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December 31, 2003
Sylvesterlauf
It is a tradition here to go for a New Years Eve run. Quite a few of the local clubs put them on and you can run anything from 5-15 Kilometers. Of course the fun depends a lot on the weather - and we're lucky this year because it's cold but dry. I went for my own Sylvesterlauf and managed 10 Ks - which was a goal I had set myself for this year. So, a positive start to the New Year. Have a happy one. See you on the other side.
Posted by Matthew at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)
Sir Tim
Posted by Matthew at 02:36 PM | Comments (2)
MT gotcha
I played around with my hosting configuration a bit today. One of the things I did was to change my account password. After that I couldn't access the Movable Type installation (/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi) to post a new entry.
The error read:
"Got an error: Connection error: Access denied for user: 'xxxxx@localhost' (Using password: YES)"
After a bit of Googling I found the answer. I needed to change the password in mt-db-pass.cgi as well.
Posted by Matthew at 02:32 PM | Comments (1)
SMS goes US
Send Russ an SMS. He's trying to start a texting revolution.
Posted by Matthew at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2003
Sell yourself on eBay
A German IT specialist has put himself up for auction on eBay. He's looking for a job and hopes to attract would-be employers this way.
Update: It looks like eBay have yanked the auction.
Posted by Matthew at 11:11 PM | Comments (1)
Social Software vendors go for the enterprise
A report on eWeek outlines what the various social software vendors have planned for 2004 (via O'Reilly)
Posted by Matthew at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2003
Emergent Democracy Forum
O'Reilly will be hosting an Emergent Democracy Forum on February 9th in San Diego. The forum will be co-located with the Emerging Technology Conference. I expect this will be extremely US-centric in light of all the blogs for would-be US Presidents that have appeared.
Posted by Matthew at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
State of Ruby
Mike Stok reports on the third international Ruby conference that took place in Austin, Texas in November.
Posted by Matthew at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)
Quiet time
At least blogging-wise. Christmas was quite hectic for me this year as I had to do all the "organizing" - but things went well and nearly everyone got a present (I forgot one :-(). A few more relaxing days over New Year before things swing back into action next week.
Posted by Matthew at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2003
Beagle2 gets it
Beagle2 has a weblog. Connected. No RSS feed unfortunately. Looks like they saved on that as well :).
Posted by Matthew at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
Biz goes Google
I didn't realize that Biz Stone (I was tech editor on his blogging book) now works for Blogger/Google. Congratulations.
Posted by Matthew at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
Gloomy Christmas..
..for some scientists at least. Still no sign of Beagle2. Perhaps it forgot to take a visa.
Posted by Matthew at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2003
Silence
No signals from Beagle2 yet.
Update: Watching the webcast of the press briefing. Still no signal but at least there is still hope that Beagle2 is alive and well on the surface of Mars. Beagle2 communicates with its mother-ship, the Odyssey, when the orbiting craft passes over. There are several possible reasons why no signal has yet been found. Beagle2 should be asleep now (it's night on Mars). Next time for a possible contact is tonight GMT. Beagle2 will transmit at 5 watts power - which is about the same as a mobile-phone.
Posted by Matthew at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
Merry Christmas!
Festive greetings to everyone "out there".
Posted by Matthew at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2003
OSOCO a go-go
Carsten launches his new "project".
Posted by Matthew at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
MobiTree picture
A quick shot of the tree (as yet un-decorated) taken with my new Sony Clie UX50 and bluetoothed to the Powerbook and from there on to my weblog. Not much light and it shows.
Posted by Matthew at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
XML for the rest of us
Jon Udell on how the human factor of XML is starting to emerge. Something us Cocoon folks have known for ages - right?
Posted by Matthew at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
Open Source and Urine
Yes, I know that's a funny title - but someone "from the industry" sent me this quote which I hadn't heard before: "Open Source in corporations is like urine in a swimming pool. Once it's in, you can't get it out."
Posted by Matthew at 08:00 AM | Comments (1)
December 22, 2003
Movable Type 3.0
Here's some info about the upcoming version 3.0 of Movable Type.
Posted by Matthew at 06:39 PM | Comments (1)
Moving house
Well, Carsten was overheard today mumbling something about a "new domain" and "hosting his blog someplace else". I have no idea what's happening .... but something's afoot. Rumor has it that he's moving over to my provider bloghosts. But of course that's just a rumor.
Posted by Matthew at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
Gaming again
I got Fifa2004 for my birthday (Gamecube version) and played a couple of games yesterday - against the cube and against my son. A really fun game - although I'm not very good at it. Just kick and rush up to now - I need to get down to the finer points.
Posted by Matthew at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
Snow!
Quite a bit of snow here this morning. A quick mobi-shot (using the T610) can be found here.
