Transfer to fastname.no 100% successful

I decided a week ago that I would change registrar for the domain on my blog - nicolai.no. This was because one.com asked me to re-send a fax to confirm ownership. I didn’t like that they suddenly required something that other registrars in Norway requested. It didn’t like it. Fastname.no has a great offer for transfer these days: Free web hotel and domain cost for one year. You have to agree for a two year contract – but the prices is competitive in the first place. And they didn't require any fax to confirm ownership. They sent a mail to the admin contact registered on the domain - where they asked me to confirm the transfer. This is the way to do it in 2010!!

The really nice feature with the transfer was that they offered to check my current DNS settings, and use the same settings for host (A, CNAME) and mail records (MX). This ensured that there was no downtime on my blog/domain. This is just great service!

#Mysteryfollower – part 4: not updated since

Today I started to work on a view that will give me some more useful statics on my followers. I will present some of the content (last 3-5 posts) and when these posts where made. By providing some context on new followers – I’ll easier decide if I should follow back. I will even make some basic rules for followers I will not even check

#Mysteryfollower – part 3: suspended and blocked

I see more changes to the follower statistics than I expected after I created my #mysteryfollower script on my twitter account. I see accounts being removed from the XML resultat because they are blocked or suspended. These accounts are still listed on the web. I guess that is because the website probably isn’t updated as frequently as the API. I will implement a check in my script when I lose a follower – to see if the account was blocked or suspended. And if that is why the account is removed, I’ll hide it in my report – because I don’t need to know that spammers and bots have been removed.

The fine-tuned SQLs work as they should now, so the next step is to do some minor changes to the database design to enable the script to work for more than one account – I’ll start by adding my Norwegian twitter account: @nicolairygh. I guess more than one account will make more tuning necessary.

#Mysteryfollower - part 2: loosing a follower

The script has work well over the last days. The first bug was problems with the script if it was runned twice at the same time - that gave timestamp issues in the base. So now the script can only run from the ip that auto starts the script ever hour.

Checking the log to see new followers feels good. Seeing lost followers is something else. I spent some time thinking about my first lost follower after I started this project. It will be nice to see changes in followers up against content. Maybe special tags or how many tweets is the factor - why do you unfollow somebody?

#Mysteryfollower - part 1: version beta 1

My script that checks for returning followers on twitter is almost ready. Instead of getting the emails from twitter when I get a new follower, I have scheduled that I will get emails once a day with statistics on my followers. It will include follower information:

• New
• left me
• returned

And I’ll see if I can include the key stats about the users too. Follower/following ratio, last message posted (and when) and the photo. What other information is relevant when you consider following back somebody who follows you?

I see my follower number is going up and down over time. Sometimes twitter removes spammers and boots making follower counts drop. But it will be interesting to get some more statistics. After having the script running for 8 hours (running every 60minutes) I see that I need to fine tune the SQLs in the database – as the log is filling up with new entries. If you want the geeky details, here is the setup:

I have decided to use asp 3.0 (the programming language I prefer) and a simple access database. I could have chosen a more robust database, but as long as I am the only user the database will only get connections from my script, and the number of entries will as many as the number of followers. If the follower number goes into the thousands – I will probably have more problems with the twitter API than the database anyway. I made a pre-beta version of the script some time ago, and when I picked up this project now twitter had changed their api. The biggest change is that they have included version in the URL, but also on pulling follower information have they changed from requesting pages to requesting with something they call cursor. The cursor is a database reference, and you’ll get the next 100 from a specific point in the database, and not 100 entries after your last 100 entries. This is a smart change, but I had to change the script a bit.

The twitter API returns about 100 followers per page, so I post the following URL starting with cursor equals -1.

api.twitter.com/1/statuses/followers/rygh.xml?cursor=-1

I include my credentials in the request to ensure I get also users who have protected profiles. This gives me the first entries, and it also returns the cursor value for the next 100 followers. The next URL will be the same, just replacing -1 with the new value. The last page will return the cursor value zero, and then I know there aren’t any more followers to be found. I merge the queries together and make it available as one XML-page. I parse stored XML file I get with the following asp code:

Sub atom(URL)
Set objXML = Server.CreateObject("msxml2.DOMDocument.3.0")
objXML.async = false
objXML.setProperty "ServerHTTPRequest", True
objXML.validateOnParse = true
objXML.preserveWhiteSpace = false

