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Monday, April 28, 2008

The worlds best Kefafel.

The amazing Shawarma place outside of Tel Aviv
The amazing Shawarma place outside of Tel Aviv
A fantastic falafel, maybe the best I have had. Super hommus!
A fantastic falafel, maybe the best I have had. Super hommus!

What a mess. Too much good stuff.
What a mess. Too much good stuff.
Lots of filling
Lots of filling


I was recently in Israel and after a bit of convincing I got them comfortable with an excursion to a street side falafel place. One of the most important things with food is authenticity and that my friends does not correlate with price. Authenticity does correlate with passion. We set out to experience the best of middle east, well Israel, well Tel Aviv, well this street corner. The point is that street food is all about the moment, the weather things that take place around. It is the most multi sensory food experience. I am really happy I was stubborn as we had a great lunch and our host were happy. The place was buzzing with people all wanting to tone their Sharwarma them self. I had a crazy mix of kebab and falafel hence the crazy title. What makes street food so amazing is the built in fear factor of getting a tummy ache, this adds to the sensory experience. No pain no gain. Thanks for showing the place a great memento.

08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The dongle revolution

Had to carv on the stick to get it to fit.
Had to carv on the stick to get it to fit.
Nicely in the Macbook air slot.
Nicely in the Macbook air slot.

Ready to compute anywhere where there is a desk or chair.
Ready to compute anywhere where there is a desk or chair.

For the first time in the history of mobiles the industry has cracked a key problem: selling more than one thing to users. Welcome to the dongle revolution, the real growth of mobile data. The Dongle is the familiar term of a 3G USB modem. Dongles come in key two sizes: matchbox and gum packet size. The small command a premium. I hope the manufacturers primarily Huawei understand to start segmenting the dongles. Learn from the past, give us colour covers, dongles with storage other nifty functionality. TV was introduced recently good move. After some research I picked 3’s very price competitive and stylish offer. This is one offer I use in UK. They offer free roaming in their own networks. Installing the 3 dongle was a breeze on my Macbook Air, I was online in about 2 minutes from out of box. It was a bit tight to fit into the Air usb, so I carved a bit on the cover on the modem and that did the trick. I typically get around 512kbps adequate for rich surfing and voice Skype, but not enough for decent Skype video. On the train to Oxford, last week, it was clearly slower, but I got the job done. I do not think it can be seen as a replacement for fixed broadband. In general I think 3 has again managed to package up an offer of real value. I earlier blogged about the Skypephone, which I really like. In Sweden 430.000 dongles were sold in 2007. Rumours from operators in UK is that they cannot get enough of them. I see no reason that this market would not explode. Small cheap dongles + Flatfee + good networks + advertising will fuel this business into meaningful growth. In Indonesia there are reports that there are now more mobile broadband users than fixed broadband users. Long time ago Indonesia was the number one texting country and one of the ones with highest smart phone penetration, so if history teaches us anything follow Indonesia. I have gone through the mobile offers in UK and Finland the market where I spend most time. In UK it is that 3 has the most consumer friendly offer. Vodafone sells on speed, which to me is dumb, as speed on mobile broadband will be a disappointment, as consumers can only compare it to fixed and it will be slower than office Wi-Fi or home Wi-Fi. Does Vodafone think we consumers are morons? I simply do not see how they can win with that proposition. I suspect Vodafone is having the best network. Vodafone is the only one offering a roaming package, but I still think it is too expensive. It is more expensive than hotel use model, meaning you use free Wi-Fi around town and then get the Wi-Fi at the hotel. T-Mobile, who did such a good job with the Web ‘n’ walk Max but their offer is offputting: too much for too little, I would steer clear of them. O2 came out with an offer including Cloud Wi-Fi roaming last week, but only for existing customers. My favourite offer of mobile broadband comes from Elisa in Finland, who offer 384kb for €9.90 per month for a 18m contract. True unlimited, with a fair use ‘speed reduction’ for abuse. This sounds cool to me, you do not loose the right to use it, you only loose speed if you are abusing it. Here is what I would like to see as a consumer. Give me 384kbps for €9.90, use a trottle to manage abuse. Then sell me speed upgrades when I want more speed. Finally give me €9.90 per day roaming, again coupled with speed upgrades, on roaming I accept some fair use cap, ensuring that I can do everything except P2P file sharing. With speed upgrades I mean pay more for more bandwith like on fixed broadband. As the market evolves, one can segment further into use classes, if one starts to experience network problems, that can be coupled with different best effort schemes. Market is not ready for 1GB limits. It id such an abstract volume that consumer do not understand it. Start with familiar concepts like speed. For Huawei and others give me a ‘speedometer’ on the dongle, to help me steer my activities. My advice to Nokia is to get into the dongle business quickly it is not a commodity, it is your best gateway to the PC SW business, there is a great chance to design some great value add SW for it. SanDisk, king of mobile memory, get into the dongle game, there is added value for you as well. Let the revolution begin.

02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

A new superb Lego house kit.

The tradition stands with the new generation house kits, it enables three in one.
The tradition stands with the new generation house kits, it enables three in one.
Karen is actively building with no help.
Karen is actively building with no help.

