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Blogs Computere og Internet Kim Blog (English) Technology

Amazon Kindled KISS

Kindle
Order Date: October 7, 2009
Order #: xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx
Recipient: Kim Bach

Items not yet shipped:
Delivery estimate: October 21, 2009 – October 23, 2009
Shipping estimate: October 19, 2009
1 of: Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. & International Wireless, Latest Generation)
Sold by: Amazon Export Sales, Inc.
1 of: Patagonia Kindle Case (Fits 6″ Display, Latest Generation Kindle)
Sold by: Amazon Export Sales, Inc.

Kindle and Sony PRS-505I’ve been waiting for the Kindle to be launched in Denmark, I’ve wanted one since I laid my hands on one at Reboot 11 in June. So now I know what I’m getting for my birthday.

Yes, the Kindle has it’s problems, and I fear that it will end in my hardware graveyard, alongside my Palm Vx (which I loved, and read books on) and my Compaq PDA (which I loved, and read books on), but the Kindle is a different creature, much like the iPod, it’s focusing on a specific application and has connected that with a clear business model, I see it as a connected object, a beautiful combination of form and function, something Microsoft has never understood, and that Apple has abandoned, except with the iPod Shuffle.

KISS!

For those oblivious to what a Kindle is, it’s an eBook reader developed by Amazon. Amazon’s vision is to make all books ever published available in digital form, and Jeff Bezos can repeat after Steve Jobs: “we have xx millions of accounts, AND they come with creditcards”. I believe that it will take talent for Amazon to fumble this.

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Blogs Computere og Internet Computerspil Historier/Stories Kim Blog (English)

“You should rather buy a new gadget”

Peek-a-boo from Kullaberg, SwedenThis could have been a much more interesting blog post, about a completely different, and important subject, but that happened in an alternative reality, so this is what you get:

In 2007, after somefumbling” around, in a totally, to me, strange element, I got this “advice”:

“You should rather buy a new gadget”

This blog post, painstakingly, documents that that was exactly what I, Kim Bach, aka. “FJUMMER”, did…

Nintendo DS Portable Gaming Console

I had read an article in Wired Magazine about how you, literally, can shave several years off your, perceived, age by training, and changing habits and lifestyle.

The author had, for instance, used the Brain Training software on a Nintendo DS to improve his mental capacity and youth.

I was intriged, but my purchase of the DS was, eventually, a total impulse purchase. It was triggered by general ignorance, fear of growing up and taking responsibility, I really can’t claim stupidity, just foolishness, meditating on my old mantra “if it feels right, then it must be right” – well, let the record show that it never is – will I ever learn?

Interestingly, solving Sudoku puzzles, which I learned using the DS, actually brought me some of the best moments of 2007.

It should also be mentioned that the DS was a stunning success with the children at the school where I worked, the math-problems and the competitiveness of the Brain Training games, really catered to the children, and I’m sure that regular use of the training programs can increase your ability, to do basic arithmetic, dramatically.

Nike+ Kit

2007 also saw me picking up running. The Nike+ Kit transforms the iPod nano into a tool, where you can track your runs. It’s more that a toy, the genius of the Nike+ solution is the great web-site where you can run against other Nike+ users, track your progress, analyse your runs etc. The community is a great motivational factor, and it even worked on me.

In my first month of running I managed to log 40+ kms, and I could feel how my stamina improved, it amazed me how quickly that happened.

Unfortunately I got a little overconfident, and a small injury that caused me to gear down, I have learned that I should not try to do training that involves rapid changes in tempo.

Olympus SP-550UZ Digital Camera

I was tired of not having a zoom-camera, and the Olympus has 18x optical zoom, but I still prefer my Canon IXUS i5, since I can carry it around all the time, while I did take some wonderful pictures with the Olympus, it’s just too bulky for my taste. Eventually I’ll get a DSLR, but it’s not high on my wish-list, it’s more likely that my next camera will be another Canon IXUS.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

It looked cool, and I wanted to get one before a friend. The N800 is an interesting concept, with a Linux based OS, but it’s not ready for prime time. Battery life is it’s biggest problem, and the form-factor isn’t perfect, and I very rarely use it.