If Not objXML.Load(URL) Then
Response.write "ERROR"
Else
Set objNodeList = objXML.getElementsByTagName("user")
For Each objNode In objNodeList
For Each objNode2 In objNode.childNodes
Select Case objNode2.nodeName
Case "id"
id= objNode2.text
Case "screen_name"
name= objNode2.text
End Select
Next
'// HERE I include the followerscheck.asp-file
Next
End If
End sub

The included file (followercheck.asp) is where I add new followers to my database; those listed in the database that isn’t present in the XML will be marked in the database as “left me”. Whenever a new entry is posted, or updated with a different status a log file is created for the user. Here is why I will find the mystery followers that constantly follows and unfollows. The code I showed you only includes the fields ID and NAME; I can from the XML also pull the last status message, the photo, location etc. Everything you see on the web about a user is present in the entry in the XML.

The question is how frequently this script needs to be executed. I currently fine tune, so it runs on demand and every hour. But the question is if it is needed to be executed more than once a day. If somebody drops me to instantly follow me again, I will probably be without that follower for seconds – and making this script run so frequently is too time consuming. I actually see some performance issues with my current setup; so I will tune some more before I post the updated followercheck.asp script.

Being constantly unfollowed and followed?

First edition of my “who follows me” is ready. I have seen over the last months on twitter that some accounts with a lot of followers are unfollowing me, and then following me again if I haven't followed them. I guess this is because they see that sometimes people will follow-back when they are followed. I don't want to spend time following people who only follows me to get one follower back. I follow because of content, so as of today I will not get the email from twitter when somebody new starts to follow me - I will use my script to verify that the new follower is still there the next day. And then I will see if this person is somebody I would like to follow.

I will test some more before I open the solution up for others. This web-based application will when it runs take a dump of all the IDs following a specific twitter user. Each follower will be listed in the database, and then the next time the script is executed it will compare if the follower is there or not. If it has “unfollowed” it will be marked as unfollowed in the database, but still have a record. This way I can see if somebody starts to follow me. The question is how frequently this script needs to be executed to “pick-up” those “unfollow/follow”-people. Stay tuned!

Post in the comments if you want to try this when it is ready!

Spending less time on Facebook – I think?

I use the delicious toolbar in Firefox with “most visited” bookmarks. Almost all the sites I visit only are present in the top 25-27 sites listed in that view. I use short names or even just one letter as these sites normally have an icon with the sites logo. The changes to the top sites changes a bit over time as I use the net differently when I am in different modes. I am currently in a heavy work mode – using my laptop more or less only for work – the computer time I spend outside work is more writing blog-posts or reading up on specific topics.

Mashable wrote two days ago about "Facebook becoming the web’s ultimate timesink" where an average US Internet user spends on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Amazon combined. As the article on Mashable says:

“Think about that for a moment”.

For me the number of time I visitt Facebook per week is falling as I can see the bookmark for Facebook is dropping in my “most visited” view. I share more content, so twitter.com, j.mp and blogger.com is moving up. Facebook is down on 10th place. This is from my computer. I do visit Facebook with my mobile. In between meetings, and sometimes when I am “idle”. And I guess that is where Facebook gets more and more visits. Not from the time we spend at our computer, but from our handheld devices.

And I guess this trend is why an average US internet user spends more and more time on Facebook – the content is in a specific Meta frame. It is like talking with your friends and family. Facebook has tricked as all into their net. But the last changes to their site have made me feel like less is happening. It is more boring. I don’t think it is my friends being less interesting. I think it is because Facebook has changed the algorithm they use to serve me content. If somebody comments on something – it feels like that story “stays-around” longer than it used too. And I want new content – not just new comments on old content!

One.com – you just lost a customer

Last week I got a mail from One.com telling me that I have to send in a new fax where I state ownership to my domain. They state that it is Norid that have renewed the document, and that I therefore have to sign a new form. I have domains registered with other registrars too, and the only company that has asked me to resend the form is One.com. If this action was required by the owner of domains – wouldn’t norid have had some information about it on Norid.no? Maybe one.com doesn’t have their paperwork in order? Just give me “one business day”, and my domain will have a new registrar. Btw… If my blog is down a day or two next week – it is because of changes in DNS!

