The Zestfully Blog

A success story for Europe and Russia

2011-10-21T17:48:00.001+02:00

The beginning of Galileo geopositioning network...

Picture credit: Thilo Kranz

Too much Google+ will kill Google+

2011-08-06T11:42:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, I found that my Google+ stream was principally filled with posts about Google+ and Google products. At the beginning I though it was normal because everyone wanted to know how to use G+. For a moment I thought it was my fault because there were many Google experts on my circles. So I enlarged my circles to more subjects and I waited a couple of weeks to see if new G+ users were able to modifying the current trend with most varied articles about music, science, literature, etc. The problem was that these new profiles posted also articles about G+ each time they learned about some feature or new functionality. Therefore, even if I have actually almost 25 circles among which only one is for Googlers (Google employees), I keep finding a lot of Google+ tips, Google announcements and a lot of information about social networks and how Facebook and Twitter must be afraid of G+, or why you must keep your Facebook and Twitter accounts, ...

Yesterday I found a very interesting post of Alida Brandenburg that resumes very well the feelings of a large amount of G+ users about "too much G+" and she proposes a way to become more cultural, more social (for real). Hereafter I reproduce with permission her post and I hope you will find it very useful and instructive for your future G+ posts.

_______________________________________

Do you love Google+? Want it to succeed? You should probably stop posting about it then.

If you’re just joining Google+, you may not have noticed. In fact, if you did, you may have even appreciated it.

Studies show that 95% of posts on Google+ are about Google+.

Okay, okay, confession: I totally made that number up, but if you take a look at your stream, you’re likely to jump to a similar estimate.

Now, this is great for the first month or so that you’re on Google+ because these posts are chalked full of helpful tips that will assist you in getting your bearings in your new neighborhood. They are also often shares of pertinent information from users who are likewise useful to follow, so it’s a convenient, friendly introduction to your new neighbors. And really, come on- who hasn’t got caught up in the excitement of it all and wanted to do nothing but talk about this awesome new social community?

But now it’s your second month. You’ve settled into your new homepage and unpacked your box.netcontents. (Good thing you always backed up your Facebook photos on there!) You’ve become acquainted with your fellow Google+ residents and the all the usual characters (two crier, +Robert Scoble, Mayor +Natalie Villalobos … ). You’re feeling pretty jazzed about your move, so you venture out into your new ‘hood to explore further. But to your dismay, what you find resembles a track-housing, cookie-cutter community stamped out with nothing but more of the same- namely, posts about Google+. It’s stagnate. It’s starting to feel a little bit less like seven minutes in heaven and a little more like Fahrenheit 451. And it hits you: you just moved into a house of cards.

If Google+ continues to primarily offer Google+-related content, the site will get stale, established users will get turned off, and this house of cards will collapse. Reading about nothing but the way Google+ is or isn’t great, why or how it should be used, and how it’s going to impact the industry (and the world) is going to quickly become irrelevant. Without outside content to sustain users long-term, it’s simply not going to be great. Posts about how you should use Google+ are going to become empty if making said posts are the entirety of what users are using Google+ for. It will never have the opportunity to make an impact if all Google+ ends up being is a lot of smoke and funhouse mirrors reflecting back on itself. Pay no attention to the man behind the firewall.

So why am I saying all this? Because I do believe Google+ can be great. I do think there is an amazing plethora of reasons and ways Google+ should be used. I do think it has the potential to really serve as a game-changer and influence the world, and I’d like to see it reach that pinnacle.

So here’s my encouragement to all of you: if you share these sentiments, start branching out more. Post more unique, non-Google related content. Start sharing these non-Google/tech-related posts when you see them posted by other users so they can be disseminated to a wider audience, and likewise, think twice about sharing a Google+-related post “just because.” Build your stream up with people outside of the tech industry. Let’s not let this become a one-dimensional, Stepford-wives type community. Following the discouraging article that +Natalie Villalobos posted (https://plus.google.com/?tab=XX#109895887909967698705/posts/6rV72HNuXrD), let’s make this palatable and accessible on a global scale so it more accurately reflects our world population. Let’s focus on the plus, not the Google.