Nokia 5500 Sports Phone

Mount Vesuvius “killed” my Nokia 6070 – SERIOUSLY that was what happened, and you can’t live without a “presence device”, at least that was what my rather (understatement) confused mind dictated, as I wrote in a previous post “I was not in my right mind”.

The Nokia 5500 is a Symbian S60 based smart-phone with some clever work out based applications, for instance it has a step-counter, and the music player can be controlled by tapping it, to trigger the motion detector.

Telia Navigator

Extremely well designed GPS solution. It integrates with a 411 online directory, meaning that you can perform searches by name and address. It automatically stores the most recent destinations, and the external Bluetooth GPS device, that comes with a good rechargeable battery, works great with all Bluetooth devices.

The strongest feature of the solution is that it downloads the maps dynamically, meaning that the solution runs perfectly on relatively lowly hardware, with limited storage, I’ve used it with the Nokia 5500, and that is a great combination, the only downside I can think of, is that the solution only works with Telia’s access points.

My favourite feature is the compass mode, and since it doesn’t require download of maps, and you often have pre-programmed your way-points, using Telia Navigation in this manner made me feel adventurous.

Lenovo V100 Laptop

For a while I thought that I could switch to Linux, and the Lenovo V100 is a fantastic platform for just that.

I did encounter some stability problems with the wireless networking support, the biggest issue with Linux as I see it, and that was hampering my productivity, so I’m back with my PowerBook

The Lenovo has been donated to a worthy cause, it’s now being used to control the digital whiteboard at the school where I used to work.

Samsung SP-P310ME Pocket Imager

My projector lamp burned out, but instead of replacing the lamp, I had to get one of the ultra-compact Samsung SP-P310ME projectors. It’s not really suited as a TV, since it needs a darkened room to operate, but I can now bring a projector everywhere I go, it’s amazingly portable, and can even run on battery power. The good thing is that the long life of the solid state technology of the SP-P310ME, means that it will take a long time until I have to replace it.

Nokia E65

Finally I went on the 3G bandwagon, and the Nokia E65 is a sleek 3G handset that even supports WiFi. I use the E65 all the time, it’s the perfect client for the Jaiku online service, that I’m sort of addicted to. Did I need a new phone? No, but it felt right, and it’s actually the only, truly useful, gadget investment of the year.

Making 2008 a healthier year

HEY! There are some signs, that I’m not going to be spending that much money on gadgets in 2008, first and foremost I’m actually feeling (mentally) healthy, and all of the purchases above were based on pure impulse (bordering mania), and right now it’s completely under control. And you know: the “advice” to “rather buy a new gadget” I got was “lost in translation”:

“GET A LIFE – FJUMMER!”

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Blogs Bookmarks Computerspil Kim Blog (English) Music Technology

Warning: Thanks to the DS, I might pick up the “guitar” – AGAIN

Ubisoft Jam Sessions ScreenshotNintendo.com News : Transform your DS into a guitar with Jam Sessions

After having been on the Japanese market for quite a while, Ubisoft is about to launch Jam Sessions to the rest of the world.

Jam Sessions is a Guitar Simulator, and unlike Guitar Hero, it’s focusing on reality, as this (Hidari Mae: Logical Conclusion) great sounding sample demonstrates – it was made without real guitars!

The concept is that you strum the guitar using the touch screen, and use the navigation keys to create chords.

So I might pick up the “guitar” again, it’s been more than 25 years since I tried to learn how to play the guitar – I sort of managed to get the technical details right, and it’s still in “my fingers” – but it never really amounted to anything – you know music is about feelings and “letting go” – when I was 18 I was a serious uptight old fart, with no concept of feelings, I think I might fare better today, and I’ve actually been jamming with my oldest niece using her acoustic guitar, and it actually sounded much better after she coached me – I was amazed or maybe I’m just tone-deaf ;-).

