dConstruct 2008 roundup

Simon Schoeters <h3>The Urban Web</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/">Steven Johnson</a></span> opened <a href="http://2008.dconstruct.org/" class="ext" title="dConstruct 2008: Designing the social web">dConstruct 2008</a> with the interesting story of Dr. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">John Snow</span></span>. Snow created a map showing the clusters of cholera cases in the <abbr class="geo" title="51.514035;-0.134634">London</abbr> epidemic of <abbr title="1854">1854</abbr>. By doing so he proved that cholera wasn't spread by smell like people thought but the water from a contaminated pump on Broad Street. Snow showed how data visualization can suddenly reveal useful information that wasn't visible before. Johnson called Snow's map the ‘first mashup’ which sounded like a nice tribute to what Snow's discovery meant to the world.</p> <p>Johnson explained how is trying to map local news from different sources with his <a href="http://outside.in/" title="Tracking news, views, and conversations in towns and neighborhoods">outside.in</a> project. While the idea sounds great and the screenshots looked good I'm not really convinced yet. Sure, this may work fine in <abbr class="geo" title="40.728333;-73.994167">Manhattan</abbr> or <abbr class="geo" title="37.429167;-122.138056">Palo Alto</abbr> but not everyone writes in English. Even when they do you'll still need that ‘critical mass’ in order to collect something useful. They also did some research to find the ‘blogiest’ neighborhoods in the <abbr class="geo" title="38.883333;-77.016667">United States</abbr>, a great idea which I would like to try in <abbr class="geo" title="50.9;4.533333">Belgium</abbr> as well.</p> <h3>Playing the Web</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.toastkid.com/">Aleks Krotoski</a></span> tried to bring the game industry and webdesign world closer together. Aleks has an incredible enthusiasm but for me the topic wasn't that interesting and I felt it missed a story line.</p> <h3>Leveraging Cognitive Bias in Social Design</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://bokardo.com/">Joshua Porter</a></span> went on with social biases and heuristics: how a language can influence decisions or advanced psychology for webdesigners. For example: people tend to be more afraid of loosing something than winning, known as the ‘loss aversion’ or how people often do and believe things because many other people do, the ‘bandwagon effect’. Porter referred to a paper which I'm planning to read at some point: “<a href="http://books.google.be/books?id=_0H8gwj4a1MC" class="ext" title="Preview this book in Google Book Search">Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases</a>”. An interesting topic but it could use some of the enthusiasm Aleks had in her presentation.</p> <h3>Designing for Interaction</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.deltatangobravo.com/">Daniel Burka</a></span>, the creative director at Digg and on of the founders of Pownce, spoke about the ‘cohesive user experience’ or how Digg tried to allow users to participate on the site without requiring them to follow a lengthy signup process. Nice to have a little insight in the development process behind a huge site like Digg.</p> <h3>Social Network Portability</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.tantek.com/">Tantek Çelik</a></span> followed with his <a href="http://microformats.org/" title="The official microformats wiki" class="ext">microformats</a> presentation. I expected a great deal from his presentation, maybe a little too much. It was a little too advanced for those who have never heard of microformats before and not advanced enough for the others. Maybe I shouldn't have bought that <a href="http://suffix.be/blog/microformats-book" title="My review for Allsopp's microformats book">microformats book</a> on last year's edition. ;)</p> <h3>Designing for the Coral Reef</h3> <p>Next up: <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.blackbeltjones.com/">Matt Jones</a></span> and <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.hackdiary.com/">Matt Biddulph</a></span>. My opinion? Splendid! Those two <a href="http://www.dopplr.com/" title="Dopplr, an online tool for frequent business travellers" class="ext">Dopplr</a> guys gave the most hectic presentation of the day and I loved it. They talked about how Dopplr could be as little intrusive as possible, a connector between different social networks and passing on the data to the next (web)app. They explained how they preferred to grow slowly, trying to build up trust first as they seem to understand where you are at a given point is sensitive data for most people. My Dopplr ‘friends’ (a word they specifically refuse to use) tripled in a single day which shows how everyone gave Dopplr a second look after their presentation, nicely done Matt & Matt.</p> <h3>The System of the World</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.adactio.com/">Jeremy Keith</a></span> closed with a science fiction story which I didn't really understand in the beginning. He tried to prove that the success of social webapps are unpredictable, even though we are likely to think we can. It was an unusual presentation that felt confusing at the start but became better and better towards the end. His point on the strength of weak ties was something completely new to me. Another <a href="http://www.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/SI110/readings/In_Out_and_Beyond/Granovetter.pdf" title="The strength of weak ties: a network theory revisited by Mark Granovetter (PDF)" class="ext">book</a> to read.</p> <h3>More resources</h3> <ul> <li>My dConstruct <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/schoeters/sets/72157607274925615/" title="dConstruct photo set on Flickr" class="ext">Flickr</a> photos.</li> <li>Burka's presentation “<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/dburka/designing-for-interaction-presentation/" title="Designing for Interaction on slideshare" class="ext">Designing for Interaction</a>” on slideshare.</li> <li>Çelik's presentation “<a href="http://tantek.com/presentations/2008/09/social-network-portability/" title="Social Network Portability" class="ext">Social Network Portability</a>”.</li> <li>Keith's presentation “<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/adactio/the-system-of-the-world-presentation/" title="The System of the World on slideshare" class="ext">The System of the World</a>” on slideshare.</li> </ul>

