Category: Kim Blog (English)

Personal blog. Thoughts, conspiracies with a danish twist etc.

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Blogs Computere og Internet Kim Blog (English) Open Source Technology

Format Wars – Return of the Jedi – RELOADED – Come to your senses Microsoft

OH HAPPY DAY!!! I’m very happy, relieved and surprised: Microsoft Office Open XML (MSOOXML) has FAILED – yes that is F-A-I-L-E-D – to win approval at the vote in the International Organisation for Standardisation – ISO.

Microsoft is in “Neverland”, and sort of claims victory, and their official press release is titled “Strong Global Support for Open XML as It Enters Final Phase of ISO Standards Process” and the comment from the OOXML community site, OpenXML Community reads:

Results of this ballot:

* 87 countries participated in the process: 69 voted Yes or No (51 countries voted in favor*, 18 voted against) and 18 Abstained.
* 41 of 41 P members took part in the vote, meeting the 50% participation requirement for those members.
* Open XML received 53% (17 of 32) of the required two-thirds voting Yes or No, falling 5 short of this requirement (22 Yes votes out of 32 Yes or No votes would have met the requirement).
* Overall, 26% (18 of 69) of countries voted No, one vote over the threshold of no more than 25% of No votes (17 or fewer No votes out of 69 Yes or No votes would have met this requirement).

Microsoft remains optimistic that Open XML will meet the above ISO/IEC requirements after the comments submitted by the National Bodies have been addressed during the upcoming ballot resolution period.

Notice the asterix (*), yes they snapped out of it, and realised what had actually happened:

* Note: 32 ISO members voted in favor of Open Document Format (ODF) 1.0 at the end of its process and 15 ISO members supported PDF/A-1 at the end of its process.

Groklaw helped doing the math for Microsoft:

Microsoft is, of course, counting P and O members in one bunch. The actual percentages go like this:

  • P-Members voting: 17 in favor out of 32 = 53.12% (requirement >= 66.66%)
  • Member bodies voting: 18 negative votes out of 69 = 26.08%
  • Disapproved

“Return of the Jedi – RELOADED”: The Empire is under pressure, there’s going to be a sequel, stay tuned, we do indeed live in interesting times.

France has an interesting proposal: Simply merge ODF and MSOOXML

My take on this is:

Microsoft: Come to your senses! Admit defeat! Spare the world, and your shareholders the agony of this stupid format war and MOVE ON.

It’s really very simple Microsoft: Just document ALL your formats, including the old binary Office formats, and we can declare victory for humanity in this STUPID war.

More on format wars and “the Jedi of the Internet” from yours truly.

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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 Bookmarks Kim Blog (English) Rumforskning Videnskab

NASA JPL – The long tail of the star Mira

Long tail of the star Mira 185517Main A-516
Speeding-Bullet Star Leaves Enormous Streak Across Sky

NASA has just released this amazing picture of the star Mira, taken by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope. Mira is a red giant, that is travelling fast through space, the surprising new discovery is that Mira has a comet like tail, that stretches for 13 light years.

From NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) press release:

NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted an amazingly long
comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space at
supersonic speeds. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for
“wonderful,” has been a favorite of astronomers for about 400 years.
It is a fast-moving, older star called a red giant that sheds massive
amounts of surface material.

From the NASA Main Website:

Mira appears as a small white dot in the bulb-shaped structure at right, and is moving from left to right in this view. The shed material can be seen in light blue. The dots in the picture are stars and distant galaxies. The large blue dot at left is a star that is closer to us than Mira.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer discovered Mira’s strange comet-like tail during part of its routine survey of the entire sky at ultraviolet wavelengths. When astronomers first saw the picture, they were shocked because Mira has been studied for over 400 years yet nothing like this has ever been documented before.

Mira’s comet-like tail stretches a startling 13 light-years across the sky. For comparison, the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is only about 4 light-years away. Mira’s tail also tells a tale of its history – the material making it up has been slowly blown off over time, with the oldest material at the end of the tail having been released about 30,000 years ago.