I’m NEVER going to master a traditional game controller, but the new generation of gaming concepts that Nintendo is pioneering strikes a SERIOUS chord (pun intended ;-)) with me.

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Blogs Bookmarks Kim Blog (English) Mactopia Music Technology

Apple – QuickTime – September 2007 Keynote Address

Ipods Special Event 20070905Apple – QuickTime – September 2007 Keynote Address

Apple Special Event from today is now available for streaming, Steve is looking sharp, great seeing him playing with iTunes Ringtone Maker: “All we are saying is give peace a chance” – “that’s for when NBC calls” LOL.

And the iPod Touch – should be called the iPod Ouch – Ouch there goes my recent resolution: “No more gadgets!” AGAIN! I am however going to wait until I can try it, before buying. I have some questions…

  1. Can I update my calendar and address book and have it synced back to iCal and Address Book? My guess is no.
  2. Does the Danish localisation include a Danish touch screen keyboard, including æ, ø and å, Steve only showed the US version?
  3. It doesn’t look like it works with Nike+.
  4. It doesn’t look like it supports Bluetooth, so no wireless headsets or integration with phones and cameras
  5. When will there be a Starbucks in Copenhagen (hey isn’t there one in CPH Airport? Guess I just have to travel some more!)

As a spin off from the Special Event today, I’ve created a Jaiku channel for the Danish Apple community called #appletalkdk, join the fun here.

The picture is Copyright (c) 2007 Apple Inc., I consider my use here to be fair use.

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Blogs Computere og Internet Kim Blog (English) Mactopia Music Technology

And the beat goes on…

I got hold of a copy of Steve’s manuscript earlier today…

*Cue the music
*His Steveness enters
*iTunes growth has been OUT OF THIS WORLD, WE’RE “BEAT”ING THEM ALL
Everyone is on iChat these days, let’s see, hmm…Hi Sir Paul!
Do you have an iPod? Yes, yes I have SEVERAL, you keep making new ones. Well I might have a surprise for you later, and tell us about the merger of Apple Inc. and Apple Corp…
*BOOM!!!
*Do you remember what the BIG jeans pocket was for? Now you can put it to use again, with the brand-new iPod Video, if you can get it to fit next to the iPhone you’ll need as well to get it online.
*Phil can you show us how that works? (Phil is in the audience with his Power…ahem MacBook – oh there you are! – Phil is on iChat with the new Leopard default theme).

*And now back to you Sir Paul.

*Oh one more thing…NAH! That’s so last year:

*Thank you and goodnight!

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Blogs Bookmarks Design Kim Blog (English) Mactopia Music Technology

Heyerdahl.no – iDiamond – the ultimate BlingShuffle

iDiamond iPod shuffleHeyerdahl.no – iDiamond

I knew that there would be a market for “gadget jewellery”, but this bling-iPod shuffle from the Norwegian Jeweller Thomas Heyerdahl in Oslo is just a bit over the top, being priced at €31.000/US $41.000. The shuffle is adorned by a total of 430 diamonds, with 312 used for the player and 118 used for the earbuds.

Looking at the “diggs” this gadget is getting, it’s a great marketing stunt by Heyerdahl. The iPod is “iconic”, but I think that it would have been much more interesting if they had made an exclusive design, instead of relying on a $79 industrial design. OTOH, linking up with the hyped Apple brand is probably a smart move, and it’s unlikely that I’d heard about it, if they had done an exclusive design.

Personally I find the details about how the gadget was manufactured, much more interesting than the gadget itself.

It was manufactured by a Dutch company called Diaro Digital Design, using the 3D-modelling software Rhinoceros.