2008-09-12T18:37:57+02:00

dconstruct2008 dConstruct 2008 roundup

2008-09-19T11:51:39+02:00

Simon Schoeters <p>Bunker was asked to photograph <a href="http://www.mobilemondays.nl" class="ext" title="Official website Mobile Mondays Amsterdam">Mobile Mondays</a> in Amsterdam. He was kind enough to put me on the guest list and even offered a taxi to Amsterdam and back. Would be stupid not to go, wouldn't it?</p> <ul> <li><span class="vcard"><span class="fn n"><span class="given-name">Raimo</span> <span class="family-name">van der Klein</span></span>, <span class="title">founder</span> of <span class="org">Mobile Monday Amsterdam</span></span>, opened with a presentation about the ‘smart context’ or how context could change depending on your state: happy, sad, at the airport, in the office, etc. E.g. the software could learn what is normal for you (commute) and share abnormal (leaving for holidays) events with friends.</li> <li><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Johan Koolwaaij</span>, <span class="title">scientific researcher</span> at <span class="org">Telematica Institute</span></span>, showed <a href="http://www.iyouit.eu" class="ext">IYOUIT</a>. A mobile app that gathers data around you and about you. Sounded like a huge ‘log everything about your life’ but not exactly production ready yet.</li> <li><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Raymond Perrenet</span>, <span class="title">EVP Strategy & Development</span> at <span class="org">T-Mobile</span></span>, about the raise of data plans on mobile phones with the introduction of the iPhone (and with Android around the corner). Are mobile data plans finally taking off?</li> </ul> <h3>Teemu Arina</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://tarina.blogging.fi/" title="Tarina: Teemu Ariana's website">Teemu Arina</a></span> took another approach. He went for 3 pecha kucha presentations in a row: “Changeable in appearance, mood, or purpose”, “Undergoing a shift in status” and “Moving or changing quickly from one state or condition to another”. All three visually stunning presentations in his own eccentric style. Loved it! This guy knows how to entertain his public. I'll copy Dorien here and link to Teemu's <a href="http://tarina.blogging.fi/2008/10/18/speaking-at-mobile-monday-amsterdam/" class="ext" title="How Mobile is Changing our Society @ Tarina">own post</a> about his presentation.</p> <h3>Bruce Sterling</h3> <p>Closing speaker was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Sterling" title="Bruce Sterling article @ Wikipedia" class="ext"><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Bruce Sterling</span></span></a>, an American science fiction author, I had never heard of. His talk sounded very religious <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/schoeters/3000514199/in/set-72157608628987398/" rel="me" title="Sterling speeching from the pulpit in De Rode Hoed @ Flickr" class="ext">standing on the pulpit</a> and speaking about the “Internet of Things”. He explained that people close to the volcano will experience the greatest impact: your grandmother's life probably won't be affected with the introduction of the iPhone when she still uses a landline but yours will. In 10 years time you can still use a hammer but your iPhone will be useless. A nice point - made me think - after seeing the BlackBerry Storm vs. the G1 fight on stage earlier. In Sterling's words:</p> <blockquote>“I want you to think real hard about the values you are going to save and stop worrying about the plastic.”</blockquote> <h3>Conclusion</h3> <p>Overall it was an interesting day on a beautiful location, almost feeling surreal driving back to Belgium in the thick fog. The best part, however, were the discussions with <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn n ext" rel="acquaintance met" href="http://theicecreamdebate.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/mobile-monday-amsterdam-think-about-value" title="Mobile Monday Amsterdam: “Think about value” @ Theicecreamdebate"><span class="given-name">Dorien</span></a>, <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn n ext" rel="acquaintance met" href="http://delvauxkoen.blogspot.com/"><span class="given-name">Koen</span></a> and <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn nickname ext" rel="friend met" href="http://www.pitslamp.be/">Bunker</a></span>! Photos are available on <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/schoeters/sets/72157608628987398/" rel="me" class="ext" title="My MoMo Amsterdam Flickr set">my</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneblackrider/sets/72157608661125212/" title="Bunker's MoMo Amsterdam Flickr set" class="ext">Bunker</a>'s Flickr stream.</p>