JPL is the NASA body that manages the majority of the robotic missions to the planets and the solar system, this includes the highly successful Mars Rovers, Voyager, Cassini. You can subscribe to the NASA JPL newsletter by visiting this link.

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Blogs Bookmarks Katte Kim Blog (English) Music

YouTube – Beyonce – Kitty Kat/Green Light Medley – UHA!

Hmm…A Kitty Kat/Green Light medley…UHA! siger jeg bare!

Læs mere om mine “problemer” med farven grøn her, og det hjælper ikke på det at slå op på side 132 i IKEAs 2008 katalog!!!, som om jeg IKKE havde nok grønne IKEA produkter i forvejen…

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Blogs Bookmarks Kim Blog (English) Undervisning

» 8 Essential Strategies to Saying “No”

Say NOMy good friend Esben sent me this: » 8 Essential Strategies to Saying “No”

It’s an article from the site FREELANCESWITCH, and below is a quote that “hit home”.

By saying “no”, although you might feel that others will feel offended or hurt (and it’s possible), you are also sending a strong message that you value your time, that you have priorities, and that you also respect the person to whom you’re saying no, as you don’t want to commit to something and then do a lousy job or not do it at all.

I can relate to that, and so can some of my – former – customers :-(. So I need to meditate on the resolve of “saying no”.

This is important for me to do for at least three reasons:

  • I will most likely be venturing down the free-lance road again.
  • The new position I’m starting on September 1st., is a “regular” job, but it will, most likely, have qualities, that are very similar to free-lancing.
  • My resolve is to start working with project management

10 years ago I attended a course on how to control requirements in ICT projects, and the tutor started the course with a simple exercise: “And now you all rise, and say NO!”.

I guess I’m a lousy listener.

(The picture above is copied from the article from FREELANCESWITCH, and is considered fair use).

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

KEWL Laptop from Dell (XPS M1330) – featuring Devo

WOW! What’s going on these days…

Dell is seriously challenging Apple with their new laptops, and I just LOVE Devo, great new track. Even HP and especially LG delivers nice and cheap sub-notebooks these days.

And now that I’m turning to the “dark side” for my new job (ASP.NET development), I might get one – now do they have them in green 😉

Freedom OF choice is what you GOT – Freedom FROM choice is what you WANT (or that’s what Apple would like us to believe)

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Blogs Bookmarks Kim Blog (English) Music

Light a torch for Natasja: Honour the memory of Natasja – support the fight against AIDS in Africa

RAW 2004 - Missekat SceneJust listening to “Release”, the first album by “Natasja“ (+ 24-June-2007 R.I.P) – it’s actually MUCH stonger and MUCH more experimental than I remembered – will go down as a classic! – especially the tracks “Bonfire” and “Restless” are OUTSTANDING.

The picture was taken at the R*A*W 2004 event at Islands Brygge – the last time I saw Natasja alive…

Lille T det er dit navn og himlen er din havn

Lille T: Thank you for the wonderful memories, especially when you were performing with “No Name Requested”, probably the best Danish Hip-Hop EVER, and at R*A*W in August of 2004, just before your big break – it was so so great, and really the day I discovered NEW dancehall, and the celebration of life that dancehall represents!

Honour the memory of “Little T” and donate to the Red Cross’ fight against AIDS. AIDS is destroying the hope of Africa. Below is a quote from Natasja’s MySpace page.

Friends and colleagues of Natasja have been wishing to start collections for Natasja’s mom and others already did collect on the day that Natasja died, like it happened at Rub’a’Dub club last Sunday. Anyone wishing to relief Natasja’s moms situation can do so by donating money on the bank account below which is set up as a trust fund with the sole purpose of paying for transportation of Natasja’s remains and to pay for her funeral. Any excess funds from the collection will be donated to The Red Cross effort to fight AIDS in Africa. The last cause has always been one of Natasja’s greatest wishes to support.