Kopiavidiamond2Details about the iDiamond from the Heyerdahl website:

  • 1 pcs. / Special edition / Not for commercial sale.
  • Produced for Heyerdahl by: Diaro Digital Design – Robert de Brueijs / The Netherlands / www.diaro.nl
  • 3D production: CAD / CAM 3D design / Rhinoceros
  • Wax model made by: Solidcape T66Bt2 Wax printer.
  • Casting method: Vacuumcasting
  • Diamond setting: Handcrafted micro Pavè setting.
  • Details engraved: Laser engraved details

Details about iDiamond aren’t available on the Diaro Digital Design website, but I suppose that they’ll update their site soon.

The pictures that accompanies this article were copied from the Heyerdahl website, and are most likely copyright Gullsmed Heyerdahl A.S., I consider my use of the pictures to be fair use.

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Blogs Computere og Internet Kim Blog (English) Technology

“Weapon of choice”: “Tölva” friendly public hotspots

HUMAN? Tölva and Kim Bach @ SjakketAs you might remember, I just found a surprising winner in the contest to find the device best suited for basic Internet access – like Jaiku presence checking – at a public hotspot: the Nintendo DS, with the Opera browser. Since all my “computers” have “names” – a practice I learned from Jerry Pournelle @ Chaos Manor – my DS is now officially baptised “Tölva”.

For the last week I’ve been carrying my “weapon of choice”,”Tölva”, around town, and I’ll be maintaining a list of “Tölva” friendly hotspots on my web-site (most likely the wiki).

Copenhagen:

I’m still amazed at the battery-life of the Nintendo DS. I hope to be able to compare it to other highly mobile Wi-Fi capable devices like the Nokia N95, in the future.

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Blogs Kim Blog (English) Technology

My Nabaztag/tag SelinaAlouette does Jaiku in my garden

My Nabaztag/tag SelinaAlouette does Jaiku in my gardenJaiku is the best thing since sliced bread, and SelinaAlouette, my Nabaztag/tag agrees.

After I treated her to an upgrade to Full Friend Rabbit, she can read ANY RSS feed, and thus my Jaiku presence feed http://kimbach.jaiku.com).

With a Nabaztag (/tag) you can stay in touch with your friends, even without a real computer, how KEWL is that.

And my beautiful Yasmine is starting to bloom, that’s almost a month early.

My garden is actually my slice of heaven, I’ll begin to appreciate it more, and SelinaAlouette will keep me updated while I do productive things, like reading a book.

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'i dag' (Danish) Blogs Caféer og Restauranter Historier/Stories Musik

Jaiku@macnyt.dk: Fra “Second Life” til “First Life” i en helvedes fart – fordi IRL det er 24-karat

Wendelboe oprettede for et par dage siden en tråd om Jaiku på det danske Mac og Apple forum: Macnyt: Jaiku:

Kim Bach henviste forleden til Jaiku (Udtales som var det et dansk ord..), og jeg er blevet forelsket i lortet.. Men man kan hurtigt savne kontakter.. Så mange spændende ting, render Kim heller ikke og laver.. Er der ikke nogen her som bruger det?

Og her er hvad der så skete:

Her er da det bedste eksempel på hvad alle disse services kan bruges til..

Igår sad jeg og kedede mig da følgende tikkede ind på Kim Bach’s Jaiku:

IRL tip: Vesterbro. Right now Frappé with Hazzelnut. I’m a happy camper B-)

Og 15 minutter efter sad jeg på Kaffe og Vinyl med Mr. Bach og min helt egen frappé.. Det er da sejt!

Fra Second Life til First Life i en helvedes fart
Fordi IRL det er 24-karat

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Blogs Hackers IT Guruer Kim Blog (English) Technology

“Weapon of choice”: What is the best device for basic Internet access on a public hotspot?

It should not come as a big surprise that I’m a serious gadget junkie, it’s probably easier to list the gadgets I don’t have.

For the last two days, I’ve been “packing serious heat”, being equipped with 4 devices capable of accessing the Internet, so I decided to do a field test of the devices, focusing on determining which device of the four, is the best suited for basic Internet browsing of a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

Let’s find the “weapon of choice for the road warrior”.