2008-11-04T14:30:15+01:00

momo8-amsterdam Mobile Monday Amsterdam

2008-11-05T09:24:37+01:00

Simon Schoeters <p><a href="/blog/momo8-amsterdam" title="Mobile Monday Amsterdam review">MoMo Amsterdam</a> on monday, TechCrunch meetup in Gent on Thursday and November just started, me likes! <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Robin Wauters</span></span> and <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Mike Butcher</span> from <span class="org">TechCrunch</span></span> already started by the time we got there. The concept: 15 sales pitches, 5 minutes each. Not much time to ask questions but it keeps you focused. I will not repeat everything I saw: some concepts I did not understand, some weren't that interesting and others sliped out of my memory after the long weekend.</p> <h3>Casius</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Toon Vanagt</span> (wearing the typical yellow helmet) presented <a href="http://www.casius.be/" class="org url ext" title="Online marketplace for contruction workers">Casius</a></span>, a website that connects builders to professional construction workers online. Apparently it's hard to find a good craftsman in Belgium so there may be a real need for this. The website doesn't look very professional at the moment, let's hope they update that soon.</p> <h3>City Live</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Koen Delvaux</span> from <a href="http://www.citylive.be/" class="org url ext">City Live</a></span> presented their concept to sell free data subscriptions to students for their mobiles (disclosure: I know Koen personally). This would allow universities and colleges to build their own ‘mobile intranet’ based on the <a href="http://glowe.org/" title="GLOWE: an XML based file format for creating mobile widgets" class="ext">Glowe</a> widget system. I would have loved to check my schedule on my phone when I was a student. I hope he can pull this off. Wouldn't it be better to include a data plan for their laptops as well (or are there still students without laptops these days)?</p> <h3>ContactOffice</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn n"><span class="given-name">Patrick</span> <span class="family-name">De Schutter</span></span> showed <a href="http://www.contactoffice.com/" class="org url ext" title="ContactOffice: an all-in-one online office solution">ContactOffice</a></span>, an office solution in the cloud. I still don't see why companies want their data in the cloud - it's stupid - but it seems most companies don't agree with me. So there may be a need for this kind of webapp but why do you want to compete with Google Apps, Zimbra (now aquired by Yahoo!) or MobileMe?</span> <h3>IntroNiche</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Sam Desimpel</span> presented <a href="http://www.introniche.com" class="org url ext" title="IntroNiche: an eBay for businesses">IntroNiche</a></span>, an eBay like service for businesses. For example: you need visitors and are willing to give away x free subscriptions for your service. Another site has tons of visitors but is looking for a price for a small competition on their website. IntroNiche could be the platform for those two to meet. Your site gives away a few subscriptions and gets traffic from the other site. As with lots of these ideas it will need a ‘critical mass’ to take off but I like the idea.</p> <h3>Mollom</h3> <p>If someone like <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Dries Buytaert</span> steps on stage you know it has potential. He showed <a href="http://www.mollom.com" class="org url ext" title="Mollom: a comment spam filter">Mollom</a></span>: a spam filtering system for comments. Mollem shows a captcha when it's not sure if the comment is spam or ham. Why didn't Akismet think about this? He explained only 4% of the commenters should see the captcha. Mollem is free up to a certain daily volume.</p> <h3>Oxynade</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Niko Nelissen</span> presented <a href="http://www.oxynade.com/" class="org url ext" title=" Oxynade: a European event database">Oxynade</a></span> which aggregates event information from all over Europe. They have an iPhone app which can show events close to your current location. Nice but I don't think they are the only ones doing this and I didn't really understand what differenciates them from the others like Upcoming. Mobile webapps like this one are especially usefull when abroad and that's exactly where things are going wrong in my opinion. I keep my phone in my pocket as long as telecom operators charge these rediculous prices for data roaming. What we really need for these kind of services is a reasonably priced Europe wide data subscription (like AT&T is doing in the <abbr title="United States of America">USA</abbr>?).</p> <h3>tikitag</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Anthony Belpaire</span> demoed <a href="http://www.tikitag.com/" class="org url ext" title="tikitag: sells RFID readers and tags">tikitag</a></span>, an Alcatel-Lucent venture that aims to build the Internet of Things with <abbr title="Radio-Frequency IDentification">RFID</abbr> technology. They sell an <abbr title="Radio-Frequency IDentification">RFID</abbr> reader and a few <abbr title="Radio-Frequency IDentification">RFID</abbr> tags that link to online applications. Fun to play with as a geek (not sure if they have an <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr>) but not ready for meanstream yet. It will be more useful when most mobile phones have <abbr title="Radio-Frequency IDentification">RFID</abbr> readers built in. Violet is doing something similar with their Mir:ror, nice to see some pioneers developing in this market segment.</p> <p>Overall it was nice to see the enthousiasm of startups in Belgium, even in this difficult economical climate.</p> <p><strong>Update <abbr title="20081124">2008-11-24</abbr>:</strong> <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Mike Butcher</span> wrote his impressions down in a <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/21/techcrunch-euro-tour-08-yes-even-belgium-has-startups/" class="ext">TechCrunch article</a>.</p>