Bank info:
Account number (incl. reg. no.): 3121 3121656760
Swift code: dabadkkk
IBAN: dk4030003121656760

And my prayers go out to the women and children of Africa!

“The real party starts when Africa is liberated”.

“The Creator” must be “sleeping”: PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE, I’m on my knees here: send more angels, like my friend Louise that is currently working at a hospital in Africa. Tasha can you “pull some strings”?

ÆRET VÆRE NATASJAS MINDE! LIGHT A TORCH FOR NATASJA SO THAT SHE CAN FIND HER WAY HOME!!!

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Blogs Kim Blog (English)

Professional cycling: “I WANT TO BELIEVE”

I WANT TO BELIEVE X-FILESJust watched the Rabobank press-conference from the Tour de France 2007, featuring Michael Rasmussen – the man behind the amazing Tour hat-trick yesterday. Congratulations to Michael, you look sharp in “Jaune”. The result yesterday was impressive, and it almost brought a tear to my eye, I was loudly cheering him on.

But after the initial euphoria, I’m sitting here, beginning to feel queasy.

I WANT TO BELIEVE

At the press-conference, somewhat to my surprise, at least a few journalists dared to ask “the question”: “can we trust you”? “are you “clean””?

Rasmussen looked very confident when he confirmed: that we can “trust him: he’s not using illegal means to get his results” – I want to believe him – but even if the means aren’t exactly illegal, they could be “questionable”.

So: I want to believe Rasmussen, not least because I LOVE professional cycling.

It’s possible we can trust him, even likely, but he’s positively using ALL the legal means – and likely some that are “pushing” it – that money can buy to get his results, as all the top riders have to.

It has, for instance, been unveiled that Michael Rasmussen does “height training”, well he sort of has to – but one of the side effects of training in the high mountains, is that it is, in some ways, the “natural” way of achieving results similar to “blood doping”. Rasmussen also confirmed that he’s using wind-tunnels and I suppose that he might also be using “height chambers”, but that is on my own account. These things aren’t cheating, it’s simply using technology to improve your results. Illegal? No! Questionable? Maybe!

Rasmussen has also been quoted with calling the UCI “Men in Black” – he joked about that today, saying that he thought that the MiB was “Will Smith and this other guy, that run around shooting aliens”. Rasmussen now, cleverly, thinks that the UCI are “just doing their job”.

But…I’d stongly question if it hasn’t gone too far, when you need to consult a staff of medical doctors daily, I thought you only needed to do that a few times yearly, unless you suffer from a “serious condition”. Being engaged in professional sports obviously is akin to having a “serious condition”.

The “Men in Black” can’t gain access, because they would have to fight off the “Men in White” first.

Give Bjarne Riis some love – Sir Bjarne would be nice

A related note:

For 10 years now the sports journalists has been conducting a witch-hunt against Bjarne Riis, the man behind the greatest sports-result in history by a Dane in an individual discipline, constantly pondering the bleeding obvious: “was Bjarne Riis using illegal means while he was engaged in professional cycling“?. Of course he was, he even indirectly admitted it in 1998, by saying that he had never “been tested positive”. And that’s where it should have stopped. It’s well know that all of the top riders in the 90ies were using illicit means to get the results. So when he finally, bravely, admitted to using EPO it was not even news-worthy, albeit wise and commendable.

Bjarne Riis still deserves to be recognised as a role-model:

He broke the typical Danish attitude of self-depreciation; showed that you can set a goal and achieve it – doing EXACTLY what it took. After ending his active career, he’s managed to take a third rate cycling team, and make it the best in the world, like he said he would.

I’d say he deserves a Knighthood as much as Michael Laudrup. Sir Bjarne – I like the way that sounds.

“Put up or shut up”

The journalists should stop the which-hunt – get real – engaging in professional sports has, as mentioned earlier, been akin to a “serious condition” since ancient times – if you don’t like it, stop covering it!

And finally: “Grill” the “Chicken” like you do the “Eagle” – or shut up!