The Fantastic 4

The Fantastic 4• Apple PowerBook G4 12″
• Nokia N800 Internet Tablet
• Nintendo DS with the Opera browser
• Nokia 6070 GSM phone with the Opera Mini browser

The test was performed at the Café High-Q, on Sønder Boulevard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark. High-Q has a WEP encrypted network, just ask for the WEP keyphrase in the bar.

Internet access wants to be free

Nokia 6070 isn’t capable of using Wi-Fi, and since I’m charged serious green for accessing the Internet using my phone, and Internet access wants to be free, it’s bye bye to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE device, even though it’s probably the most high-tech of the devices, and the only one of the four devices that offers true roaming.

For pure simplicity, it’s actually the best device. You can for instance do microblogging on Jaiku, since you can send a blog-entry by simply TEXT-ing the Jaiku server. Hey my 70-year old mother and my 14-year old niece could even do that! And I’ve given up trying to get them to do regular blogging 🙁

How do you like them Apples?

Since High-Q is a café, and you’re in a social setting in the IRL sense, the Apple PowerBook was the next device to get delegated to it’s bag. Even though the form-factor of the PowerBook 12″ is nice, it’s simply too big, bulky and since I can write a lot of text, and it offers a full browsing experience, I tend to “disappear” into cyberspace when using it in public, much like Jeff Bridges in Tron, so no more Apples for me, it’s too annoying for basic browsing and presence updating.

For full Internet access and serious writing, however, the PowerBook 12″ rocks – and I still consider it to be the nicest computer I’ve ever used – and for updating a web-site or writing a blog-entry I would not choose any of the other devices. I’m actually happy that Apple’s current offerings are so unsuitable for me, it’s healthy for my economy.

Halfway mark

Next up was the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, my newest “computer” – and that’s what it should be considered.

The N800 was made for Internet accees and it’s a great device for just that, being one of the first devices to offer an always-on experience of the Internet if you’re doing limited roaming.

The N800, is a new class of device, consider it a PDA on steroids. It runs a version of Linux called Maemo, and it is full of open source thinking, sponsored by Nokia. It has a nice touch screen, that works well without the pen, and it automagically detects if you used the finger to press the screen, offering a bigger onscreen keyboard and menu system. On top of that, the N800 also does handwriting recognition.

N800 has a nice big widescreen, exactly the size of a standard business card, and the webcam cleverly pops out, and auto-launches the video chat application, when you press it. The video chat application seems to be using a protocol build on top of Jabber (Gtalk uses Jabber). I’ve yet to use it, because I don’t know anybody else that has a N800, and I don’t know what standard PC software that might work with it, iChat maybe?

The buttons on the N800 works great, and it’s a major improvement on the classical PDA, that offers quick-launch buttons for applications.

The N800 has a cell-phone like navigation joystick, a back-key, a context menu key, a task-bar key, that lists all open windows. On top it has three keys for zooming the UI, and a button to put it in full screen mode, hiding the menu and status bars.

You quickly learn to navigate it using a combination of the keys, the pen and your index-finger, and you can hook it up to any Bluetooth keyboard, I’ve used my Apple Wireless Keyboard with no problems at all.

The N800 would do better if I could use the video-chat for anything, had better battery life and was slightly smaller and lighter. The list of applications is huge, mostly due to the Linux heritage, hey it even runs VNC, making it the KEWLest remote control EVER!

My favourite feature is the task-switcher, it’s fast, and since the N800 runs offers true multitasking – I don’t like to close anything – the list of open windows and application quickly gets extensive.

The bundled RSS-reader is quite good, and the way that visual and audible notifcations you get when a new Gtalk IM arrives or you leave/enter a hotspot, simply works, making it an always-on Wi-Fi device with roaming support.

I only miss a bundled calendar application with support for the iCal format – but you can get that from Maemo.