2008-11-12T18:08:16+01:00

techcrunch-belgium-meetup TechCrunch Belgium meetup

2008-11-24T19:26:19+01:00

Simon Schoeters <p>Yesterday we went to <a href="http://www.mobilemonday.be/" title="The Mobile Monday Brussels wiki" class="ext">Mobile Monday Brussels</a>. Mobile Mondays are community events for:</p> <blockquote cite="http://www.mobilemonday.be/">[...] mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential individuals. The Mobile Monday spirit is one of open innovation and is seen as a catalyst for mobile innovations.</blockquote> <p>All around a central theme: “When marketing meets mobile”. The organizers in Belgium would like to keep it small and informal for now to let it grow organically. In September this year around 20 participants showed up, this time 46 people subscribed. It's growing already.</p> <h3>Presentations</h3> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/schoeters/3038845989/in/set-72157609292347956/" rel="me" title="See a larger version on Flickr" style="float: right; margin: 5px 0 5px 10px"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/3038845989_a2f35d14c6_s.jpg" height="75" width="75" alt="" /></a></p> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Fabian Tilmant</span> from <a href="http://www.cleverwood.be/" class="url org ext">Cleverwoods</a></span> spoke about “<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fabiantilmant/mobile-monday-key-role-of-platforms-presentation" title="Check out Fabian's presentation on SlideShare" class="ext">Mobile Advertising: what can we expect in Belgium</a>”. He explained why mobile internet needs more ‘mobile platforms’ to see its breakthrough. Platforms are needed as a basic layer for advertising and he explained that a mobile model can't succeed without advertising.</p> <p>Although I do agree that advertising is an important factor, I don't think you always need advertisements. The <a href="http://m.standaard.be/" title="Mobile version of De Standaard, a Belgian newspaper (Dutch)" class="ext">mobile</a> De Standaard site (a Belgian newspaper) doesn't inlcude adds and still everyone keeps mentioning them (or is this free advertising I'm promoting here?).</p> <p>Especially with the limited screen real estate and a low user attention level we'll need a different kind of advertising, banners just won't do it. I think you'll need to give the user something back for the time he invests in your ad: sponsored content maybe or a sponsored mobile game? The free version of Twitterific includes non-obstructive ads, is this the way to go?</p> </li> <li><span class="vcard"><span class="fn n"><span class="given-name">Jean-Paul</span> <span class="family-name">de Ville</span></span> was supposed to demo <a href="http://www.pumbby.com/" class="url org ext">Pumbby</a></span>, a service that pays you to receive ads on your mobile phone. I was looking forward to this one but Jean-Paul was ill. Now I still don't know why this happy sounding name needs two B's. Oh well...</li> </ul> <h3>Networking</h3> <p>After the presentations everyone introduced himself briefly. This wouldn't have been possible in a larger event but here it worked out perfectly. In my opinion it lowered the barrier for the networking later on and showed what companies are interested in mobile platforms today. It seems most participants have a media/advertisement background but it was nice to see De Lijn (public bus and tram service in Flanders) was there as well as I like to complain about the lack of mobile support on their site.</p> <p>The <abbr title="Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen">NMBS</abbr> (Belgian national railway operator) and De Lijn are really important companies to promote mobile internet in Belgium. If they could provide their mobile platform (with an <abbr title="Application Programming Interface ">API</abbr> if possible) with the bus and train schedules it could be a huge boost for mobile internet if you ask me. I'm pretty sure the developer community could take over from than on and create mobile widgets or mashups that find the next bus home (delays included) when your train arrives.</p> <p>I had a great discussion with the guys from Microsoft as well, about the need for a company to embrace mobile platforms or not. Even though our views differ I liked to exchange thoughts.</p> <p>Still interested? Have a look at the <a href="/blog/momo8-amsterdam" title="My blog post on Mobile Monday Amsterdam a few weeks earlier">Mobile Monday Amsterdam</a> post I wrote earlier this month.</p>

