I’ve been fortunate to join people interactive GmbH (PI) and I’m very appreciative and thankful for the outreach and concern they gratiously showed immediately after me being downsized.   This new found opportunity will enable the customers that I was previously working closely with  to remain in contact (yes, you guys – this means you won’t get rid of me! I will still be there for you) and I will be able to continue with global strategy development and previous long term commitments.  I am thrilled to share my experience with – and learn a lot more from – this highly accomplished and award winning company.

I’d like to take this moment offer my heartfelt thanks to everybody showing your love and support in the interim. I’m very humbled.  Many thanks to the other companies showing their sincere interest in my skills, knowledge and experience – you all know who you are. I’m very grateful and humbled by your attention and most generous offers. You guys all rock my world!

I’m pretty stoked about my new colleagues and the new opportunities. The future’s so bright I need a second pair of shades!

Lo’ behold: I actually managed to find the original IM chat log between me and a good friend sometime first half of 2003 after some searching of archived CD-ROMs [sic], translated in parts from Norwegian. It’s a fun time capsule if nothing more and it’s interesting to see how the assessments and predictions for mobile devices, services and business models we had back in 2003 relate to the mobile reality of 2010 – or not.

If you’re of an overly sensitive nature, be warned that this post contains colourful adult language. I would also state for the record that my references to Nipponese people and Nipponese culture are not meant to be derogatory, defamatory or otherwise insulting. Far from it. I find Japanese people and culture most fascinating and inspiring.

To all telcos that might find statements, opinions and ideas in this post derogatory, defamatory or otherwise insulting – well life just ain’t fair, is it?

My friend’s IM nickname has been changed to protect the guilty. He knows who he is and what he has done.  ;)

So with no further ado I’ll let it all hang out here in the open  for posterity. What can I say. We were angry young men of low moral fiber young and needed the money:

BlackTar says:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/business/technology/5987828.htm [link no longer active - nice argument for permalinks - and I was not able to find it on wayback machine. Anyway, I seem to remember the article was about some new dating and geolocation thingy]

BlackTar says:
new? no

BlackTar says:
I’ve had an idea about the perfect Japanese mobile phone along those lines for a long time.. .

BlackTar says:
it’s gotta happen sooner or later – would bee nice to cash in ourselves

Friend says:
I thought this was cool when I read about it back in the tamagotchi days

BlackTar says:
yeah, but think about the possibility to cash in real money on perv nipponese (and the rest of the world for that matters)

Friend says:
I think that would be pretty kick-ass, actually…

BlackTar says:
there once was this Japanese hightech product that would let you plot in sexual and partner preference and it would indicate when someone with the same gizmo and matching profile would be in your vicinity

BlackTar says:
it never took off

Friend says:
not necessarily for perv purposes

BlackTar says:
no, true – but it’s more fun if you think about perverted nipponese

BlackTar says:
well.. . my idea is to enable each and every mobile phone with the same capabilities

Friend says:
separate the crap, sort of

BlackTar says:
either with a Java app together with a server based solution

BlackTar says:
low threshold

BlackTar says:
or just the server solution

BlackTar says:
ref. NetCom Buddy [early Norwegian geolocation service that you could set up in a web interface to have it report by sms where your friends were, based on opt-in consent and triangulation]

BlackTar says:
you can already receive notifications about where your friends are

Friend says:
hmm.. it cannot work other than server side.. or else you need new hardware

BlackTar says:
true, but the interface could be Java

BlackTar says:
instead of sending sms – but sms is a proven business model by now

Friend says:
if it can’t run piggyback on the standard mobile server traffic

BlackTar says:
it is a prerequisite that it can

BlackTar says:
(must)

Friend says:
but you can like request a ‘proximity check’ from the server, anyway.

BlackTar says:
yeah, but you do it via SMS!!!

BlackTar says:
that’s the genious part!

BlackTar says:
you constantly need to BUY services!!

Friend says:
yeahyeah, of course.. just thinking out aloud here

BlackTar says:
I think this is ripe for bigggg bucks

Friend says:
piggybucks!

BlackTar says:
piggy, piggy can’t you see.. .

BlackTar says:
imagine you are about to go out for a night on the town – then you just set up what you are looking for today/tonight – either via sms or web – then you can request proximity checks via sms afterwards

BlackTar says:
I believe and think this is worth insane amounts of money

BlackTar says:
after all – the human sex drive is probably the most proven business model of them all

BlackTar says:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/02/national/02INTE.html

BlackTar says:
wtf

Friend says:
Keep a lid on it!