Obama said it – teleworking!

Obama used another word for something a lot of people do a lot. We work remotely, we work from home, from airports, and we work in hotels. We even sometimes work remotely when we are at work. We work from these places during business hours, outside business hours – whenever we need to. The point isn’t where we do it; the point is that we can work from somewhere else. We are the new generation works.

"Employees who telework regularly and effectively under normal circumstances are well positioned to continue to work from home during any type of emergency" [...]

Obama called it teleworking – this removes location from the topic. It isn’t about being remote. Because when we focus on remote we say that we are not where we should be. Saying teleworking focus technology that enables us to work where we are. This shift in focus is great!

I haven’t Waved since December 25st #NSAGU

My name is Nicolai, and I am a NSAGU, but I haven’t Waved since December 25st. And I don’t think I am the only one that over the holidays just dropped of the Wave. The Wave is a flop. It has failed to become the new way of communication. It will need to integrate with email to keep its users. In addition to Wave have Google started Buzz. Buzz is in your gmail-box providing a lower “cost” for the user to adopt the tool. From day one can posts to twitter, your blog, piccasa, youtube etc be buzzed on your Buzz. I am not going to talk about privacy concerns, but Buzz gives you the opertunity to connect with people in your address book - your frequent contacts.

And with these new platforms Google provides users with about all you can think of in terms of communication. With Gmail, Gvoice, Gchat, GBuzz, GWave, GGroups, Knol, Google Friend Connect, Blogger etc.etc the search company is more than just search. They have it all. They have mastered search, and gmail is a success. And they will launch new services like Wave, Buzz and Voice to try to give us the next big thing. They will customize, combine and innovate to ensure that we “we tried it first at Google”. And if somebody else gets “it” first – they will buy it and Google-ish it. Just like they did with Blogger and Feedburner.

Btw. NSAGU. “Not So Anonymous Google User”.

How important is twitter for your blog-traffic?

I have been posting frequently to my blog the last weeks, but I decided in the weekend to have two days without posts to see how my traffic data would change. I have also posted some blog posts without posting on twitter that I have new posts to see how people are following my blog. And the results are not just as expected. I use Google Analytics on my blog, and the key elements I check for is number of visitors, page views and how long people stay on the blog.

When I notify my followers on twitter that I have updated my blog can I see direct spikes in traffic to my blog. But this traffic is increasing the number of visits to my blog, but the average time people stay on the site is lower on this type of traffic, than when I post the blog as a comment to somebody – or if somebody else recommends my blog post. Responding to a discussion with a more detailed explanation gives more loyal readers. The more interested people are in the topic because it is “on topic” for them, the more interested they will be in both reading and commenting on your topic.

Generally all traffic is good. But you don’t want to over-hype your content. Ensure that you write a good title on your topic. And if the title isn’t to the point – write in brief what the post is about when you post to twitter about it. I have changed the way I notify my followers about new blog posts. I have used the format:

MrNR-blog post updated: “title” | http://j.mp/thisstory

My new format is the summary, then as much text from the blog post I can fit in the twitter message and then the URL. This gives the readers more about what the blog post is about before they click – with the goal to only get the readers that want the content – and not just click on it because the content is provided by me.
Posting frequently has also changed the statistics for my blog. More people are following the RSS-feed, and I therefor see increased followers in my feedburner statistics – this growth is readers that I reach, but that isn’t a part of my Google Analytics statistics as they read the “offline” RSS-feed. My goal isn’t to increase the number of web visitors – but to provide my content to the people that wants to read it.

Follow/unfollow on twitter

First of all, I don’t follow-back everybody following me. I check every follower when I get a mail about a follower to my @rygh account. If you have a balanced follower vs following ratio I will follow you back, unless it is 20000 followers – because then my question is – why haven’t you found me before? Why am I interesting when you already follow 20000. People don’t have 20000 followers because they find all the conversation interesting, they have a lot of followers because they spend a lot of time following people to make them follow them back. I am working on a script that will monitor the list of followers I have – I’ll write more about it when it is ready. But the goal is stop getting the emails about new followers, and coordinate followers cross my twitter accounts.