2008-11-18T13:04:44+01:00

momo2-brussels Mobile Monday Brussels

2008-11-19T14:24:21+01:00

Simon Schoeters <p>The last few months mobile initiatives seems to boost in Belgium. In April there was the first <a href="http://mobilewebcamp.wikispaces.com/" title="Mobile WebCamp Hasselt wiki" class="ext">Mobile WebCamp</a> in Hasselt and the next one will be in February. In September Belgium had its first Mobile Monday in Brussels, followed by the <a href="/blog/momo2-brussels" title="My blog post on Mobile Monday Brussels">second one</a> this week, a third one is planned around February. The iPhone is on sale in Europe and Android is on its way. Is it time for a mobile revolution?</p> <p>The short version? Not yet. As much as I would like to see it happen something tells me it's still too early. Wanna know why?</p> <h3>Devices</h3> <p>First of all you need a capable device. Although most mobile phones on the market have a browser built in, it doesn't seem to be enough. In my opinion the browser is not the most important internet application on a phone: it's too clumsy to use and most webpages aren't optimalized for a mobile experience. So what do we need? Widgets, applications, gadgets or any other name will do. These are all small applications optimized for a limited task: the weather forecast, the nearest Chinese restaurant, a city map, my train schedule, etc.</p> <p>While that's true for the low-end phones we have iPhones, G1's and BlackBerries these days. Sure, that's the way to go but does everyone want to pay €525 (current price for an iPhone in Belgium) for a phone? A lot of us do and the popularity of these phones my be one the most important triggers for mobile internet but I think prices are still too high for the masses. This problem will solve itself over time.</p> <h3>Data roaming</h3> <p>Europe is not the US and Belgium is tiny. If you drive one hour chances are good you are in a different country, on a different mobile network, with different fees. Roaming fees vary form operator to operator but are way too expensive. When do I need my data connection the most? Exactly, when I'm abroad. I know the restaurants in my own city, which events are scheduled and how to get from A to B. I need this information when I'm on a city trip, looking for a place to eat or something to do on a rainy day. Today I don't use mobile internet even though it would do the task the best because it's too expensive. We need a European operator or a data plan with fixed rates in Europe, no matter which country you are in. I'm willing to pay a little extra but not too much, I still live here, not abroad.</p> <h3>Applications and stores</h3> <p>Java <abbr title="Micro Edition">ME</abbr> (the ‘mobile Java’) has been around for a while and allows developers to create these small internet widgets. This is great but it's hard to find a popular application that is not the Gmail mobile app. Why is that? Quite simple, it's too difficult to use. A phone is not a small desktop computer, you don't Google for an app, go to the website and download it. The App Store and Android Market are a great answers for this problem and look... it sells. Let's hope Windows Mobile will include this in one of the next releases.</p> <h3>Platforms</h3> <p>As <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Fabian Tilmant</span> explained on Mobile Monday we need more mobile platforms. If we want to get more users on mobile internet we'll need something to offer them. Some platforms are ready: Twitter, Facebook, De Standaard, etc. can attract a great deal of people but that's not enough. Others platforms are not ready yet: the <abbr title="Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen">NMBS</abbr> (the Belgian Railways), De Lijn (public tram and bus service in Flanders), banks, etc. As I wrote before I'm waiting for the Belgian Railways (and others) to come up with a mobile platform. Mobile internet will get some added value when I can check if my next train is delayed or if I still have enough money on my bank account while queuing in the supermarket. This is possible today using their websites but this includes using websites designed for desktops, not for mobile phones (look for your next bus using your iPhone if you need an example).</p>

2008-11-19T15:57:47+01:00

mobile-momentum Mobile Momentum?