Why this isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

Aside from noticing that most content on here is Google+-related, you may have also observed that the most-circled users fall into at least one of three categories:

1. Celebrities established prior to Google+
2. Google employees
3. People making Google+/tech-related posts

The first group is, of course, predictable, but the reason behind the second and third groups’ popularity is the biggest hurdle in overcoming the stagnation of content on here. Specifically, the people in the latter two groups rose to fame because their content or persona is Google+-related, and the posts that typically seem to get the highest number of shares, comments, and +’s are likewise Google+-related. This, again, is predictable, since this type of content is universally relevant to Google+ users, it’s accessible, and it’s still exciting and new to most. Compounding this advantage, these second- and third-category users then also become archived in a widely acknowledged database of “people to follow” list unofficially distributed to new users. This means that every time a new user joins, the elite status of the second and third groups is reestablished and further validated as more users follow them and distribute their posts. It’s amplification at its best. Suffice to say, posting G+-related content is not only easy, it’s also a tempting crutch to fall back on if you want to get a lot of followers.

Unfortunately, so long as people are rewarded by a high number of shares, comments and pluses on their Google+-related content, the positive reinforcement will continue and thus, so will the Google+ related content. People will continue to build notoriety on it and their egos will be fed. (See my previous post on this: https://plus.google.com/103765013042311928518/posts/F9bAU5K25Ec). This trend will keep up for a while until veteran users become frustrated with the redundancy and lack of substance on the site and an exodus will likely begin. The whole thing will potentially collapse.

How I plan to contribute.

Now, I realize the irony in all of this. First off, I’m encouraging others to expand their discussion points and stop relying so heavily on Google+ topics, while meanwhile making a post about Google+ myself. (Smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors.) Not only that, but as a first-gen user active on the site when it initially launched, I’ve inadvertently built a bit of a following myself due to my own generated Google+-related content. (So yes, I can see your eyes rolling from here.) And this is not to say that I'm going to stop posting about Google+ all together. Obviously as the site continues to develop, there will me be more discuss. However, thus far I’ve also intentionally done my best to post on a variety of other topics with as much thoroughness as possible to help spur discussion and add depth to the content on Google+. Here’s how I’d like it to continue:

Topic Tuesdays

Every Tuesday I’ll post a question or topic to spark discussion and sharing. It can be as simple as asking you to tell the story of the first time you got in trouble with your parents, or it can be something more controversial, like asking whether or not prostitution should be legal. You can respond to my post directly, but I would also encourage you to create your own post around it and share it with your circles. Stir things up. Tell a story. Discover and explore. Get to know each other and connect with one another on the things that make us human- from the trivial and mundane to the profound and poignant. In summary? Stop focusing on the Google and start cultivating the plus.

Ariane 5 : Flight V203

2011-08-05T13:53:00.001+02:00

The fourth Ariane 5 mission in 2011 will orbit two direct-to-home (DTH) television broadcast satellites : ASTRA 1N for the Luxembourg-based operator SES Astra, and BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R for the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.

The launch window opportunity begins at 21:53 (UTC) on August 5, 2011.

Some key numbers :

- This will be the 59th Ariane 5 launch.

- The launcher will be carrying a total payload of 9095 kg.

- Injection orbit : Perigee altitude = 249.6 km, Apogee altitude = 35959 km at injection, Inclination = 2° deg.

- Thrust at launch : 13000 kN.

Lego Cars: Promotional sets: Guido & Grem

2011-07-21T14:44:00.001+02:00

Today I found these two promotional sets of the Cars theme in magazine "Hors Série Cars Spécial Jeux" (France) :

30120 Guido (item #4625106)

30121 Grem (item #465107)

These sets have not been listed in Bricklink or Peeron. I will post more photos soon.

History : STS-135 : The last one...

2011-07-08T21:52:00.002+02:00

The last space shuttle launch : Atlantis, on the way for the last mission...

Mission STS-134 completed

2011-06-01T18:40:00.000+02:00

Endeavour landed at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. That's the end of the STS-134 mission, that's the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Atlantis is waiting at launch pad and ready for the last mission.

Credits : Nasa / Bill Ingalls

More info @ NASA

Une application iPhone pour le Salon du Bourget (Paris Air Show 2011)

2011-05-27T11:29:00.001+02:00

Aviation Week viens de lancer en partenariat avec Airbus une application iPhone pour vivre d'ores et déjà le 49e Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace. L'application vous permettra de ne plus vous perdre dans les différents halls et de repérer vos entreprises préférées. Vous avez également accès à la liste préliminaire des avions en exhibition, à un guide de Paris et aux actualités aérospatiales. A noter aussi le petit lien vers la météo du jour dans l'onglet 'Site Map' pour les démonstrations en vol.