BlackTar says:
riiiiiiiiiiiiight

BlackTar says:
how much does a patent cost?

Friend says:
the nipponese are probably working on this already.. better sleuth for some industrial espionage on the net

BlackTar says:
you are the only one I’ve told

BlackTar says:
no! I don’t think the nipponese even use sms

BlackTar says:
do they?

BlackTar says:
they probably have some sort of micropayment system

BlackTar says:
but.. . I picture this being just as big in the us of a

Friend says:
are they making money on devices or services or both.. sort of

BlackTar says:
both I think

BlackTar says:
they do have a completely different network

Friend says:
yeah well, usa have discovered sms and teletext only in the recent year or so

BlackTar says:
with 489587347598759 more features and bandwidth

Friend says:
hmm.. but they can’t launch a network just for this? .. probably radio

Friend says:
isn’t it only short distance that is of interest?

Friend says:
or

BlackTar says:
no, it could probably work on the nipponese network too

Friend says:
e.g. sitting at home checking out where the most likeminded are in the city at the moment

BlackTar says:
exactly

BlackTar says:
you can do this today with GSM

BlackTar says:
and probably with anything that sends and receives waves

Friend says:
yeah, with people you know…. ok I know how this can work

BlackTar says:
trinangulation between base stations

Friend says:
yeahyeah

BlackTar says:
it’s going to get much more fun when gps becomes a natural part of a mobile phone

Friend says:
but it can work exactly like the “where are my friends” thing

BlackTar says:
triangulation is even more accurate as of now, tho afaik

Friend says:
you don’t have to send any extra information between phone and central either

BlackTar says:
yeah! and one should also be able to do the “where are my friends” thing too

BlackTar says:
no, it only takes that you opt-in to allow your geolocation to be published

BlackTar says:
you’ll send a simple or advanced query to the server via SMS – it returns what it finds

Friend says:
because the numbers are categorized on the central [server] into interests you’ve been filling out over the internet.. and when one does a “my friends search” it does not search for the numbers you’ve added, but any number they’ve flagged prerequisites

Friend says:
the technology is already there

BlackTar says:
after a proprietary – a la google – sorting

BlackTar says:
there has to be some flexibility in handling the query such as you risk to never get a match [sic]

Friend says:
that you not? or? huh+

BlackTar says:
a lot of the success factor lays thus in the algorithm(s) for handling the matching of criteria

BlackTar says:
understandably you could make this hyper simple too

BlackTar says:
with if/else functions, booleans

Friend says:
hmm.. I don’t really see a problem with this.. you get % numbers on matches and it’s left to the user to decide if that’s good enough, sort of..

Friend says:
a fixed number of hits every time

BlackTar says:
% match is meaningless – ref websearch

Friend says:
hmmm….. can one buy oneself upwards on the lists?

BlackTar says:
hehe

Friend says:
el corrupto

BlackTar says:
that doesn’t work either ref websearch

BlackTar says:
but it’s clear that you have to specify degree of match you want when you request query per sms

BlackTar says:
hihi

BlackTar says:
so you have to send more than 1

BlackTar says:
and it is clear that you need heaps of parameters and features that you can adjust per sms

Friend says:
mo’ money

BlackTar says:
but just enough so that it becomes, stays functional

Friend says:
one can request info on hits

BlackTar says:
so, you see.. . it’s in actual fact the sane as Trepia – only smarter

BlackTar says:
regular people don’t understand hits

BlackTar says:
info on hits? more info, click hear plz

Friend says:
duh

BlackTar says:
tell me more about info on hits

Friend says:
Once you’re a member of the service you can enter personal info about yourself, this can be bought with sms, when MMS gets common you can have images/videos, whatever, too

BlackTar says:
yeah

BlackTar says:
yes

BlackTar says:
info on hit == profiles

BlackTar says:
brb

[snip, snip, snip. Lunch break and a funny digression about Cottage Cheese, Procter & Gamble, Amway and the Church of Satan. It happens, you know.]

BlackTar says:
what’s neat & sweet about the mobile service is that it is remarkably compatible with the multi level marketing [MLM] scheme!!!