2008-11-19T16:12:15+01:00

Simon Schoeters <p>This weekend <a href="http://barcampgent2.wikispaces.com/" tile="BarCamp Gent wiki" class="ext">BarCamp Gent</a> took place. A BarCamp is an unconference organized by the participants (check <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp" title="BarCamp article @ Wikipedia" class="ext">Wikipedia</a> for more). A little more then 100 people showed up and there were 45 presentations, a nice overall score. It always impresses me how you can create a professional event like this, solely based on the goodwill of the participants. If you give up your Saturday for a geeky conference you need to have at least some passion for what you are doing and that's exactly what makes BarCamps great: people speaking about what they are passionate about.</p> <h3>OpenStreetMap</h3> <p>I forced myself to present as well this time. Being a sidekick during the previous 2 BarCamps I decided is was about time to present something. I tried to give a short overview of <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/s1emon/open-street-map-presentation" rel="me" class="ext" title="My OpenStreetMap presentation of BarCamp Gent on Slideshare">OpenStreetMap</a>. What it is, why we need it and how to contribute.</p> <h3>Craftsmanship</h3> <p>I liked <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Bernard Grymonpon</span></span>'s presentation about <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/wonko/craftmanship-presentation" title="Craftsmanship presentation on Slideshare">Craftsmanship</a> (in Dutch). He stated that talent in the <abbr title="Information Technology">IT</abbr> sector is undervalued. How can we explain to the client that there is a difference between someone who ‘makes websites’ and a professional webdeveloper? The discussion was just starting when the 20 minutes passed which is a pity, could have taken a little longer. It was nice to hear lots of people struggle with this idea.</p> <h3>Photography</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><a href="http://www.pitslamp.be" class="url fn ext" title="PitsLamp photography (in Dutch)">Filip Bunkens</a></span> (in Dutch) gave a double session starting with the theoretical strobist part (taking photos with off camera flashes) and a hands-on follow up. By the end of the day we had a chance to play with the professional lighting setup. Others were queuing to get their new Facebook profile pictures taken. ;) Nice to have a separate photo track at BarCamp. I missed <span class="vcard"><span class="fn n"><span class="given-name">Stijn</span> <span class="family-name">De Meyere</span></span></span>'s presentation about <a class="fn n url ext" href="http://sken.be/blog/2008/11/30/over-concertfotografie" title="Concertfotografie presentation on Slideshare (in Dutch)">concert photography</a> (in Dutch) and need to start following this guy, his photos look awesome. Let's hope for some more photography related sessions next time.</p> <h3>Self-help group for geeks</h3> <p><span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Dorien Aerts</span></span> presented her <a href="http://theicecreamdebate.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/how-to-get-your-girl-to-be-more-of-a-geek/" title="How to get your girl to be more of a geek @ theicecreamdebate" class="ext">10 tips</a> to turn your girl- or boyfriend into a geek, hilarious. It felt like a self-help group for geeks, and I mean that in the positive way. Dorien's poll showed most people joined Facebook because of their friends and because they felt they were ‘missing something’ by not joining (their friends holiday pictures for example). Someone explained how he got his wife to use Twitter and got a big applaud from the group.</p> <h3>Burning 4 million</h3> <p>I heard <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Toon Vanagt</span> earlier at the <a href="/blog/techcrunch-belgium-meetup" title="My review of the Belgian TechCrunch meetup earlier this year">TechCrunch meetup</a>. Apart from his helmet his presentation didn't really interest me that much. Well, this time it did. Rarely have I heard such an honest talk about lessons in life. Toon started <span class="org">Casius</span></span> and explained what went wrong and how he learned from this in his presentation with a catchy title: “What I learned after burning €4,000,000”.</p> <h3>Dutch or English?</h3> <p>This BarCamp was in Dutch, previous Belgian BarCamps have always been a mixture of languages with presentations being mainly in English (as far as I know). Some people said that being able to present in you mother tongue raised the level resulting in better quality presentations. This is very well possible but for me it feels too “restricted”. It may lower the barrier for native Dutch speakers but raises it for the rest. In my opinion BarCamps are about openness: sharing knowledge and experiences, bringing innovative people together, without language restrictions.</p> <p>Just for the record: everyone could present in English if they wanted off course, only no one did (myself included). Everyone spoke Dutch so the presentations were in Dutch. Next time a non-Dutch speaker may not be interested because “it's in Dutch” confirming the idea of the people who do participate that there is no need to present in English.</p> <h3>Resources</h3> <ul> <li>A list with the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/event/barcampghent2008" title="BarCamp Gent 2 group on Slideshare" class="ext">presentations</a> on Slideshare.</li> <li>The Flickr group with loads of <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/barcampgent2/" title="BarCamp Gent 2 group on Flickr" class="ext">photos</a> from the event.</li> <li>I have a feeling the <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/2385348" title="BarCamp Gent stopmotion movie on Vimeo" class="ext">stop motion</a> movie of the day will be a new BarCamp tradition.</li> </ul> <p>Big thanks to <span class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.wolfslittlestore.be/" title="Wolf's Little Store">Johan Ronse</a></span> for initiating the event, the <a href="http://www.ibbt.be" class="ext"><abbr title="Instituut voor Breedbandtechnologie">IBBT</abbr></a> for the location, <a href="http://www.one-agency.be" class="ext">One Agency</a> for sponsoring the event and <a href="http://www.netlash.com" class="ext">Netlash</a> (in Dutch) for the pizza! I met some interesting people, heard some good presentations and went home with a new project idea. Exactly what I expect from a BarCamp I would say.</p>