Site officiel du Salon : http://www.salon-du-bourget.fr/fr
Link pour l'application : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/avweek-paris/id438193051?mt=8 (ou cherchez tout simplement 'Aviation Week' dans l'iTunes App Store).

Superhero T-shirt

2011-05-23T07:00:00.000+02:00

I don't know if this is a joke or a really and serious warning. Anyway it made me laugh.

Warning: Super-Heroes have super powers. It is not recommended to imitate, even if the purchase of this product (a t-shirt) might make you think you are invincible.

Mmmm, I really disappointed. I will request a refund.

Lego Tumbler Batmobile

2011-05-22T13:47:00.003+02:00

I finally finished the Lego Tumbler Batmobile. Must thanks Brent Waller who released for free the full instructions for the black version of his LEGO Batman Tumbler in 2008.

You can download the instructions from Brent’s site (4.5 MB PDF) and view the parts list and page-by-page instructions in HTML.

Brent Waller's webpage.

Posted via email from My Lego Box

Wonder Woman : That's what you missed

2011-05-20T13:40:00.001+02:00

Ok, the costume is a little flashy and it's hard to imagine Linda Carter with tights blues.
Ok, we all had some concerns about David E. Kelly and canceled projects.
Ok, it was not easy to get used to the idea of a Wonder Woman with a Ally McBeal's life.
Ok, the world is in economic recession and we need to save money everywhere.
Ok, the pilot episode did not seem to match the wishes of the NBC.

But look a little what you missed :

"May the 4th be with you" Lego promotion : Shadow ARF Trooper

2011-05-10T01:00:00.000+02:00

Today I received my Lego order of the "May the Fourth be with you" promotion : The exclusive minifig of the "Shadow ARF Trooper" is just amazing and the poster is a limited edition (26 926 of 35 520) which presents all the ultimate Lego Star Wars sets from 2001 to this year. Check this link for more pics.

Note : Headgear hair comes from another minifig.

Posted via email from My Lego Box

Free Comic Book Day : Ma sélection

2011-05-09T18:52:00.000+02:00

Samedi était le Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) aux USA. Cet évènement, pas très connu en France, est très attendu par les lecteurs américains des comics. Heureusement quelques locaux français ont participé et j'ai eu la joie de récupérer quelques comics. Je salue vivement Pulp's Comics qui fête le FCBD comme il se doit avec des vrais comics gratuits, et non comme d'autres magasins qui offrent les comics participants sous condition d'achat d'autres comics. D'ailleurs tous les comics ci-dessus présentés (sauf le tout dernier) proviennent de Pulp's (merci encore d'avoir permis à mes enfants de vous dévaliser de 4 comics supplémentaires !). Dommage néanmoins que je n'ai pas réussi à trouver la figurine Heroclix de Green Lantern. Il semblerait que celle-ci n'a pas été fournie aux magasins français...

Mon choix :

Le choix de mon aîné :

Le choix de la plus petite :

Dans un autre magasin :

Black Hawk stealth helicopters seems to be used in Bin Laden's assault

2011-05-06T14:34:00.000+02:00

At least one of the helicopters used for reaching the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad was a modified stealth version of the Black Hawk. Military and intelligence US agencies have refused to comment about the use of stealth aircraft in this mission. But the photographs of the helicopter that navy seals blew up (after it was damaged in a hard landing ?), indicates modifications on the tail section which could improve the stealth properties of the helicopter (click on image for enlarge).

All image credits : The New York Times and Sikorsky

More @ The New York Times

Probable Endeavour's final launch on May 10

2011-05-03T13:33:00.000+02:00

Photo comes from Florida Today.

The penultimate flight of Shuttle serie...

More info @ NASA

___________________________________

Update :

During the countdown last Friday, engineers detected a failure in one of two heater circuits associated with Auxiliary Power Unit (APU-1) (heaters are required to keep the APUs’ hydrazine from freezing on orbit).