BlackTar says:
you have a product (that in addition to be low cost – initial investment only) that people consume and come back to consume
- then you ‘franchise’ the system to agents below you (distribution companies, telcos, etc) who then resell the service to other subcontractors. We collect from every party from the bottom up!!

BlackTar says:
== daddy bigbucks

Friend says:
what’s the name of the friends search service thing from telenor?

BlackTar says:
no idea

BlackTar says:
[the service from] netcom is called ‘buddy’

[snip, snip, snip. A digression about SARS in China, ill friends and travel.]

Friend says:

http://telenormobil.no/mobilinfo/oversikt.jsp

Friend says:
#2

Friend says:
Pick-up tips?!!!! jesus

Friend says:
Jokes?!!! OMG

BlackTar says:
positioning

Friend says:
ho ho!

BlackTar says:
‘It costs NOK 0,0 per message that you receive.’

BlackTar says:
eh?

Friend says:
hmmm.. Whiskey Tango Foxrot ?!

Friend says:
ah.. you pay fixed

BlackTar says:
longitude and latitude?

BlackTar says:
how much does one pay fixed?

Friend says:
or?

Friend says:
no, then they would probably state it

Friend says:
‘The query is free but you have to pay for the answer.’

BlackTar says:
Probably an error

BlackTar says:
‘Get Bible verses directly to the mobile.
It costs NOK 3,0 per message that you receive.’

BlackTar says:
‘when do you want to be notified’

BlackTar says:
haha

BlackTar says:

http://telenormobil.no/mobilinfo/product/categories.jsp?maincategory=ENTERTAINMENT&category=CATEGORY0

BlackTar says:
fucking hell

Friend says:
what about a ‘get out of a meeting’ service? Order an incoming call in 20 mins. .. hoho you can use alarm clock wake up services for this

BlackTar says:
yupp

Friend says:
oops.. muyo importante, must go!

BlackTar says:

http://telenormobil.no/mobilinfo/product/product.jsp?productCode=BIORYTMER

Friend says:
hmmmmmm…..hmmmm…mhm…hmhmhm.hm……

BlackTar says:
kiss my.. .

BlackTar says:
“You will receive a total of two messages.
It costs NOK 5,- per received message.”

Friend says:
set sail for cock, assboat!

BlackTar says:
I too want to cash in on this NOW!!!

Friend says:
serialz straight to your mobile

BlackTar says:
gotta talk to [other friend].. . He knows some people who do bulk SMS server solutions

BlackTar says:
hihi

BlackTar says:
l/p pr0n craxx0r

BlackTar says:
abuse

BlackTar says:
send a message with the code ‘idiot’ and get an incoming call telling you off for being stupid enough to waste NOK 10,00 on the service

BlackTar says:
that would probably work too

Friend says:
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… do you have a link to that ‘buddy’ thing?

BlackTar says:

http://www.netcom.no/

Friend says:
kinda wondering what kind of info you get back? your friend is situated at 4525 degrees north, 34 clicks west at sea level 341345?

BlackTar says:
in the street with number of the house

BlackTar says:
have tested

Friend says:
kool

BlackTar says:

http://mother.netcom.no/Forside/index.html

BlackTar says:

http://mother.netcom.no/Login/login_page.html?org=%2FBuddy%2Findex.html

Friend says:
if one does not find funding in a hurry, then it’s just to send a registered letter that explains the gig to telenor and netcom.. wait ca 1 year and then sue..

BlackTar says:
yup – file at lawyer and deposit box

BlackTar says:
stupid pages

BlackTar says:
ah! I got the buddy password right now

BlackTar says:
neat

BlackTar says:
can log in everywhere at netcom without being registered

Friend says:
yes, so get it theeeeeeeeeeeeeen

Friend says:
usually receives it immediately

BlackTar says:
yup

BlackTar says:
you got netcom?

Friend says:
yes

BlackTar says:
okidoki

Friend says:
hmmm… does it cost anything, come to think of it?

BlackTar says:
probably per received message

BlackTar says:
with MAP and stuff!!!

BlackTar says:
‘It is free to use Buddy from mother.no in August and September!’
Det er gratis å bruke Buddy fra mother.no i hele august og september!

BlackTar says:
[mobile phone number]?