2008-12-01T18:14:47+01:00

barcamp-gent-2 BarCamp Gent

2008-12-01T19:37:59+01:00

Simon Schoeters <p>On May, 15th <a href="http://www.pitslamp.be" class="ext">Filip</a> and I organize <a href="http://www.twiist.be" title="The Way Internet Is Supposed To Be" class="ext">twiist.be</a> an affordable one day conference for like-minded web creatives in Leuven, Belgium.</p> <h3>Where?</h3> <p class="vevent"><abbr title="2009-05-15T09:00+01:0000" class="dtstart">May, 15th</abbr>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/location" class="url location"><abbr class="geo" title="50.8772,4.71681">Provinciehuis</abbr>, Leuven</a><abbr title="2009-05-15T18:15+01:00" class="dtend hidden">6:15pm</abbr> <span class="summary hidden">twiist.be</span>. Easy to reach by public transport and close to Brussels.</p> <h3>Why?</h3> <p>Well, we love conferences... no seriously... we love the inspiring atmosphere at some conferences. The feeling that you have to try this little gem or play with that idea you just heard or even better: the feeling that you met a ton of interesting people you want to invite for a coffee and involve in your next great web, iPhone, Android or whatever app or design.</p> <p>One problem though: most of these conferences are way to expensive for normal people like us (@media) or too far away (<abbr title="South by Southwest">SXSW</abbr>). A few years ago the <a href="http://www.clearleft.com/" class="ext">ClearLeft</a> folks started something small and inspiring in <abbr title=" 50.8237,-0.138619">Brighton</abbr>, UK: called dConstruct. We are loyal participants ever since. As there is nothing like this in Belgium we thought it would be nice to have something similar closer to home.</p> <h3>Speakers?</h3> <p>This is the best part! I'm still impressed with the line-up we gathered, have a look for yourself: <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/aralbalkan" title="Aral Balkan's speakers bio and presentation topic" class="ext">Aral Balkan</a>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/sergejespers" title="Serge Jespers's speakers bio" class="ext">Serge Jespers</a>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/drewmclellan" title="Drew McLellan's speakers bio" class="ext">Drew McLellan</a>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/chrismessina" title="Chris Messina's speakers bio and presentation topic" class="ext">Chris Messina</a>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/elliotjaystocks" title="Elliot Jay Stocks's speakers bio" class="ext">Elliot Jay Stocks</a>, <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/briansuda" title="Brian Suda's speakers bio and presentation topic" class="ext">Brian Suda</a> and <a href="http://www.twiist.be/speakers/glennjones" title="Glenn jones' speakers bio and presentation topic" class="ext">Glenn Jones</a>.</p> <h3>Tickets?</h3> <p>No plans on the 15th yet? Get a <a href="http://www.twiist.be/register" class="ext">conference pass</a> for €100 (excl. <abbr title="Value Added Tax">VAT</abbr>) and say hi when you find the most stressful person at the venue.</p> <p>Oh, by the way, the conference will be in English only. It's how Belgians organize something if there will be Dutch and French speaking people. ;)</p>

2009-04-22T18:06:39+02:00

twiistbe A Belgian web conference

2009-05-17T00:53:28+02:00

Simon Schoeters <p>Second BarCamp in Antwerp in two months, called ZooCamp this time: a BarCamp in the Antwerp Zoo (as you could probably tell). It has to be the most beautiful location for a BarCamp I've ever been to. There were around 50 or 60 people this time so it was a rather small event which was nice as I had a chance to talk to people I had never met.</p> <h3>Geomajas</h3> <p><a href="http://www.geomajas.org" class="ext">Geomajas</a> is a open source, web based <abbr title="Geographic Information System">GIS</abbr> framework I had never heard of. Look at it as something you can use on top of a map (like OpenStreetMap) to present georeferenced data. For me it looks just like OpenStreetMap but with a way to use your own database which may be useful for companies (e.g. public utilities). This company can now share their data if they want or import third party databases. The idea looks promising but to me the installation procedure and user interface is a bit to cumbersome to get started with.</p> <h3>What I learned from organizing a conference</h3> <p>I gave a small presentation on the things I learned from organizing <a href="http://www.twiist.be" title="An affordable one-day conference in Leuven, Belgium" class="ext">twiist.be</a>, the conference we organized last week. The presentation sums up 18 points I have to keep in mind if we do it the next time and hopefully some of the ZooCamp attendees had a little help with these tips. You can find my presentation on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/s1emon/what-i-learned-from-organizing-a-conference" class="ext" title="What I learned from organizing a conference (slides)">SlideShare</a>.</p> <h3>How to tame an RFID rabbit</h3> <p><span id="gil" class="vcard"><span class="fn">Gil Plaquet</span></span> demoed his Violet mir:ror, an <abbr title="Radio-Frequency IDentification">RFID</abbr> reader I was planning to buy. It's a fun little device to play with, nothing more, nothing less. Gil showed the perfect use case for this thing: when one of the children comes home he puts the little rabbit (an RFID tag) on the mir:ror which sends an e-mail to his mom. For me it's not geeky enough and the tags are way too expensive. One day I'll make my own RFID reader which I can hack together as someone in the audience convinced me.</p> <h3>ZooCamp</h3> <p>The zoo is a great place for an event and the sunny weather made it even better. Big thanks to <span id="filip" class="vcard"><a class="url fn ext" href="http://www.borloo.org/" title="Personal website of Filip Borloo">Filip Borloo</a></span> for pulling this off!</p> <ul> <li>You can find some more ZooCamp presentations on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=zoocamp" class="ext">SlideShare</a>.</li> </ul>