The most ground-breaking feature of the N800 is that it shows, that Linux really does have the potential to become the last OS you’ll ever “wear” – Linux is ACTUALLY happening and Maemo and Ubuntu is paving the road. Poor, poor Apple and Microsoft: software wants to be free. The N800 also made me think of the Alan Kay quote Steve Jobs used during the MacWorld 2007 keynote:

“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” Alan Kay

With the N800 Nokia has realised the potential of the community process, so I’ll try to improve on Alan Kay:

“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware, but stop re-inventing the wheel.” Kim Bach (*blush*) AND Alan Kay

I find it so strange that Nokia isn’t doing more to promote the N800, you can’t get a real live demo anywhere in Copenhagen, unless you run into me – it’s actually not that difficult, if I remember to update my Jaiku presence ;-). The N800 also wins on the RSS-reader, making it extremely well-suited for “presence checking”.

The main problem with the N800 is that it, like the PowerBook, delivers a full Internet experience, sending me too far into cyberspace, and I think that battery life is too low, offering only 2-3 hours of continous browsing, at least if you have both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled. Stand-by time is pretty impressive however, and if you’re roaming, it is great at connecting to the network automagically.

Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is a portable gaming console, but it’s different. First and foremost it features a dual-screen layout, and one of the screens is a touch screen. I love the Brain Training Games for the DS, but the greatest thing is that Opera has developed a browser for the DS, and it has a lot of optimisation tricks up it’s sleeves, that enhances the browsing experience.

Innovative use of the dual screens. In the standard mode the page is optimised for the strange 4:3*2 formfactor, and an awesome overview mode, where a full version of the websites is rendered on the bottom screen, and a zoomed view is presented on the top screen.

My favourite feature is the fast scrolling that happens when you combine pressing the top buttons and using the “joystick”.

It’s also very nice that the top screen is used to advertise some of the more advanced features, like the screen-shot feature where you can take a “screenshot”, and have it display on the top-screen.

On the hardware side, I love that it’s so easy to switch between online and offline. If you want to go offline, you simple close the screen, and you flip it open when you want to go online again, it’s instantaneous.

The DS is the perfect device if you are doing limited roaming and browsing. The DS offers great browsing experience of basic XHTML standards compliant web-sites like Google, Wikipedia, Gmail, Flickr and Jaiku.

I think that a lot of intelligent choices has been made by Nintendo.

You can only configure 3 different hotspots, but that reflects a lot of real world scenarios – @home, @work and @ “favourite watering hole”.

Battery life is amazing. I need to measure it, but it feels like it’s close to 10 hours, Nintendo must have some very clever power management tricks up their sleeves.

The DS is quite rugged, and that’s great when you’re in public.

On the downside, the Opera browser only “talks” English, and some Danish letter are strangely missing from the onscreen keyboard. The lack of WPA support is OK, since you’ll most likely be using it to access an open hotspot.

...weapon of choice…

…the Nintendo DS…

My Jaiku on the Nintendo DSFor basic browsing, that doesn’t send you too far into cyberspace, the Nintendo DS with the Opera browser, is a surprising capable device for Internet browsing and simple TEXT style messages, like “Jaikus”, and the rendering tricks are quite simply amazing. The Nintendo DS is more than a toy, and it’s the least annoying of the devices, and it offers hours and hours of Internet browsing, I’ve been using it for 2 days without charging it, and the battery indicator still flashes green, indicating that the power-adapter can stay put. The DS is also much cheaper than the N800.

The N800 is a close contender however. Any talk about Linux being too difficult to use must cease, and the open source philosophy of Maemo is right up my alley

Another big plus is the fact that the UI, and the applications, all are translated to Danish.

The N800 would win the test if Nokia improved battery-life – I’d like 10-12 hours of modest use, if they shrunk the device just a little, and maybe adopted the intuitive way of “hanging-up”, like on the DS, by closing the lid. As it is designed right now, you have to push a button and select “off-line”, followed by another key-press and the selection of “lock” – I have to add that you could skip locking the device manually, since it locks automatically after a set interval.

For now, however, I’ll be getting this take on a classic Mae West quote:

“Is that a DS in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”