Fabrice Hofman

I write like Kurt Vonnegut

2010-08-23T20:38:00.000+02:00

Blijkbaar schrijf ik als Kurt Vonnegut, auteur van Slaughterhouse-Five. Om te zien met welke auteur jij jouw schrijfstijl gemeen hebt, surf naar I Write Like.

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Lego-printer

2010-07-23T11:51:00.001+02:00

Magnificant! This printer is made from Lego!

Belgians do not trust social network sites

2010-05-08T15:43:00.001+02:00

The Belgian media agency InSites Consulting tested an audience of 2.800 internet users in 14 different countries. they found that Belgian internet users are reluctant to trust Facebook an other social network sites, or in any case the companys behind the sites.

Only 28 percent of Belgian surfers say they trust Facebook. 34 percent has considerable doubts about Facebook's trustworthiness. This was even worse for local social network site Netlog. Only 21% of Belgian surfers trusts the Belgian-based SNS (which is available in more than 30 languages and mostly targets teenagers). 44% distrusts Netlog.

Remarkably, sites that target professional audiences get more confidence.LinkedIn, for example, is trusted by 42% of Belgian surfers.

"Consumers hear alot of crazy stories about privacy policies, but mostly they are just not well informed" says InSites Consulting.

InSites discovered 81% says to think twice when putting something on the net. 79% indicate they are more reluctant to accept online 'friends'.

Source: T-Zine

Warren Buffett speelt mee in tekenfilm

2010-05-04T19:26:00.000+02:00

Iedereen die met beleggen bezig is kent Warren Buffett wel, de derde rijkste man ter wereld. Op zijn tachtigste gaat de baas van investeringsvehikel Berkshire Hathaway meespelen in een tekenfilm. De tekenfilm, 'Secret Millionaires Club' gaat over kinderen die ervan dromen later veel geld te verdienen.

De film ging in première op de jaarlijkse aandeelhoudersvergadering van Berkshire Hathaway en toonde de meester-belegger in de hoofdrol als mentor van een groepje kinderen die hun eerste stappen in de zakenwereld zetten.

Voor Buffett is het de ideale gelegenheid "om zijn financiële kennis te delen met jongeren". Hij vindt het belangrijk dat jongeren leren omgaan met geld en de basis van zakendoen begrijpen.

De animatiereeks is voorlopig alleen op het internet te zien, maar zal later ook op televisie worden uitgezonden. Er is ook een applicatie voor mobiele telefoons.

Improved Google Docs

2010-05-02T19:01:00.001+02:00

Do you think those MS Office tools are way too expensive? Looking for a better alternative? Maybe Google Docs can help you.

I used to think Google Docs was really clumsy and did have the necessary tools to shape my documents how I'd like to. Now, this has all changed. Slowly but surely, Google is able to compete with MS Office. Plus, your documents are available on every computer, so no hassle with memory sticks; you can share files with friends directly, so no hassle with e-mails and twenty 'final' versions of one document. And on top of that: it's completely free!

Google Documents now allows you to make drawings, graphs, charts, presentations, spread sheets, text files - and to share them with your team. Everybody who's working in a team on a shared document is familiar with the problem: several team members edit a document and in the end important adaptations get lost.

Now, everything is stored in the 'cloud' so everybody works in one and the same document. You can chat with other users, while editing a document. You can work with several users in one document at the same time and adaptations are shown live on screen. Letter by letter you can follow changes made by team members.

Source: T-Zine

Skinput transforms you skin into a touch screen

2010-04-14T21:05:00.002+02:00

Skinput-technology makes it possible to use your skin as an input-surface for all sorts of mobile applications. By measuring and analysing the acoustic waves in your body produced when tapping your skin signals can be sent to a computer, or more interestingly a smartphone or music player device.

Devices like smartphones or mp3-players are compact and have a lot of power. However, they have very small buttons or gawky touch-screens which limits interaction. Earlier, tables or other hard surfaces were already being used as external keypads. A camera registered your finger's movements over the table and interpreted them as instructions.

However, the recent trend of being mobile always and everywhere inspired the people of Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University to develop Skinput, which uses tappings on your skin as an interface.

When tapping your skin with your finger, the touches create acoustic waves. There a two different types of waves: transversal surface waves which run away from the touch point over the skin's surface and longitudinal waves which run from the outside of our body towards our bones and back to the skin's surface. These waves are detected and analysed by a receiver worn around the arm. A different spot on your body creates a different wave. This allows for giving different instructions.

Source: FlandersDC, Techniline

'Hidden Facebook' has much more 'users'

2010-03-31T21:55:00.003+02:00

Even though you might not have a Facebook account, mind you that Zuckerberg’s team knows who you are! The idea behind it is as simple as it is terrifying. When a new Facebook user signs up, he is requested to automatically let Facebook find friends. He can upload his address book which is then scanned for known Facebook users. But next to them, also people in his adress book without a Facebook account are saved in the Facebook archives. Also, names that are searched for, even if they don’t have an account are saved and analysed. That way the system can create your personal web of friends just as if you were on Facebook. The advertising possibilities are ample.

One might feel assaulted by this, but Facebook puts the responsibility for breaking people’s privacy with its users. It says this quite clearly in its terms of use. The thing is; who reads those?'

Made ya look!

2010-03-28T21:13:00.001+02:00

I got this from a book by Chip and Dan Heath, called 'Made To Stick. Why Some Ideas Die And Others Survive'. The authors explain that American flight attendants are required to make safety announcements before passenger planes take off. Everyone who's flown a plane knows the score: "sudden change in cabin pressure", "emergency exits in the front and back and over-wing".
Flight safety announcements are a tough message to bring, especially in such an environment. No one cares about what's communicated. The passengers don't and the flight attendant doesn't. Hearing a Republican explain why health insurance is not a good thing is fascinating by comparison.
A flight attendant named Karen Wood facing the challenge of giving the announcement said the following on a flight from Dallas to San Diego:

"If I could have your attention for a few moments, we sure would love to point out these safety features. If you haven't been in an automobile since 1965, the proper way to fasten you seat belt is to slide the flat end into the buckle. To unfasten, lift up on the buckle and it will release.
And as the song goes, there might be fifty ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this aircraft: two forward exit doors, two over-wing removable window exits, and two after exit doors. The location of each exit is clearly marked with signs overhead, as well as red an white disco lights along the floor of the aisle.
Made ya look!"

When Karen wrapped up her announcement, scattered applause broke out. And if a well-designed message can make people applaud for a safety announcement, there's hope for all of us.

Source: 'Made To Stick. Why Some Ideas Die And Others Survive', Chip and Dan Heath

If you like this, buy the book

Welcome

2010-03-28T17:48:00.001+02:00

Welcome on my blog - it's brand new!