Lots of special pieces.
Lots of special pieces.
It features a nice garden.
It features a nice garden.


The Lego Creator team has again brought out a great kit, the Beach House (4996) this time a house in yellow grey with a black roof. Featuring the classic Velux roof windows another Danish invention. I asked Karen if this lit is for girls or boys and she said it is for girls. Her arguments were that it featured lots of flowers and house interior elements. My view is that it is great for any age or gender. The instructions are great and Karen 6 has no problems following them. looking back at the past kits the progress has been nice. What I would like to see is a Creator mini series around everyday things like furniture, pool kit, three kits anything allowing to decorate the cities. My assumption is that this series would appeal to grandparents wanting to gift Legos.

11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Maccing all my files into thin air

The Macbook air in thin air.
The Macbook air in thin air.


When I read the specs and saw the keynote on the Macbook Air, I like many others gave it a lukewarm reception. What I loved was the low weight. Ultralights have been my favourite laptops since IBM launched their ThinkPad X-series. I had many of them, and I loved them; rugged, good to write on and fast, almost perfect. Hence I knew that when a laptop approaches 1kg great mobility kicks in, meaning you can just carry it along everywhere all day. What worried me most was the small hard disk. I had to see it to get convinced.
I stopped by the Mac store on Regent Street in London, like Guy Kawasaki, I was completely sold. Unlike Guy, I did not walk out with one. I needed to wait to get the Scandi keyboard.
I finally got it few weeks ago. It is a sweet machine. It is the best laptop I have had after my ThinkPad X40 and my PowerBook Duo 230. For weight gain there is data pain. I have never in my tech life had to go on data diet, but now my hardware lust sent me on massive data diet. For a life recorder like me, a 80GB hard disk is way too small. My active digital life is around 140GB. I had to loose around 70GB in order to have some room to spare.
I had run one man brainstorms on how to architect the solution, I came to same conclusions as Guy in his fabulous post, but I am not spending it yet/now. Instead I made the following decisions. I need to diet my data life down to be able to use the Macbook Air as a hub:

1. No Photos
2. Only few key Podcasts
3. A cleaned music library
4. Only temporary video storage
5. Selective copying of files
6. Only actively used apps

I only copied files of meaning from the Macbook to the Macbook Air, a project that lasted a couple of days. I will have a 160GB mobile disk companion containing overflow files and my iPhoto library of 45GB for some occasional mobility. For general image mobility I decided to have my photo library on the 32GB iPod Touch and favourites on my 8GB Nokia N95. These had to be transferred before taking the Macbook Air into use as there was only one USB port. I use a 1TB as a master backup. Will get an Airport Time Capsule to complement it and simplifying backing up.

What I cannot sacrifice is my iTunes, it has become the hearth of the digital hub. I always found it strange to have sync of iPods via iTunes, but it does provide a nice lock-in. I had to clean my music for weird stuff and duplicates. My massive collection of podcasts, got ‘binned’ and back in the cloud, I have to hope they continue to offer them. Amazingly I had collected around 80GB of podcasts. My TV shows are on a 1TB back up, so are other movies. This is a hassle, but something I am willing to put up with.
One thing really annoys me is that the USB port cannot be cloned, meaning you cannot use a USB hub. I have tried both powered and non-powered, neither work. This is a major drawback as I cannot now sync my photos from the external drive to the iPod Touch. I will try to do it over a network drive, but I have not idea if it is going to work. Any advice is most welcomed.

The battery life, feels shorter than promised, when mobile, I tune down everything and I barely get the promised values. This is an Achilles heel while jet commuting in Europe, where there is no in-seat power.
The cover of the Macbook collects fine particles of dirt, I suspect it might be an anodisation problem as the bottom shows no such tendencies.
All in all a great learning experience, this data diet certainly is stimulating for thoughts on the future of computers.

07:28 PM in Technology | Permalink | Comments (5)

Monday, March 24, 2008

The BBC iPlayer is an amazing mobile content experience.

The menus full of stuff
The menus full of stuff
The Top Gear show full of moving excitment.
The Top Gear show full of moving excitment.

Early March BBC launched a iPod Touch and iPhone compatible version of the iPlayer. I have been using it now for a few weeks and I find myself returning for more content. What strikes me as super interesting is that I actually almost prefer watching it on my iPod Touch rather than the Macbook Air, the reason being that the video is so amazingly crisp on the iPod Touch where as if I use it on the Macbook in full screen it gets grainy.

This is living proof that we are moving towards mobile personal video. A system that is a fusion between, broadband streaming, broadcast and PVR functionality with 'more' option for browsing could revolutionize mobiles. At a 3.5" screen we have a comfortable size that still fits nicely in the pocket. The technology is maturing faster than the business models, which should ensure good user experiences once hitting the mainstream.

A typical consumer Wi-Fi, with up to 8Mbit e.g. BT Broadband seems enough to carry the BBC content crisps to my handheld terminal. It is of course not enough to get a crisp full screen experience on my laptop. What becomes truly apparent is that quality of service is crucial. Getting a circle of spinning dots will be a universal turn off. I do think consumers will start to value quality of service and pay for it. That means emergence of the smart pipe.