The failure appears to be a power problem within the aft load control assembly-2 (ALCA-2), a box of switches controlling power feeds. This box will be replaced but action could take 2 days or more, then the new ALCA-2 should be tested. NASA presumes that Endeavour's launch will occur no earlier than May 10.

Death Cab For Cutie - You are a tourist

2011-05-03T00:10:00.000+02:00

The first Live, scripted, one-take music video shoot. Ever.

Codes and Keys album available on May 31th.

More info @ Death Cab for Cutie

Thanks @MrcosBrito for the scoop.

Promo Lego Star Wars

2011-05-01T15:49:00.001+02:00

Pour célébrer le jour Star Wars (4 mai), shop.lego.com annonce des offres exclusives pour les journées du 3 et 4 mai.

Si cette promotion est identique à celle du site américain on peut s'atteindre aux offres suivantes (rumeurs vus dans FBTB.net) :

- Une minifigurine exclusive d'un Shadow ARF Trooper offerte pour un achat de Lego Star Wars supérieur à 75 USD (soit 50 euros environ).
- Des posters Lego Star Wars.
- Participation au tirage au sort d'un UCS Falcon Millennium.

D'après FBTB.net, pendant tout le mois de mai il pourrait avoir aussi les promotions suivantes dans le magasin en ligne LEGO Shop@Home :

- Pour l'achat de 2 porte-clés Star Wars, un porte-clés Star Wars gratuit.
- Un bac à glaçons en forme de minifigurine offert pour un achat de 75 USD ou plus.
- Doublement des points VIP lors de l'achat du set 7326 Rise of the Sphinx.

RDV donc sur shop.lego.com mardi et mercredi prochains et que la force soit avec vous !

_______________________________

Update du 03/05/2011 :

Finalement la participation au tirage au sort pour l'UCS Falcon Millennium n'est valable que pour le magasin shop.lego.com aux USA. Dommage !

Avis pour les collectionneurs : Les posters sont numérotés.

Star disintegration : A massive interstellar explosion near a black hole

2011-04-11T16:26:00.000+02:00

Little stars, be careful with the massive black holes...

Blast detected 3.8 billion light-years away on the center of a galaxy cataloged GRB 110328A. Astronomers say that this unusual explosion mark the destruction of a massive star wandered too close to its galaxy's central black hole.

More @ NASA

Serment du chasseur (Oath of the fighter pilot in french)

2011-04-07T11:00:00.001+02:00

Je jure par Dieu, ma Patrie, mon Roi, que je remplirai suivant mes forces et capacités et, s'il le faut au péril de ma vie l'engagement suivant :

Aviateur, si je me vois confier un fardeau il me deviendra plus sacré que ma propre existence.

Pilote, si je vois confier un appareil de guerre je me battrai à visage découvert portant haut emblème et cocardes.

Aviateur, quelle que soit la machine fabuleuse inventée par l'homme et quels que soient les dangers, affres et tourments que présentera l'entreprise d'aller nager les galaxies je répondrai présent.

Pilote, je n'oublierai jamais que la machine n'est rien sans l'homme qui la dirige.

Si je remplis ce serment, qu'il me soit donné de nombreuses heures de vol, de nombreux moments d'exaltation dans les nuages ou de peur dans la nuit, des aubes radieuses, des tempêtes et des effrois à vaincre. Qu'il me soit donné de jouir heureusement de la vie et de ma profession, honoré parmi les hommes.

Serment du chasseur - 5ème B.A.F.R.A.

The future of radar systems : Quantum illumination

2011-04-03T17:21:00.001+02:00

Using entangled photons should be possible to improve considerably the data transmission. Raytheon BBN is studying new quantum concepts as quantum illumination for using in remote sensing applications. The development of such concepts would allow Radar, Laser Radar (LADAR), and other remote sensing systems to exceed the performance limits of today’s technology.

Actually traditional methods of data transmission, such as fibre optics or laser-based radar, require 100 photons to transmit a single bit of data. Using quantum illumination should be possible to sent 10 bits on a single photon. This discovery was announced theoretically by Seth Lloyd of the W.M. Keck Center for Extreme Quantum Information Processing (xQIT) 3 years ago. Here after the abstract of his paper Quantum Illumination :

Abstract: The use of entangled light to illuminate objects is shown to provide significant enhancements over unentangled light for detecting and imaging those objects in the presence of high levels of noise and loss. Each signal sent out is entangled with an ancilla, which is retained. Detection takes place via an entangling measurement on the returning signal together with the ancilla. Quantum illumination with e bits of entanglement increases the effective signal-to-noise ratio of detection and imaging by a factor of 2^e, an exponential improvement over unentangled illumination.