I have two main accounts on twitter (and some more I have registered for different purposes). @rygh and @nicolairygh is my main accounts. The first account is for tweets in English, the other in Norwegian. Some people unfollowed the @rygh-account when I started to use @nicolairygh for Norwegian tweets. They wanted to Norwegian tweets only – and that is okay! If you make the decision to follow or unfollow me because of content – that is okay. But followers that only follow me to get me to follow them back – that is a game I don’t want to play.

When do you unfollow people on twitter?

Beside the typical follow/unfollow/follow/unfollow game that you get from some – where they constantly follow and then unfollow you until you follow them back (or block them) is users you don’t want to have in your list. People that only use their twitter account to publish promotions, and especially promotions on how to get more followers on twitter. The last group I tend to unfollow is people who post their delicious links, their fourthsquare, bkite or other meta-data in their feed – and if this is the only content – the value of following them is zero. If you are not a part of the conversation – why should we follow you. So I say; if you post your geo-data with tools – you are warned – you should be active part of the conversation – or you’ll lose some followers. Be smart, create a different account for specific content.

Blame Canada!

Everybody will focus on the Olympics for the next weeks. So as a statement I will change my mobile ring tone to this tune from South Park :-) It is just because the opening was a great show! Norway will need to arrange a new Winter Olympic to be at the same level! Great show!

Olympics!

I will not see the Olympic opening live this year, because 0300CET is just a bit on the heavy side when you have small children that will get up in the morning anyway. But I will see the show in a rerun on NRK1 at 0900CET. hopefully the games will be great! For those of you up – enjoy it!

Google meets Finn

Just have to post a small comment on this story from Finn Labs a Norwegian company. They have a service similar to Google Street View. And they have found the Google Street View car in their data – and then also being in Google’s data. What do we call this? Geo-tagger-geo-tagged?

Have you found any Easter eggs in Google Street View?

Who are you online?

I read the Mashable post “5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online” today. And I find it some interesting I wanted to post some comments to it. The five topics they address are:

1. Don’t Ignore Brand Mentions
2. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
3. Know Your Audience
4. Limit Self-Promotion
5. Be Consistent

I will not describe them in details, because the guys at Mashable did that perfectly, my point is that their advices is about the same as my advice when people ask about their online identity. But always focus on the “do it” “or “don’t do it” part. And when you have decided that you want to be available online – you need to ensure that you do it with some strategy. The strategy doesn’t have to be a goal to become an internet celebrity – but you should avoid building an online brand that will be a problem for you in the future.

Some of my friends will say “but I am not a brand” – and here is the first mistake you do. You are a brand. 

You have to protect your name online as it is a brand. If you don’t care – that is also a choice; and you need to understand that not deciding to do something is also a decision. Staying of the radar is almost impossible. Being online with a twitter-account, a blog or a homepage ensure that the Google Index is filled with content produced by yourself that will be available if people search for you. This makes it possible for you to have some sort of control over your online presence. But don’t be naive – if something about you is available online – some smart search strings will find it.

Mashable say you should spread too thin. This is a good advice. Don’t be available in channels you can’t monitor. Ensure that you have time to be a part of the conversation. The old saying “show me your friends” is valid also online. If you constantly have conversations with people who you don’t want to be identified with – you are harming your online identity. The online persona needs to be available for people, or else it will be remembered as fake, or not genuine.

Why governments shouldn’t own Airlines

Over the last 30 years have the airline industry went from national Airlines operated with country based hubs to international companies with global hubs. The big countries have an advantage because of their home market, but all the traditional airlines have had challenges when they have been privatized. This has changed the market. The possibility of growth has given great completion, and the openness has given new companies the possibility to start flying. New companies has a different cost structure, and with focus on low cast travel companies like Ryanair, EasyJet and Norwegian as grown from marginal companies to big players. This completion is healthy for all players. The strongest will survive – as the customers will prefer the company that offers the most for the lowest cost the costly premium companies will need to really need to keep their premium image to keep their travelers. If the expectation becomes low quality, the only way to stay in business is to change the expectations by investing in service, or my drastically changing pricing. Low cost has an impact to the baseline of the company. If you change your income, and not your cost base – you’ll spend more money than you earn. This is not something owners will accept over time. And here is the problem with governments like the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish that owns Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). They put more money into their company changing the market conditions. If it is legal is one aspect, but basically the governments spend tax money to keep some legacy company in business – making privately financed firms suffer. Let us compare this to something else.