Posted by Matthew at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2003
Mars gets a Beagle for Christmas
The landing of the Beagle 2 lander on Mars will be webcast on the 25th of December. What a good chance to test your new DSL connection, new PC, new PDA (which hopefully can do streaming video) or whatever other gadget you happen to have waiting under the tree.
Posted by Matthew at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2003
Neat gadget
Oooohhh, I'd like one of these. But it looks as though the Ambient Orb only works in the US. (via Ev).
Posted by Matthew at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
Full house
My wife is home on a day of "leave" today. And then she gets 3 weeks off starting Christmas. After that it's back to the clinic for 6 weeks re-training the leg - so things should be returning to normal at the end of February.
Posted by Matthew at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
Video iPod?
Looks like a video capable version of the iPod may be in the works. Hopefully something will be available in 366 days time - for my birthday :-).
Posted by Matthew at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2003
Fan woes
It doesn't look like I can install the Mac OS X 10.3.2 update on my 12" Powerbook. The update causes the fan to start up a lot earlier than before. This maybe a fix.
Posted by Matthew at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2003
Jax2004 - Be there!
Mark your calendars for Jax2004 in May 2004 in Frankfurt. I'll be speaking on "Open Source for managers: Don't Panic" and "Social Software: Connecting People". Carsten and I will be doing a Cocoon power-workshop and Carsten will be doing 3 Cocoon presentations.
Posted by Matthew at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Xmas shopping
This is the first year I've had to do the Xmas shopping for the kids presents...umm...I mean send off the letters to Santa...and again, this is a very new experience. Fighting hordes of mothers to grab the last "walking talking robot dog" off the shelf. "Woofy comes with a real brush". Yeah right. But not with batteries. That would be too easy.
Posted by Matthew at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
MobiQuitous 2004
The first annual conference on mobile and ubiquitous systems takes place in Boston next year (via Andrew)
Posted by Matthew at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2003
CfP OSCON 2004
Get your proposals in!
Posted by Matthew at 06:56 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2003
Userland reloaded
Userland, the company well-known for it's blogging tools, has a new management team.
Posted by Matthew at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2003
Mum arrives
Help swooped in to Paderborn tonight. Now I'm showing her "the ropes". Holiday from tomorrow. Yeah right.
Posted by Matthew at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2003
ETCon - going..going...
Don't hold your breath but it looks like I'll actually be going to ETCon in February. Ok, so my wife tried everything to stop me - but I'm still optimistic that we'll be near normal again by February. And 2004 seems to be the year to go - judging by the sessions. Lots of great topics to soak up - and people to meet. Tracks I'm interested in are Social Software, Untethered and Business Models. So, fingers crossed.
Posted by Matthew at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
Ward goes Microsoft
Ward Cunningham (father of the Wiki amongst other things) is going to work at Microsoft. He's already getting a lot of tips. (via Steve).
Posted by Matthew at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2003
Sam on Atom
Sams slides for his XML Conf 2003 presentation on Atom are here. They give a good overview of the path that has lead from RSS to Atom.
Posted by Matthew at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2003
Doctor in da house
My brother-in-law completed his PhD today. Congratulations!
Posted by Matthew at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
Wi-Fi Day
It's Wi-Fi day over on Mobitopia.
Posted by Matthew at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2003
Knee Job
Here's what all the fuss is about. A shot of the X-Ray taken with a SonyEricsson T300.Enjoy
Posted by Matthew at 08:47 PM | Comments (1)
Russell settles in
Posted by Matthew at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
Google goes India
According to this German language article, Google will be opening a development center in Bangalore India next March. The reasons given are pretty interesting: Not being able to obtain enough high-tech visas to get the Indian developers over to the US.
Posted by Matthew at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2003
Bezos vodoo doll available!
If you're a postal worker then you'll want one of these! A vodoo doll that looks just like Jeff. Comes complete with 25 pins. Order now - just 9.95$. While stocks last.
Update: No, you can't buy these from me so stop sending email! Especially you!
Posted by Matthew at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
eCommerce will fail - in Germany
Why? Because of German post (mail) offices. What's the use of "one-click" super-easy ordering if I have to stand in line for hours while some German post-office worker tries to find my parcel. The German postal-system works as follows: The parcel bearing post-man arrives on your doorstep and rings the bell. Of course you're not in because - guess what - you work for a living. The "I hate Xmas because of all the Amazon parcels" minded parcel-bearer scrawls a card which he then deposits into your letter-box. Does he return the next day to see if you're perhaps in that day? Does he drop the parcel off with your neighbour? Does he at least try to put the parcel into your post-box? Does he leave you a kind note saying he will gladly deliver to an alternate address? No way. So, arriving home you find the card and of course, the post-office is closed now. Try again tomorrow - but please - not before 8:30. So there you are, 8:30 in the morning (and not a minute earlier) and the door to the post-temple is opened. 8 desks and 3 people working this morning. Now ain't that fun. You see the method is as follows: Make sure the line-length is a constant. So you add or subtract workers to the desks to keep the line at - say - 20 people. A lot of work went into optimizing that piece of software - for sure. So, it's your turn at last. Instead of a friendly "hi there" you receive a threatening "you've bought your id with you - haven't you?" No id - no parcel. So you show the id and off the guy goes to ....look....for....your.....parcel....Which can take a while because - guess what - it's Xmas and there are millions of parcels. And the postal-guy hates Amazon - why? ... go figure.
