Mostly This:

Download me baby, one more time: Nokia music store = semi fail....

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:11:58 +0000

Download me baby, one more time: Nokia music store = semi fail. I decided to give Nokia Music Store a test run. I picked a good value album - the killers sawdust - apparently a N music store exclusive and weighing in at 19 tracks for £8. The process of signing up and selecting/paying was very easy and all done on my handset, on a train.

But the download process is less seamless. you have to download each track individually. clicking on several does all some concurrent downloading - but it does not queue up. So i ended up with only about half the tracks downloaded in random order. So I had to write each downloaded track down and go back and re-download the missing ones. All in all a painful process.

But at least it all added automatically to the music player, album art and all. The DRM would put me off using this service for anything other than an emergency music drought / requirement. But its the same service as ‘comes with music’ which I could see myself using - alot, though they really need to sort out some sort of downloading queue. I guess they want you downloading to pc and syncing - but i only have mac os - so it will be all handset only for me.

GQ goes large: I got a free copy of GQ 20th anniversary edition...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:22:43 +0000

GQ goes large: I got a free copy of GQ 20th anniversary edition when buying CDG stuff at H&M. It’s massive - seriously fat - it reminds me of the old glory days of computer shopper. Except with this you can feel the quality as well as girth. Oddly it’s the first magazine I’ve read / flicked though in a couple of years (excluding heat!). It felt very unfamiliar - maybe the sheer elitism of it all etc. But it did have its desired effect in that it made me visit two websites to purchase / investigate things. So maybe there’s life in the old print yet.

I inadvertently invented breakfast sushi at the weekend. Simply...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:42:28 +0000

I inadvertently invented breakfast sushi at the weekend. Simply cut a ‘thin’ sausage into 4. Scoop out most of the meat. Fill with scrambled egg. If you are being posh you could crumble crispy bacon on top. Endless possible variations with black/white pudding and mushrooms too. Coming soon to a swanky finger food party near you soon - or not.

A good old fashioned virtual raffle: Mobile Industry Review are...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:33:01 +0000

A good old fashioned virtual raffle: Mobile Industry Review are having a christmas raffle. With loads of gizmo gadget prizes and tickets at £5 a pop. And its all for charrriiideee mate. whats not to like - go buy one (or ten) now.

UnderScan: Sounds awesome - its on this week saturday 14th until...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:09:00 +0000

UnderScan: Sounds awesome - its on this week saturday 14th until sunday 23rd, from dusk til midnight. A series of projections come to life when ‘touched’ by shadows. With over 1000 possible people to perform beneath you it sounds like a real chocolate box of fun. I also love that this sort of art can only come about with a synergy of technology and art.

Green Box: Oddly I got these from british gas yesterday - i get...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:06:16 +0000

Green Box: Oddly I got these from british gas yesterday - i get my gas/electricity from N-Power!

high street musical: H&M’s tills are ringing and...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:41:48 +0000

high street musical: H&M’s tills are ringing and singing in the aisles as shopers grab up their exclusive Comme des Garçons range or mens and womens wear. All at knock down prices compared to CDG but quite alot more than the usual H&M prices. Stock levels seemed good - but i suspect most popular items will be gone in the next few days.

Doh! The prize for the most fun xmas decorations go to Carnaby...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:38:21 +0000

Doh! The prize for the most fun xmas decorations go to Carnaby Street - with their bobbling snowmen.

Please Move Down: Time for some real life socal web...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:17:50 +0000

Please Move Down: Time for some real life socal web applications. Everyone has a camera phone - everyone that gets on trains/tubes etc comes across this problem. The train pulls in, its doorway is full, everyone is solid like statues, theres a bottle neck. Someone point blank refusing to move down the carriage to let others on. Lets photograph them and shame them. Mass action is required as polite requests seem to be ineffective between the hours of 8 and 9am. So if you come across a passage blocker, shoot a photo and add it to the pool.

Context?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:21:00 +0000

I was asked recently what I thought of context and the internet. It set me thinking, typically a good hour after I’d been asked. My context at the time was drugged up with a head cold from hell. I always tend to think of the internet as a series of conversations and stories. Conversations being mostly one to many, often one to one, sometimes many to many. Each with there own value. Not forgetting the hugh base of reference or publication style content which represents stories. These are the core of human communication.

I’m a big believer in the invisible currency of reputation, based on your actions and identity. Karma in old money - but modernised for the trackable, database driven, statistics laden world of web 2.0.

On one basic level its how many friends do I have on bebo. Gotta get em all. This pokemates attitude is rife. But it has its limits - over do it and friends become meer acquaintances or like-minded tribe members - the granularity starts to break down. The value of a friends list becomes redundant - and you need some super friends list thats people you really would want as mates.

If I take a photo it has some value to me, If i put it on the wall it has a positive (or negative) effect on everyone that sees it. Suddenly it has more value to me, even though I may be unaware of it’s effects. It’s creating conversations both internal dialog and physical interaction. If I put it on the internet that effect grows, but there’s a statistical back up - so I know know 432 people have viewed my photo and 5 of them have commented on it. These comments are a real transference from the anonymity of art on a wall to the direct contact possible via the internet.

Context is a separate issue - but is intertwined with this reputation scoring system. My context is the here and now. It’s a moment in time. It’s a place. It’s an activity. But its temporal. There’s quite a few internet services dealing with context - none to a fine granularity but all attempting to define the here and now, then - more importantly - share it.
Dopplr shares you location among trusted friends so you know that a friend is in town - but no more. But hey that’s enough for now. Twitter is the uber micro blogging tool that’s different things to different people - some attempt to use it for conversation - but it’s core offering was what are you doing NOW. There are various GPS driven services like GPSii and plazes all of which are let down slightly by a lack of persistent location services and uptake among peer groups. Fireeagle is also bridging the gap to allow a less dependent access to some level of location based services, no gps no problem - but the level of detail will be kilometers rather than meters. This becomes more relevant to mobile devices as their location is always changing - my computer is typically only at my desk or home, so the context is activity rather than location.