You own a DVD-store. Your business is going great. But the government decide that there should be sold more “not-very-interesting”-movies from some small boring town because of some culture or local political agenda. So they decide that they will open a store next to yours to sell this “not-very-interesting”-movie. The appointed store manager can market heavily for this product that isn’t in directly completion to your products – but he decides that he will please his manager by increasing sales – and starts to sell DVDs from the same selection as you. Having covered all the fixed costs (store, staff etc) the price on the DVDs is lower than yours – and you end up closing your store because you can’t compete with somebody that doesn’t need to earn money.

How can privately owned companies stay in business if they are constantly competing with somebody who doesn’t need to earn money? The dynamics in the market is wrong. The government should sell their stocks, and ensure that there is healthy completion in the market place. Because if they keep up subsiding they’ll end up with some companies that don’t feel they need to be attractive for consumers – because they will be saved if they don’t manage the competition. And everybody loose.

Will you gBuzz'it?

Google Buzz arrived today, giving existing social websites like twitter and Facebook some challenges. Not sure if the twitter users will convert to Buzz, but everybody not on twitter will be Google’s target. If people use gmail, gtalk, YouTube and Picasa… they will like to share their stuff with their friends. I think this will be more a challenge for Facebook than twitter… as Buzz with its basic features is more a share with your friends, than a social – share with everybody site than twitter. It will be a challenge for Facebook from day one, but a bigger challenge for twitter the day we use Buzz as our first place to share our content, because buzz is available within the tools we publish our content.

Good news for everybody is the focus from the search giant to make this open source. This enables developers to integrate Buzz into everything. I think this will be the wave that Google hoped Wave would be – but didn’t.

Blogging as a hobby

For those of you who have been following me online for years have noticed that my appearance has changed. I am not sure if this change is temporary, but my focus has shifted from coding to content. I don’t spend as much time presenting my content – I focus on content. I have had a lot of domains, and even more designs to my pages, but I have been online for over 10 years trying to keep myself entertained.

For me the choice online is between being active or staying under the radar. With search tools as good as Google staying under the radar is difficult. Almost everybody ends up in their index. Some list, some document or some image is available online for about every single person. We produce a lot more data in a year then people used to produce in a lifetime. As I work as a project manager, I am a professional information broker. 90% or more of my work day is communication, so it is a lifestyle. A part of my job is being available; and that is inside my workplace, for customers – and also with peers.

I have decided to blog with some more regularity this year than I have used before. I don’t write long posts, but I will try to keep it up. Some days I feel I have been posting to frequently scaring away some readers. A lot of post on one day is usably because I finish up some posts that have been in my draft folder for some time. So I’ll try to avoid posting to many posts at the same day!

My main domain has been and will continue to be Rygh.no – my family name. But giving my blog a dedicated domain and showing that it is me – my stuff – what is better than my first name? It is personal – I will not try to sell you anything; just share my thoughts and ideas. Happy reading!

Email Address Prejudice

Lifehacker wrote about your Email Address Prejudice some weeks ago. And I find myself thinking about this blog post when I write emails to friends using some of the old email services like AOL, Hotmail and in Norway online.no and c2i.net. For me the email and especially the domain are important. I have been using the rygh.no-domain for email the last 9 years. Having my personal domain shows the ownership of the address to whoever is sending me emails. But I still find the Gmail interface being very attractive, so I have hocked my domain up with Google Apps. Using cutting edge technology and being up-to-date is important for me – and for me people who stay on Hotmail and other “legacy email providers” is showing me that they don’t care. And for a lot people that is fine. I don’t care that they don’t care. But they put themselves in a specific category when it comes to technology. To give an example – I wouldn't give a web designer the assignment to redesign my website if his contact information included a Hotmail address. Gmail works for now but the grace period is fading!

Update 21:21CET:
Just read about the facebook planning to launch webmail. Do you think facebook webmail will be a hit for the mass market? Or do you think it will get a marginal share of the user? I am skeptic. I feel that I would like to keep the possibility to walk away from facebook if they do to drastic changes to their privacy policy. It makes sense for facebook as they can keep users on site for even more communication and social activities. However... I don't like the idea that they push a mail-account on me. I would like to prefer where I get emails. And I don't feel that a facebook.com-mail address will be something I would like to share to anyone. Do you think "fmail" be something big?