Posted by Matthew at 03:26 PM | Comments (6)
December 09, 2003
Trend Watch 2004: eSports
eSports will be big in 2004. A growing fad here in Europe and already quite popular, eSports will be a force to be reckoned with next year. The "underground" LAN parties will surface and receive wide coverage in the popular press. Already, gaming media such as Giga are focussing broadcasting time on eSports. Expect that to increase in 2004 - even though press such as this will be a common "gotcha" as eSports goes mainstream. Got Frag?
Posted by Matthew at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
Vodafone starts UMTS testing
Vodafone announced today that is has started UMTS testing with corporate customers. They can use a special card for their laptops to surf the Net using UMTS. At the moment the trial is limited to PC use only.
Posted by Matthew at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)
Logistical Tuesday
This morning I left the house with 3 kids and 6 bags. Interesting logistical problems there - both in filling the bags and providing the correct child with the correct bag(s). Ho hum...
Posted by Matthew at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2003
Knee update
Kind people have been asking, so here's a short update on my wife's knee status. Bug fixing was performed last tuesday with first tests taking place immediately after. Currently, the load is being increased steadily and the metrics are being observed. If all goes well then the knee will be moved from development testing into integration testing on Friday. Integration testing will take please nearer here - but as yet it's unclear for how long. Yes, well..
Posted by Matthew at 09:13 PM | Comments (1)
December 07, 2003
Mobile navigation
It's been a while since I bought the necessary navigation extensions to my Fujitsu Siemens Pocket Loox (I have the older 600 model), so I figured a short review may be in order....... Read more on Mobitopia.
Posted by Matthew at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2003
Crisp flavors
Now I'm a great fan of Walkers crisps - and in fact I can even buy them locally. Also, I try every new crisp flavor when I spot them. You know - salt & vinegar, smoky bacon - I've even eaten a couple of bags of prawn coctail - if I have to. Tonight I've munched through a bag of - wait for it - Chinese spare rib flavor. I'm not impressed.
Posted by Matthew at 08:03 PM | Comments (1)
December 05, 2003
Software industry - moving on
Stefan points to an article about the booming software industry in India. There is a certainly a lot written about this subject lately. But wait a moment - why do we think the software industry is any different than any other industry? What about the uproar when Japanese firms started producing technical devices or when the steel industry in Europe lost ground to the Far East. The software industry is no different - and why should it be. In the end there is no value in software - and if you're in the software business and still doing the same thing you were 15 years ago (about the time I started) - then adapt. Now.
Posted by Matthew at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2003
eBay in the news
A couple of interesting eBay related articles passed through my aggregator this week. First off, there is this report on how the German IRS is now scouring eBay to find people who are making a living off eBay - but not paying any taxes. Today, Stefan points to this article on how Accenture is helping large companies sell their stuff on eBay. They have set up a unit "Connection to eBay" to do this. Hmmm....
Posted by Matthew at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)
Francis Crick would love this
Unfortunately the Discovery DNA Explorer Kit doesn't seem to be shipping until after Xmas. Bummer.
Posted by Matthew at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2003
iPod for Scrubs
My wife has my iPod with her in hospital and it's causing quite a stir (even though they've been around for a while now). "Oh you have an iPod...how much do they cost" is a common question asked by both the doctors and the nurses. Soon to be seen in a hospital near you. Good job they're white :). Read this interesting article on the iPod to find out more about the "Guts of a new machine".
Posted by Matthew at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
Trying times
Looks like I'm not the only one blogging private "downs" at the moment. Andrew wonders whether he should have blogged the personal entry. Andrew - if you wrote the entry and then wondered - then the answer is staring you in the face. I think one of the first things I learnt about weblogging is that we use the network and speak with a personal voice. Things we love, things we hate, things we want, things we think you (the reader) should know. And the Internet lets us do that. Don't like it? Then move on - read something else.
Posted by Matthew at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)
Not MobiCon - MobileWhack!
So, the truth is out. Rael Dornfest wasn't scouting about a Mobile conference - but a mobile related web site. Check out MobileWhack.
Posted by Matthew at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
RSS inspiration
The day got off to a good start with an email from David Rubin telling me about his new site Discount Watcher. The site scours the Internet and lists the latest sales for you - also in RSS. David wrote me that he was inspired to do the site in part by my O'Reilly weblog posting from a year ago on last-minute business RSS. Cool stuff.
Posted by Matthew at 10:39 AM | Comments (1)