There is lots of room to improve the interface of the iPlayer on the iPod Touch and the iPhone. There is too much pinching and panning for a fluid experience, but for a fast beta i give it my thumbs up.

02:21 PM in Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, March 02, 2008

The amazing wrench X-Beam, simplicity redefined.

The X-Beam is purely brilliant
The X-Beam is purely brilliant


I am always deeply impressed when someone re-invents a dominant design. The X-Beam is just an amazing design. The twist increasing the handle surface with 500% totally redefining this classic tool. It also is much easier to pick up. What I wonder why did not anyone do it earlier. I guess the folks at for example Bahco, makers of great tools, said why think about the wrench ius good enough. Correctly priced well made this could disrupt. I need to look into the history of this intention. The designer is called Richard Mancor if I recall correctly.

12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, February 18, 2008

Thinsturbation at the Mac store

Thin is in. No shit we know it from the phone business.
Thin is in. No shit we know it from the phone business.
Loads of people wanting to have a go.
Loads of people wanting to have a go.


The Macbook arrived in London while I was on my Euro tour. I had to feel it, like so many others. I had spent hours deliberating if this is the machine to get. I decided to upgrade. Those who know me from model yachting, I love saving weight. I could spend hours saving a couple of grams of my 5kg boat. What has not been solved on the Macbook air is distributed data storage, in particular visavi music and photos. I need a split style libraries some online some at home and everything on the mac but lowres like on the iPod. The Macbook air is like an iPod a data satellite rather like my 250gb Macbook which is a hub. This will be an interesting data archiving experiment.

08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, February 18, 2008

Google is 'down' ... most amazing stuff...

I just realised that Google is redirecting and assuming that I am a machine even-though I am signed in an do searches. This is really fantastic. I had all colleagues try and same results getting a message like this. This is very very serious.

Picture_5

04:34 PM in Technology | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Comerç 24 restaurant in Barcelona is a full sensory reconstruction.

Oysters were amazing with a suprising foam, which I leave you to taste.
Oysters were amazing with a suprising foam, which I leave you to taste.
The base for the amazing onion soup. One of my absolute favorites.
The base for the amazing onion soup. One of my absolute favorites.

Fantastic avocado roll.
Fantastic avocado roll.
Busy preparing amazing creations.
Busy preparing amazing creations.

The bar offers a great view into the kitchen.
The bar offers a great view into the kitchen.
A coeur de fillet with small wasabi blobs
A coeur de fillet with small wasabi blobs


Comerç 24 is a truly moving experience, I knew this from my first visit last year, having a serious cold, its intense smells and tastes still penetrated my numb senses. I had to go back in full vigour, again with with good company. We had the grand Festive menu and it was a Spannish fiesta. What I find particularly cool with Carles Abellan’s cuisine is the deconstruction of traditional dishes. They are like the distilled version of the traditional dishes, like Cognac is to wine, incredibly intense, presented in an elaborate compact form with heritage of Spannish Tapas. It is like stuff you have not seen or tasted. I particularly fond of the Onion soup with a raw quails egg. I also like the asian influence, the Soba noodles, where the noodles had been replaced with fine strims of fish and carrots was pure fun. Many dishes are big surprises in the mouth, it is at that moment I pays tribute to tradition. Some dishes almost feel like they could have been served for hundreds of years. The place is open and inviting and the service is really caring. Compared to Omm, which I also like, it offers less theatre.


The décor is a fusion, bare old walls, mixed with vivid colours and organically shaped colourful chairs. There are tables places at different heights. Topped up with beautifully simplified flower arrangements of submersed roses. In short the décor complements the food and amplifies the experience.

Carles Abellan, worked under Ferran Adriá, at El Bulli. As I have not been there it is hard to say what the influence has been, but I imagine one cannot leave that kitchen untouched.

04:12 PM in Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Mobile World Congress was a feast of bling skin deep.

The SonyEricsson X1 was the hit of the show.
The SonyEricsson X1 was the hit of the show. Felt great in the hand.
The Samsung Soul is a winner.
The Samsung Soul is a winner.

The bling machine, the OMAP 3430 will hopefully power some amazing new experiences.
The bling machine, the OMAP 3430 will hopefully power some amazing new experiences.
Of the services the Yahoo OneConnect got a lot of buzz. Good job, would have been great to distribute betas at their cool stand.
Of the services the Yahoo OneConnect got a lot of buzz. Good job, would have been great to distribute betas at their cool stand.





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08:42 PM in Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Mon 05/05/2008 13:03 London May 830

At the Zoo.

Mon 21/04/2008 13:20 London 764

Mobile money sort of.

Mon 21/04/2008 13:19 London 763-001

New style of political support.

Wed 16/04/2008 09:23 London 724

This is spring.

Fri 11/04/2008 09:19 Malaga 689

Spring bloom in London.

Sat 05/04/2008 15:59 Malaga 632

Nice wave washing over me.

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