Laptop without DVD-player

I have now for about a month used an ultra portable laptop without DVD-player. And I don’t need it. I installed windows 7, office 2010 with a DVD-player in the docking… but since then haven’t there been any need for it. I have an USB 2.0 disk with my backup (including basic software for work (VPN, anti-virus etc.), and I download the rest from an internal software server. Probably the next time I’ll need it is when I want to make a backup of a DVD, or want to play a DVD on the laptop when traveling. The second is an issue – as the point of an ultra portable is not to bring anything else but the small computer. So I’ll need to plan for my “movie needs”. But what else isn’t needed anymore? When did you use the modem-port on your laptop? And as most 3G-cards (if you haven’t 3G available on the motherboard) is an USB device, what do you use the PCMCIA slot for? I used to connect the memory card from my Nikon in the PCMCIA-slot, but after I got a 10cm USB cable, I just connect the camera directly to the laptop. More and more of the content and software is available online, and we (almost) don’t use cables to connect to the net anymore.

Buying a new mobile

I posted a blog post yesterday about the mobile I have ordered. I have received some feedback on it that I would like to address. First of all this isn’t a multimedia phone. I don’t need another multimedia phone – I need a one with the ability to be my work phone – that equals calls and SMS.

The battery information for the Samsung C5212:

• 600minuttes talk time (on 2G)
• 280hours standby

Compared the iPhone (3G S) have the following:

• 720minuttes talk time (on 2G)
• 300minuttes talk time (on 3G)
• Up to 300 hours standby

So with 2G enabled on both phones the IPhone is in the lead on battery usage – but you don’t put your iPhone in 2G-mode. And you don’t need an iPhone if you just use it for calls. But if you do the size of the phone will be a key factor when you compare it.

• Samsung C5212: 98.2g (112.7 x 48.6 x 14.3mm)
• iPhone 3G S: 135g (115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm)

 

And the iPhone is 37.6% heavier. But of course it is a multimedia tool – not just a phone. But that is not what I need at work. The other comment was the design of the phone. “It looks like something from nineties”. Do you remember what the mobiles looked like back then? This phone isn’t a fashion statement. It isn’t a status symbol like some people says the Apple product is. It is a practical mobile with one key function – and that is the possibility to have two SIM-cards.

I think we’ll see that mobiles will be even more differentiated as we go forward. Very basic phones will be available at a very low cost, the smart mobiles will be smarter and the multimedia phones will get the power of computers and cameras. And we’ll see products like this that have the possibility to fix a specific need. If this functionality gets popular – then Nokia and Apple can’t afford not adopting this; the problem is that this functionally isn’t something the operators would like to sponsor as it enables the end user be unfaithful to the mobile carrier.

Dual SIM Mobile!

I have in several years operated with two mobile numbers, one for work and one for my personal life. Both phones are based on Symbian and I have installed an application that can forward SMS. So I can bring only one handset with me. I used only the work number for outgoing calls for a while, but after I changed my work number, I decided that I wanted my friends to call and get calls from the same number; and that way they don’t have to care about me changing work number. My experience is that the persons at work that needs to call me – they easily change the number they need to call to get in touch with me. You want to keep your friends updated with your number, and the best way to accomplish that is to not change your contact details. So basically I have been carrying around with two mobile phones.

And here is where Dual SIM functionality is very handy. I have known about phones with this functionality for years, but they haven’t been sold in Norway. But now they are coming available. In addition to solving my mobile setup – this type of phone is great if you travel cross-country as you can use the second SIM slot for a local number, or you can have a different SIM with a better price plan for data in the other slot. This will make these phones more and more popular – and maybe they will be an industry standard in the end.

I just put in an order for the new Samsung C5212 DueS. It is candy formed, but I didn’t buy it based on its appearance. It isn’t an iPhone – it is a work horse. I have been a Nokia user for years just interrupted by a year on HTC. I have used Samsung briefly in the past when my Nokia was broken – but I have always ended up with buying from Nokia in the end. But this time I’ll give Samsung a try. Maybe this is my first step away from phones made in the Nordic?

It isn’t an iPhone – it is a work horse.