Friend says:
yes

Friend says:
HELL! Why don’t I get a passsssssssssword

BlackTar says:
took 3 tries before I got one

BlackTar says:
search (reception) SMS WAP* and WEB
1 person NOK 3,00
Group 2-5 persons NOK 5,00
Group 6-10 persons NOK 8,00

Friend says:
I’m not fucking receiving one

Friend says:
maybe they canceled my subscription thingy?

Friend says:
haven’t tried to call lately…

BlackTar says:
wap & web per gprs.. . hmm whatwhat what

BlackTar says:
you need to invite people

BlackTar says:
so I’ll try to localize myself then

Friend says:
bah

[snip, snip, snip. Digression about HL2 screener, SMS gambling services, gen BS]

BlackTar says:
so

BlackTar says:
I’ve invited myself now

BlackTar says:
to netcom buddy

BlackTar says:
but now the html doesn’t work

BlackTar says:
damned shit

BlackTar says:
part of the secret about the sms thing is that it shouldn’t be as committing and explicit as the classifieds

BlackTar says:
so that you can remain anonymous but still create a feeling of excitement and adventure

BlackTar says:
so that most people possible would use it

Friend says:
yup.. the [Norwegian data storage supervision department] would probably like it too

BlackTar says:
BUT then you can of course choose to make it explicit by way of our anonymous sms chat system!

BlackTar says:
and that costs money ™ per message

Friend says:
the problem is to beef up the user numbers…..’

BlackTar says:
yes – the secret to that is to place the bar as low as possible

BlackTar says:
once they’re ‘in’ they’ll have a lot of features to burn away the money on

BlackTar says:
or they can stick with the simple features – which cost money still

BlackTar says:
it mustn’t cost too much either

Friend says:
join for free.. increase 10 cents per use until fixed price of NOK 3 or whatever

BlackTar says:
I think a fixed price per received message is the way to go

BlackTar says:
some services [features] are of course more expensive than others

Friend says:
important: finding out how the triangulation thing works with the telcos.. if it is at all possible to buy this service [from them]

BlackTar says:
it is – if they make money on it

BlackTar says:
think about it this way – we would be doing the least amount of work possible : 1. Own the rights 2. Manage the concept 3. Harvest money

BlackTar says:
the best bit is that the telcos would be responsible for the integration and technical parts themselves

BlackTar says:
we just want money per license and share per received sms – we are only going to invest in the concept

BlackTar says:
see the presentation on rebel.as

Friend says:
the technical part is there.. it just needs to be hooked up with the Whoremonger ™ sms services

BlackTar says:
yes, and that’s not our responsibility

BlackTar says:
that costs money

BlackTar says:
and those interested in making money on their networks should carry those costs

BlackTar says:
if we only make something that talk in standard tongue [made with open standards]

BlackTar says:
then the rest should be fine

BlackTar says:
I think the essence is to create a concept with a low bar for participation, and at the same time offer flexible and advanced features

Friend says:
hmmm.. the input part in itself … registering … criteria .. must work on mobile .. have to be pretty vague? preformatted multiple choice?

BlackTar says:
that’s of the essence

BlackTar says:
creating something that WORKS here

BlackTar says:
that concept must be thoroughly thought and worked out

BlackTar says:
where the already proven technology bits only gets included as independent elements one takes for granted

BlackTar says:
the concept is really just a combination of existing technologies and a proven business model – combined in a new way with a kickass ‘frontend’ (if you catch my drift) on top of it all

Friend says:
Indeed! I’m just a bit busy — must get things done in a hurry!

BlackTar says:
oki

BlackTar says:
me too – really – but can’t be bothered to work :-\

Friend says:
I’m attending a meeting soon and need to have stuff finished :=

Friend says:
“but can’t be bothered to work” so true so true . it’s boring

BlackTar says:
it’s eating me away

BlackTar says:
slowly

I think nobody knows exactly what Google Buzz is right now and where it’s going to go, evolve into. I think most agree it has tremendous potential. However, a most provocative thought occured to me today; Could this be a Blog killer replacement?

The gist of my hypothetical argument is that Google Buzz could probably replace most blogs given the ability to take it out of Gmail, customize, widgetize and skin it a la iGoogle. The Google vehicle is already there in the form of the current Google profile page or embedded externally over the Buzz API. The vehicle for an standalone service is already there as Google owns Blogger. The quest for unified commenting could also have been solved by the advent of Buzz. Further more, Google’s proven efficiency at filtering SPAM in Gmail, it stands to reason that they’d do an excellent job at eliminating comment SPAM.