It's all about entanglement. In this phenomenon when you have a pair of photons the quantum state of one photon is linked to that of another, regardless of how far apart they are. Quantum illumination begins with researchers passing a laser through filters that thin the beam into photons. The filters create identical photons that are linked to each other. Then they split the entangled photons and release one at a target, while the other is keeping near the transmitter. When a photon hits the target, it bounces back towards the source in a process that alters the photon. When it returns to the detector, the altered photon is no longer strictly entangled with its pair, then scientists compare the released photon’s reflection to its unaltered twin. This process is not very different from classical radar, where electromagnetic waves rebound off targets in order to create an image. However the smaller photon delivers far more data far more quickly and efficiently.

As said by researchers at Raytheon BBN, quantum illumination could be used to create hyper-long-distance communications systems where large amounts of information could be sent more quickly (almost instantaneously) and clearly. Some enthusiastic researchers suggest that quantum illumination could lead towards teleportation devices. That's right, but only for information. Star Trek's teleportation of people and objects remains on Science Fiction for the moment...

A definition for quantum illumination which comes from paper Quantum Illumination by Seth Lloyd :

Quantum illumination is a potentially powerful technique for performing detection and imaging, in which signal is entangled with an ancilla, and entangling measurements are made at the detector. Entanglement enhances the eﬀective signal to noise ratio because a noise photon has a d times harder time masquerading as an entangled signal photon, compared with a noise photon masquerading as an unentangled signal photon.

The enhancement of sensitivity and eﬀective signal-to-noise ratio that quantum illumination provides is exponential in the number of bits of initial entanglement, and persists even in the presence of large amounts of noise and loss, when no entanglement survives at the receiver.

Batmobile (1989)

2011-04-01T21:21:00.003+02:00

Design by Brickstruct

Posted via email from My Lego Box

A new more precisely measurement of the Hubble Constant

2011-03-16T19:13:00.001+01:00

Adam G. Riess and his team published their latest work where a new more precise measurement of the Hubble constant seems to confirm the fact that the expansion acceleration of the universe is due to Dark Energy. Indeed, the latest measure proposed by Riess and team, H_o = 73.8 ± 2.4 km s^–1 Mpc^–1, is completely inconsistent with the inhomogeneous matter models invoked to explain the apparent acceleration of the universe without Dark Energy.

New measures should be performed to confirm the Riess's results but already the measure proposed here has only a 3.3% of uncertainty.

Mpc = Megaparsec = 3.26 million light years

A 3% Solution: Determination of the Hubble Constant with the Hubble Space Telescope and Wide Field Camera 3

Bounty Hunters : No (Lego) disintegrations !

2011-03-09T19:40:00.003+01:00

A couple of months ago I bought on eBay the customs Lego minifigs of 4-LOM and Zuckuss. Finally the picture is complete with all the bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back.

Posted via email from My Lego Box

How to recycling your virtual reputation

2011-02-26T11:00:00.003+01:00

Improving or recycling your virtual reputation is only some steps away. Click to enlarge following image from New Scientist.

Full article : Keeping up e-ppearances: How to bury your digital dirt

Goodbye Discovery : Last flight

2011-02-25T11:22:00.001+01:00

After 39 missions, Discovery shuttle will be retired... All good (best) things come to an end...

Increasing the overall VASIMR® system efficiency

2011-02-24T20:45:00.001+01:00

Ad Astra Rocket Company has published recently a new paper concerning the Variable Speciﬁc Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®). An ambipolar ion acceleration has been identified on the helicon plasma stage in the VASIMR® VX-200i prototype device, that is an ambipolar electric field produced by an electron pressure gradient, resulting in a local axial ion speed of Mach 4 downstream of the magnetic nozzle. This ambipolar ion acceleration would provide added increase in ion velocity during all phases of VASIMR® operation. This result allows to improve more efficient VASIMR® protypes, especially in the high thrust–low Isp operating range.

Paper is available @Ad Adstra Rocket Company