve Ballmer being a crazy, sweaty man.)"

PS. If the video link is dead, Bill (or Steve - or both) is probably on to this.

Good stuff galore

The concept of "Web 2.0" has been a buzzword for some time now. The democratization of the web. The end user taking back control. There are many definitions, which I'm not ging to discuss here. Web analysts have tried to define the trend, marketing people have discussed how to benefit from it. All I'll do is simply to share a link to a list of features and applications that can all be categorized as "Web 2.0".

Beware ... there's so much interesting stuff here that you'll end up spending hours browsing about and trying things out.

Enjoy Everything Web 2.0  or go and see the eConsultant.

Fun from Flickr

Try it here

Das Keyboard - for Übergeeks only!

"At first I was intrigued, but when I started using it two things happened: it was a joy to type and my collegues looked at me like I was a superhero! I would not go back to a normal keyboard now"

Whoahahah! It doesn't get any cooler than this! I wish I was nerdy enough for this keyboard! Like Case's in Gibson's Neuromancer, this keyboard is unmarked. No letters or signs anywhere. And the design is fantastic! Raw, industrial-type design that looks as if it can take a beating! Imagine the geek cred inherent in typing your code on this one! LOL. And if you read the specs, it's one state-of-the-art piece of equipment. I better start practicing my "blind" typing right away!

Found on Gizmodo.
Specs can be found on the Das Keyboard website.

Want to start a blog?

How do you start blogging if you're no super tech nerd person? Well, if you want to start a blog of your own, here are a few suggestions. I won't go into any minute detail or review the different kinds of software. I'll just mention a few possibilities, and you can take it from there.

First, there's the free-of-charge options:

Blogger. Blogger is completely free and offers a small variety of design templates for you to choose from. The interface is fairly easy to use, and the help pages are absolutely state of the art, full of hints and tips for personalizing and tweaking your blog. Easy to use and probably covers most needs. However, there's some drawbacks. If you want to upload photos, the best way is to use Flickr or similar free photo hosting services. And tweaking the design can be a bit of a challenge, I've heard.

Livejournal. Six Apart (the company that also owns Typepad and Movable Type) recently bought Livejournal, which is also completely free of charge. I haven't tried it, but the Livejournal blogs I've seen don't impress me much.

Microsoft spaces. Microsoft has been offering their spaces blogging tool for quite some time now. I did a blog for my son about 4 months ago, but stopped using it right away. The design options are too limited, the feel is too Microsoft and the whole thing just didn't appeal to me. Too little freedom and too much "we wanna do blogging software too"! However, spaces does offer free space for photos (I don't remember how many MBs), it is easy to use, and it is integrated with Microsoft Messenger 7.0, which is quite a fun feature. If any of your MSN buddies have a spaces blog, a little yellow star will appear beside their buddy icon every time their blog is updated.

Another option, if you are just a little more tech minded is to download free blogging software and then find someplace to host your blog. The best ones seem to be Movable Type and WordPress. I've thought about giving WordPress a try, but I can't be bothered with finding a hosting service or with moving the blog. Both WordPress and Movable Type seem to be very good applications for blogging. Lots of options, lots of freedom.

As a final option, you can decide to pay for your blog. I subscribe to Typepad, which is basically Movable Type with all the tech stuff done for you, hosting included and a very intuitive, WYSIWYG interface. I absolutely love it and recommend it to anyone who cares to listen! Another option is Squarespace, which I haven't tried. It looks good, though, and is probably (almost) as easy to use as Typepad. Don't know if they have just as excellent service and support, though.

Okay ... there's a few options. Now, get going!