Please share your take with me – I’d really like to hear what you think.

For those of you who live under a stone actually live wholesome, meaningful lives Buzz is a new service launched by Google.

Think of Google Buzz as something like twitter with no character restrictions and with comments or Facebook without Farrmville and the other horrible wonderful stuff, like FriendFeed if you’re of a more adventerous inclination – or perhaps a Blog?

Currently I hate the (as of writing) lock-in of the service with Gmail, but I’ll keep that for future posts.

The service has improvement potential and, shall we say some rough edges?

Here’s a primer on what you should know about Google Buzz to get started.

To keep in the spirit of ‘the now’, I’ve embedded the original Google Buzz thread (as a grotesque kludge – do tell if you know of a better way) below.

Yesterday the Hackintosh asked me to download an Apple update and – fully acknowledging the risks – I installed it. Needless to say, the Hackintosh would not boot afterwards. As of yesterday I’m running Windows XP on the netbook again so be warned – you may not want to be as stupid adventerous as me.

That notwithstanding, the following issues would need to be resolved for me to be running OSX on the netbook permanently:

• No audio out (of the stereo jack that is – the speakers worked)

• No audio in (OSX could not find an input device, no mic!)

• No second monitor output (crashes when cable inserted in VGA port)

• No standby (needed to disable standby as it would crash, need reboot)

Some of you pundits out there may already know how to fix these issues, but I didn’t have the time so far to research and apply them myself.

Perhaps I’ll give OSX a second try on the netbook, but for now Windows XP will have to do – although it certainly is a rather drab experience after a couple of weeks with OSX.

Please do let me know how you’ve fared so far! Did you have any issues? Did you manage to solve them? How did you do it?

Hey – Shift happens!

It came as no surprise to me that my [now former] employer, facing the current situation, had to take immediate drastic measures. I may not agree on the measures taken, but that is not of importance and it is not my problem anymore.

I understand. It’s just business. In their position I would more than likely have had to make the same desicions myself. Like Scott McNealy I consider myself a capitalist, and I think he said it better than I could in his recent mail departing from Sun;

[...]I love the market economy and capitalism more than I love my company[..]

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my former employer for believing in me all these years, for the vast experience I was allowed to gain in their employment, for being given a free hand to develop new business and being fortunate to get to know so many interesting and wonderful people in the course of my service. I wish them all the best for the future and I know they have the potential to come out on top.

To my former customers, I have to say I’m really going to miss you guys. (Albeit, there’s much truth to the old saying that you meet everybody at least twice in life. So stay tuned. Who knows – Maybe we’ll meet again sooner than later.) So long and thanks for all the good times and amazing projects we were able to pull off together. I wish you guys great success – I know you truly deserve it.

Perhaps the guys I’m going to miss the most are my colleagues; the team. Heck, we’ve seen each other more than our families through the years. No matter the challenge, you always came through. I humbly salute you for it; You guys are rock stars! The company needs you more than ever so hang in there. Give’em hell, boys!

I’m incredibly grateful for all the supportive mails and calls from friends, ex-colleagues, former customers, former partners and peers I have been receiving. I truly appreciate your kindness and sincerity. You guys rock my world!

I’d also like to thank the companies that have already expressed an interest – You know who you are. You guys are like magically super-connected to the grapevine. Wow. Thanks! Much appreciated and very humbling. Let’s talk soon. :)

For now, I guess I’m a free agent taking some time to take stock and re-assess my professional life. Like someone much greater than myself that I truly respect and admire was recently quoted (to again paraphrase coarsely), I’m now taking some time to visit old friends, taste the snow and listen to the grass grow (if the darn snow would just go away) for a while.

If you’d like to get in touch, you’ll find a large number of ways to interface on the ‘about’ page. Don’t hesitate to send me a mail, call or connect. I’m accessible.

What’s your take? Have you ever been let go? How did you cope with it? How did it feel? Please do share – As always, I really appreciate your story.

As a short disclaimer I’d better tell you that I’m not a Mac. Never been. I’m pragmatic. To me, operating systems are just a means to an end. I don’t really care if it is from Finland, Redmond or Cupertino as long as it gets my job done. To date, Microsoft Windows got the job done just fine for me. Your mileage may however vary and I respect that.