Details:

• 1.3 mega pixel camera
• 2.2 inch TFT display
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo support
• microSD memory card expansion supporting up to 8GB
• integrated stereo FM radio in addition to a built-in MP3 music player.
• Quad band GSM connectivity with GPRS/EDGE

The phone has less web functionality than my current two phones. It doesn’t have 3G or WiFi – but this phone is to be used for the basics – calling and SMS. I will still keep my E75 for surfing/email, keeping a twin SIM from Telenor in it. The Elprice.no-site says it will be shipped from them tomorrow – but elprice.no says on twitter that they expect the phones to be ready for shipment in the end of the month. So we’ll see when I get it – and I’ll write a review!

Why Dagbladet will not be around in 24 months

Dagbladet as we know it today is gone in two years, or even more aggressively – it will not survive 2010 if not the owners take drastic actions. Reducing your staff to face fewer customers is a very challenging process. You need to ensure that you only cut non critical functions. And who should select what is critical functions?

Dagbladet needs to decide what they want to be in 2 years. Do they want to be a paper with focus on news or a website with focus on news? Or they can choose to be a provider of culture, sports or politics. It can be a mix of them, but they need to decide – what is our main platform; and for whom do we write. Trying to cut costs to stay where they are today will only bring the end closer.

Dagbladet will need to be saved by their owners. The owners need to decide if the newspaper should be saved as it is today – and in that case they need to invest heavily in making Dagbladet more powerful than VG. Or they need to decide that VG is a too powerful competitor in Norway – and that there is only room for one big tabloid. Take can change the format to a magazine – or they can be even bolder – and stop printing the printed edition as of tomorrow. Being the first newspaper that is available only online could save the brand and the ideas.

With Weave – why do we need delicious?

Mozilla Labs have created a sync-add-on to Firefox named Weave that they state will: “seamlessly bridge your desktop and Mobile Firefox experience”. This add-on synchronizes your bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history and open browser tabs. The question is if you trust the guys behind Firefox with storing your private information on their servers. They say they will keep it encrypted – but in the end it is all about trust.

Get Weave Sync here if you trust them.

So, with Weave – do we need other syncing tools? How about delicious – will this change the way people use delicious? I share all my bookmarks on delicious (some I mark private) – but every time I find something I would like to find again – I bookmark and tag it. Will you drop your current bookmarking service for Weave?
(Btw… Weave isn’t a good name after Google created wave… - they should rebrand it).

The iPad makes me want an iPhone

First of all; I just added iPad to my dictionary in Word. Guess the word will stay around longer than this installation or even this laptop. I still don’t think the iPad will solve anything for me, but that is because I need something bigger or smaller. Where should I use just a screen? When I am at my computer not working, I probably use twitter, messenger or write something for my blog – I need a keyboard. When I don’t type, I read – and reading can be done on a smaller screen. I don’t need to see the page as big as it would have been in a magazine or in book.
So why do I say that the iPad makes me want an iPhone?

The deals Apple is going to make with editors from printed media will change the game. You will in iTunes or in the App store get access to a lot of information that will (for a period) be exclusive for this platform. Having the latest “Da vinci code”-book in your pocket is tempting. So from a multimedia perspective the iPhone could be my iPad.

Free SMS from Google

With Google Voice you get a lot of features. It is a very advanced voicemail. But it is more than that. It is your personal secretary. It routes your calls to the phone you have at hand – giving you the option to have only one “official” number, but being available on different networks at different times. You can use it to screen, and you can get your voicemail transcribed as text forwarded to your email account.

Everything is very Googleish – and I just love it.

SMS to international numbers now work – so I have been testing it; and it is a very handy solution. Google Voice gives you the opportunity to forward the incoming SMS via email or to another mobile (US number only). This way you can be fully operative when you are in the states, and you can stay connected even when you return to Europe. Currently the fact that you will send SMS from a US number makes it less interesting when I communicate with fellow Norwegians in Norway. But the technology, the way of having ONE number that works cross mobile, skype-id, office-line, VoIP etc… it just perfect. And if it can be the real crossover between classic SMS and just Short Messaging where you’ll communicate one-to-one person and not one-to-one phone is just perfect. People stay connected in one way or the other. It makes sense to have a digital information hub that includes voice!