All these technical issues will erode over a short period of time, and then contextual experience will become the norm. My phone will know when I am at home - so it won’t notify me of work email. It will know when I am in a meeting so it will auto set to silent, and more importantly turn it back to alert after I’ve left. It will tell me 4 of my friends are in the area at lunchtime etc.

Add to this reputation services - How about as I walk down the street my phone can tell me there’s a really cool art exhibition on in a gallery down a little trodden side street - because one of my friends has been there and tagged it. Around the corner is a coffee shop with the best expresso in town and a record shop selling a rare 12 inch mix - and here’s a link to that artist to download and listen to now to other tracks. Oh and avoid that burger restaurant, the service is slow and the food terrible. This is not directory based content its historical recommendations based on some previous contextual experience, that left its residue. So it has real value to me and me alone.

Things start to get really interesting now - there is a mix of historical reputation based information and contextual delivery of it.

I’ m excited.

Little Big Shop: Yay! little big planet is out and to celebrate...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:51:10 +0000

Little Big Shop: Yay! little big planet is out and to celebrate sony have opened a little big planet experience shop in covent garden. You can play the game in a game like environment and get badges and stuff, and wonder at gaint sack boy. Awesome.

Here comes the G1: Will it be as big a shake up as the iPhone -...

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:59:13 +0000

Here comes the G1: Will it be as big a shake up as the iPhone - of course its a platform not a single phone, and apparently Motorola are completely transfering to android for all handsets! Here is Jim Hyde (ceo of t-mobile UK) handing over the first one sold in europe. I’ll be blogging my findings at http://helloG1.tumblr.com :)

DRM is bad for the environment. There is lots to like about...

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:59:00 +0000

DRM is bad for the environment. There is lots to like about nokia’s ‘comes with music’ all you can eat subscription model - but protecting the environment isn’t one of them - Nokia strive hard to be green and largly succeed (as much as any consumable electronics company can). But to continue using the ‘comes with music’ service - you have to buy a new handset after 12 months! eh! this is madness. I’m quite happy with my handset - I like the service - let me pay to continue - 90% of the carbon footprint of a device is it manufacture - not is ongoing energy drain.

I’m prepared to accept the DRM issues for the low cost of the service. But theres a few misleading facts. It claims the music is yours to keep forever - but after two years you can no longer transfer the designated pc. so if your hdd crashes or you get a new pc - no amount of back up will get your music back.

I suspect most of these will become non-issues and will change - as I imagine nokia is having to jump though 10 types of flaming hoops with record companies to get the service running.

Also I can find no info on the carphone warehouse site as to the minimum contract length on the N95 8gig - if its 18 months - then you’ll be stuck with no service for 6 months of the contract. This may not be an issue - maybe it continues on contact? but its unclear - everything refers to 12 months subsctiption. How hard is it to make these things clear?

As seen on the snappily titled http://62.61.85.218/ aka the redirect from http://www.music.nokia.co.uk/comeswithmusic ;)

here come the dashing tweeds: oh my I have to hunt down some of...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:49:16 +0000

here come the dashing tweeds: oh my I have to hunt down some of these. Awesome modern tweeds inspired by urban colour paletes rather than the heather and hills of scotland. My favourite being the double yellow line inspired pattern featuring wet picadilly pavement as its main hue. Whats not to love.

wierd science: this is quite amazing - the energy discharged by...

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:36:44 +0100

wierd science: this is quite amazing - the energy discharged by un-peeling stickly tape genereates x-rays - enough to actually make a print. It makes you head mildly explode in the unseen activity going on at microscopic level. I need a pint.

LOLstation: Do you miss the days of eastern european C64/Amiga...

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:59:48 +0100

LOLstation: Do you miss the days of eastern european C64/Amiga demos? Amazing techno and E fuelled graphical powerhouses that were coded long into the night until fingers and eyes bled? Well they have gone all mainstream with ‘Linger in Shadows’ a demoscene product from polish coders ‘plastic’ but oddly published by santa monica studios (SCA). It’s a semi interactive piece of wonderfullness thats very 2008 - so think NIN/God of War rather than 80s rave (though there is a hidden oldskool demo easter egg)

London Loves: Two nights of free movies at traflagar square -...

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:53:00 +0100

London Loves: Two nights of free movies at traflagar square - its quirky and archive stuff rather than porkies/friday 13th. More art house than drive-in - but all on a fantastic inflatable screen - you just want to run up to and jump into. A bit of social media thrown in too with londoners comments being posted on the screen between films.

foam party: some wags dumped a load of detergent in traflagar...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:52:34 +0100

foam party: some wags dumped a load of detergent in traflagar square fountains, how very ‘school trip 1987’.

Beta Phone: here’s samsungs new ‘candybar’...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:47:40 +0100

Beta Phone: here’s samsungs new ‘candybar’ smartphone - the snappily named i7110. Sadly it seemed as though the software wasn’t quite ready yet - taking a photo caused a memory error, on the three phones I tried. it seemed nice enough if like most samsung products, a tad uninspiring.

Syeeties: Symbian S60 sweets at the symbian smartphone show -...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:36:42 +0100

Syeeties: Symbian S60 sweets at the symbian smartphone show - almost as tasty as the shiny phones and the endless free pens - stock up.