But as Apple’s hardware and software has been improving from insanely overpriced and terribly underpowered to just slightly overpriced and adequately powered I’ve been thinking of making the switch. As my Netbook is currently my primary computer (after the iPhone, if you will), I figured installing OSX on it would be a low cost entry point to the weird and hopefully wonderful World of Apple OSX – I like to try before I buy. That and the fact that it makes for a nice talking piece in business meetings. ;)

I will get back to you with my experiences with the Hackintosh Netbook and OSX in a later post.

Enough gay banter. Let’s talk shop.

Hardware

• Dell Inspirion Mini 9

I don’t think you can get these directly from Dell anymore. I got mine new for ca. 200,- € on eBay with 16 GB SSD and 2 GB RAM.

• 8 GB USB memory stick

This is what you’ll first be installing OSX and Netbook Installer on. See below.

• A real OSX Mac with a DVD drive and admin priveleges

Access to a Mac is not strictly necessary, but it’s how I did it. Check out the other guides for more install options.

Software

• Netbook Installer

This is the (OSX) software that does all the magic, making OSX think your Netbook is a Mac, installing necessary modifications and making your USB memory stick boot.

• Original Apple OSX DVD

Regardless if you love or hate Apple, please show the developers some respect and buy an original DVD. A Snow Leopard upgrade DVD will also work and is cheaper than the whole hog. However, I’m not sure about the legality of installing from the upgrade DVD alone so do not consider this an endorsement of such a procedure.

The Recipe

All set? Got all the ingredients listed above at hand? Good. Now go follow the excellent instructions from mechdrew. FOLLOW. EACH. AND. EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. That’s it! Hopefully. And as always – consider paying your dues and donate to the developer(s).

Whoops

I almost got it right on the first try. Almost. Seems like I skipped a little too much of the instructions. Don’t be as stupid as me. Read the instructions carefully and follow each and every step – no matter how silly or weird they might seem. My mistake was not turning on WiFi and Bluetooth using Dell’s tool before turning off the Netbook and installing OSX.

Here’s an overview what you might need if you screw up like me and feel adventurous enough to give it a second or hundredth try:

Optional hardware

• USB DVD drive

To reinstall your Dell Windows XP OEM CD and Dell Recovery DVD.

• Another USB memory stick

To install PE the Builder image on. See below.

Optional software

• Dell Windows XP Home OEM CD

To reinstall XP if need be. Came with your purchase – hopefully.

• Dell Recovery DVD

To reinstall Netbook specific drivers if need be. Came with your purchase – hopefully.

• PE Builder

To create a bootable image of XP to put on a USB memory stick if need be. PE Builder will create a minimal version of your Windows OEM CD and comes with a handy set of tools of it’s own. Consider paying respect and donate to the developer if you like it.

IMPORTANT: When creating your PE Builder image, open the plugins prefs in the PE Builder application and enable “RpcSS needs to launch DComLaunch Service first – SP2 only”. You won’t be able to partition your disk(s) using diskpart without this plugin enabled.

• UBUSB

To put your PE Builder created image on your other memory stick and make it bootable.

The Optional Recipe

I experienced a world of pain trying to reinstall XP and Dell’s tools just so I could turn wireless on again. However, you may fare better. The point is not to give up.

Sometimes the OSX install will stop with an error message – just boot your PE image (see below) and reformat the disk and try again. Sometimes OSX won’t boot after installation – just turn the Netbook off and on again. It will eventually boot for you. I hope.

I dealt with disk problems during install by making an image of the Dell Windows XP Home OEM CD with PE Builder (remember to activate plugin – see above), copying it to another memory stick using UBUSB and booting from said stick. I would format, partition and rebuild as needed.

To reinstall Windows I needed a USB DVD drive to boot the Dell Windows XP Home OEM CD. Nothing else worked for me. My Samsung USB DVD writer worked just fine, though. If installing Windows gives you trouble, boot your PE Builder image and partition/activate/format your disk and fiddle about as needed.

After sucessfully installing the Dell Windows XP OEM CD, I installed the Dell specific drivers from the Dell Recovery DVD. You’ll have to install every driver and utility one after another manually using Dell’s interface (as far as I could gather). It’s a usability nightmare. Don’t get me started.

The important part is to reinstall all wireless drivers and the utility to turn wireless on and off. There’s a chance you won’t be able to install the Bluetooth drivers. I know I wasn’t. If it happens, just google for the Windows drivers.