2009-05-26T16:27:52+02:00

zoocamp-antwerp ZooCamp Antwerp

2009-06-04T17:47:43+02:00

Simon Schoeters <p>Back from a few days in <abbr class="geo" title="52.407284,16.921833">Poznań</abbr>, Poland with the Belighted team for the <a href="http://rupy.eu/" class="ext" title="Official RuPy website">RuPy</a> 2009 conference. RuPy is a two day conference about Ruby and Python. It's the Ruby stuff we wanted to see.</p> <h3>Cells and Apotomo</h3> <p>One note wothy talks was the one by <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Michał Łomnicki</span></span> and <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Nick Sutterer</span></span> about <a href="http://cells.rubyforge.org/" class="ext" title="Cells is the building block for building blocks in Rails">Cells</a> and <a href="http://apotomo.de/" class="ext" title="A stateful widget component framework for Rails">Apotomo</a>, Rails plugins for creating reusable web components. It's one of those things you don't immediately use but may be useful in a certain project. Still not sure if I'll ever use it but it looks a fairly simple solution to build interactive components.</p> <h3>RabbitMQ</h3> <p>The second day started with <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Paolo Negri</span></span> with <a href="http://www.rabbitmq.com/" class="ext" title="Enterprise messaging system">RabbitMQ</a>, a messaging system based on the <abbr title="Advanced Message Queuing Protocol">AMQP</abbr> standard. It's platform neutral with lots of different packages and bundles to bind it with your favorite language (like Ruby). It's a way to exchange massages with a queuing system and looks really interesting. Sounds like a nice solution to replace own made batch queuing systems and is definitely more scalable. Worth to keep an eye on.</p> <h3>Mastering Git</h3> <p>The next one was <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">Scott Chacon</span> from <span class="org">GitHub</span></span>. It's one of the more ‘traditional’ subjects compared with the previous two but the one we were all looking forward to and Scott did not disappoint: I finally understand why Git is better as <abbr title="Subversion">SVN</abbr> (insert lousy comments here). He started of with some <abbr title="Subversion">SVN</abbr> bashing to make his point and went on with a Git ninja training and what makes GitHub a great repository for sharing open source projects. Scott is a good speaker and knows how to get and keep the attention, this was definitely the best talk of the conference. Some things I'll try to remember:</p> <ul> <li>Subversion keeps diffs, Git stores snapshots.</li> <li>Git is faster and more efficient in disk space usages as <abbr title="Subversion">SVN</abbr>.</li> <li>Branch often and use it as ‘environments’, switch contexts when needed.</li> <li>Git (almost) never removes data.</li> <li>You can start a clone and work on it without access rights from the owner, this helps collaboration.</li> <li>It's frictionless (non linear): branch fast, merge it when done and remove the branch.</li> <li>Read his free book: <a href="http://progit.org/" title="Professional version control explained" class="ext">Pro Git</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Here is a quick example on how to create branch easily in Git:</p> <samp> git init # create a local repository<br /> git branch # shows the current branch<br /> git branch blue # creates a new branch called blue<br /> git checkout blue # switches to the blue branch<br /> # write some code<br /> git merge blue # merge this branch with the master<br /> git branch -d blue # removes the blue branch<br /> </samp> <p>Make sure to take a look at the <a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-commit.html" class="ext" title="git-commit Manual Page">git commit --amend</a>, <a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-blame.html" class="ext" title="git-blame Manual Page">git blame <filename></a>, <a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-blame.html" class="ext" title="git-blame Manual Page">git blame -C <filename></a> and <a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-bisect.html" class="ext" title="git-bisect Manual Page">git bisect</a> commands.</p> <p>Also a big thanks to the <a href="http://www.cssninjas.com/" title="Trained XHTML/CSS mercenaries" class="ext">CSS Ninja</a>'s for hanging out with us, it was nice meeting you guys.</p> <p lang="pl">Do zobaczenia!</p>

2009-11-12T23:57:14+01:00

rupy2009 RuPy 2009 roundup

2009-11-13T10:21:07+01:00