After successfully installing all drivers for WiFi and Bluetooth, start the utility to turn wireless on and off from the sys tray and turn everything on. Shut down Windows. Install OSX – now with wireless capability.

Feedback

Have you installed OSX on your Netbook? What was your experience? How did you do it?

As I was in the area, I just had to stop by the legendary Xerox parc in Palo Alto and pay my dues. The home of the GUI and numerous other firsts. Obligatory geek homage.

Though not really an Apple fanboi, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pop by Infinite Loop 1 in Cupertino for a quick pose. On another note, it was also interesting to see the actual offices of the guys and gals I’d been previously only been talking on the phone with from across the Atlantic. (A work thing. Nothing exiting. Don’t ask – I’d have to kill you. ;)

One proud uncle! :)

The workshop partnered young tech and Internet savvy people from the DNA digital initiative with DTAG decision makers to discuss how their corporation could potentially benefit from and deploy new strategies for e.g. corporate culture and product development.

Sure enough, Obermann is every bit the charismatic leader that you’d expect him to be, but with 30 minutes of his precious time allocated to listen to the summary of our workshop, the possibility of a proper dialogue and discussion was accordingly limited. It was nice to see him take the time, though. Kudos.

It was slightly fascinating to observe the depth that some of the participating employees of DTAG would sink to in the presence of their top dog. It was like a sudden lapse of personal integrity, as if the teeth of the previous biting discussions had all but fallen out. I guess it’s all natural – the presence of the Alpha male and all that jazz – but slightly embarrassing nonetheless. I can’t help but think it would have been more productive for the discussions to not have Obermann present.

My personal conclusion of the workshop was that – although highly interesting topics and people – the Enterprise 2.0 is not my battle. I’m unfortunately not passionate enough about the topic. I have other fish to fry, bones to pick. It was an interesting ride. So long and thanks to everyone for the experience.

As long as enterprises see, in the lack of a better word, Web 2.0 as a trendy afterthought that can be tacked onto existing and outdated models of thought – it’s thanks but no thanks for me.

It is my view that Enterprise 2.0 (whatever that may be to you) involves radical paradigm shifts, by and large incompatible with current enterprise paradigms. Furthermore, I’m convinced that I as an outsider cannot change an enterprise; The real revolution and innovation comes from highly innovative and passionate individuals within the enterprise.

Here’s some more images from the workshop.

Disclaimer: I work for a company that does business with DTAG. However, I'm not getting paid nor am I instructed to write this blog or to participate in the Enterprise2.0 discussion.

What would you talk about? I’d like to know! Feel free to leave a comment on the blog or drop me a line on twitter.

Disclaimer: I work for a company that does business with DTAG. However, I'm not getting paid nor am I instructed to write this blog or to participate in the Enterprise2.0 discussion.

[tags]enterprise2.0, bonn, telekom, t-mobile, workshop, dna_d[/tags]

The goal of the workshop was to select the members of the DNA Digital community that would attend and speak at the next and perhaps more exclusive workshop with DTAG CEO René Obermann.

The workshop itself was more or less organized in the style of a open-space meeting. Any attendee was free to step forward to present a topic that they’d like to discuss and the rest with no topic of their own could chose to join in group discussion of the topics of interest. Topics ranged from “apps development via social media” to “cultural change and credibility”.

I chose to participate in the latter, “cultural change and credibility”, sparked by Lutz Hirsch and Basti Hirsch (if my memory serves me correctly) as it is a topic that highly engages me personally. The number of challenges, ideas and thoughts that were addressed in that discussion is probably symptomatic of the complexity of the subject matter. I will not try to repeat them all here as they have already been posted on the DNA Digital blog (German).

At the workshop I found myself pimping the book Tactical Transparency by Shel Holtz more than one time. I think it’s a good primer on the transparent enterprise – and no, I’m not getting a cut for saying that. ;)

I also promised to post the link to the NewPR Wiki’s comprehensive list of social media policies. NewPR Wiki is worth checking out. They also have a comprehensive list of blogging CEOs.

In conclusion I was positively surprised by the variety of people, opinions, ideas and experiences shared. I was also very pleased to register a high level of authentic personal engagement among the attendees. My cynical suspicion before the workshop – that the whole thing could be an embarrassing play to the Telekom gallery – was definitely put to shame.

Looking forward to see you DNA Digital guys again at the Obermann gig in Bonn on the 17th of June!

Disclaimer: I work for a company that does business with DTAG. However, I'm not getting paid nor am I instructed to write this blog or to participate in the Enterprise2.0 discussion.

[tags]dna_d, dnadigital, digital, dtag, telekom, social, workshop, enterprise2.0, berlin, 4010[/tags]

For the third time in less than a month I find myself in the city of Berlin again. Life is but a long line of coincidences.. .

Disclaimer: I work for a company that does business with DTAG. However, I'm not getting paid nor am I instructed to write this blog or to participate in the Enterprise2.0 discussion.

[tags]dnadigital, digital, berlin, workshop, internet, ceo, enterprise2.0, dna_d[/tags]

The excellent keynote for today was held by Jens Ohlig claiming the politicians and legislators of today are so out of touch with the reality of the Internet, only reading pages printed off the Internet by their secretaries, thinking

Internet is just another medium like TV and newspapers that we can censor and control.

Another highlight of today’s keynote was a performance by Jonathan Mann featuring a creative adaptation of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem “First they came…” tweaked to decribe our endangered civil rights in this digital age.

Looking forward to be meeting more new and interesting people at SIGINT. Stay tuned to the #sigint09 hashtag here there and everywhere.

[tags]sigint, sigint09, ccc, privacy, yro, civil rights, digital, internet, hacktivism[/tags]

I was so surprised that I wrote a comment in the emotional heat of the moment over at RWW and I decided to republish it here later on. My initial thoughts were as follows:

I’m quite appalled that twitter seems to me to be self confident – if not almost smirk – with removing a setting that potentially alters the mechanics of conversing and discovering on twitter on a fundamental level; In other words making twitter less like, well, twitter.

I find the idea of not listening to 2% of their user base quite grand. Did they do the maths? That’s not a tiny amount of people, is it? My guess is, that there are a lot of the early twitter adopters and evangelists in those 2% too.

Another bet of mine is that most of those 2% are most certainly not confused by the @ reply ’system’. It’s inaccurate, not threaded and tracked – but who cares? It’s ‘the twitter way’ and some learned to live comfortably with it.

I’m also willing to bet that a much higher percentage was living under the illusion that they were getting every single public tweet from the people they were following and didn’t know that twitter was censoring and deciding what they could and could not see.

As to the topic of context, I personally find parts of the 2008 twitter blog post referred to in the comments over at RWW completely out of touch.

From the post:
“1) You should feel free to @reply people and not worry about it being out of context to some of your followers. In general, they won’t see it.”

To me, twitter is not instant messaging or email. To me, one of the most important aspects about twitter is enabling discovery, stumbling upon new interesting people, sparking curiosity, reading different perspectives. Why take all that away? I’m flabbergasted. Speechless.

Would it hurt too much to just leave the [promiscuous] setting as default OFF, but there to turn ON for the users who are comfortable with it?

Are there economical incentives involving either business plans or prohibitive cost-benefit ratios precluding it? If so, twitter should be up front and transparent about it.

Please bring ‘promiscuous’ back. I don’t want to have to subscribe to the RSS feed of every single user that I’m following in my reader of choice to get the complete unadulterated twitter stream (even from users that may have blocked me).

@blacktar

[tags]twitter, fail, twittermute, fixreplies, readwriteweb, rww[/tags]

Needless to say, I was rather put off by the whole experience. There are several services doing this and quite some people using them. To protect the names of the guilty I’ll not name the services or the tweep perps.

However, it got me thinking; What if an Amazon Affiliate-like approach would be implemented to an url shortening service like the one mentioned above? You’d sign up to the url shortening service and you’d get ‘rewarded’ for retweeting urls shortened by the service – or rather for spewing advertisement.

I’ve tried to illustrate it in glorious monochrome below, using Balsamiq Mockups and about 29 seconds.

Technically, the url could contain a hash – or whatever – containing User ID, Original URL, AD served, etc, etc, etc.

I’d like to add that personally, I don’t think such a service would survive. That is to say, I like to think that it can’t. However, such an evil scheme may already exist.

Do you know of any such services? If not, you read it here first and I want my blood money! ;)

Update (04.05.2009):

It seems like adf.ly has implemented something along these lines now. Hey! What about my cut?!

[tags]evil, business, twitter, rt, retweet, url redirect, advertising, ads, affiliate, service[/tags]