David Boschmans Weblog : Personal/Life

Web Trend Map 2007 Version 2.0

David Boschmans — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:56:35 GMT

[Via Michael] Information Architects Japan Interface & Strategy has created a v2 of the web trend map. It shows the 200 most successful websites on the web, ordered by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective.

Technorati tags: Web Trend Map v2, Web 2.0

Introducing Microsoft Surface

David Boschmans — Wed, 30 May 2007 11:22:18 GMT

From the Microsoft site:

The launch of Microsoft Surface marks the beginning of a new technology category and a user-interface revolution. Surface, Microsoft’s first surface computer, provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday information — from photos to maps to menus.

So what is it?

Microsoft Surface™, the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp., turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that’s easy for individuals or small groups to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. In essence, it’s a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.

At a high level, Surface uses cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. This user input is then processed and the result is displayed on the surface using rear projection.

Looking at the videos on the Microsoft Surface web site I can think how a surface computer will change the way people will interact and experience content. Looking forward to a new way of interaction with digital content!

More information on Microsoft Surface is available from:

Update: On on10.net Larry Larsen posted a video on Microsoft Surface: "First Look: Microsoft Surfacing Computing!". Larry talks to Mark Bolger, Director of Marketing in the Surface Computing Product Division. Check it out!

Technorati tags: Microsoft Surface

Seattle: a new daily direct destination for Air France

David Boschmans — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 01:37:00 GMT

From June 11th 2007 on Europeans will have another option to pick a daily direct flight from central Europe to Seattle, Washington. Air France today announced they will be having a daily direct flight from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Seattle Tacoma. The press release (French-only) can be found here.

Flight schedule will look like this:

Flight AF 046 : leaving Paris-CDG at 13h20 – arrival in Seattle Taco at 14h35
Flight AF 041 : leaving Seattle Taco at 16h55 – arrival at Paris-CDG next day at 11h40

Living in Belgium I'm used to fly British Airways (via London), Scandinavian Airlines (via Copenhagen) or KLM/Northwest Airlines (via Amsterdam). Air France is now adding another option: Paris CDG. I'm not sure if Paris CDG is better than London HR for transatlantic flights, but at least it's another option. I still prefer flying SAS to Seattle but it's quite expensive. It's a pity that I won't be able to use Air France for my next trip to Seattle - probably somewhere in April - as the flight will only be operational from June 11th.

Having another direct flight to Seattle is an excellent thing, not only for Microsoft employees but also for its customers.

Technorati tags: Travel, Flight, Air France, Paris CDG, Seattle Tacoma

The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models

David Boschmans — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:40:25 GMT

Today I received a couple of questions from a journalist who was looking for some information on Web 2.0, and the business and technology drivers behind it. After pointing him to the well-known resources on the net, I suggested it would make sense to listen to the web cast on "The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models". This web cast was recorded earlier this year at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Web cast description and panel:

The rapid rise of online social networks is both a social and business phenomenon, the impact of which is only beginning to be understood. The consumer-powered Web 2.0 creates innovative ways for businesses to operate and people to communicate.

What is driving the emergence of virtual communities? Is the rapid rise in their valuations justified?
How are companies beginning to use social networking strategies for product and market development, as well as for communication?

Caterina Fake, Founder, Flickr, USA
William H. Gates III, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, USA
Chad Hurley, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, YouTube, USA
Mark G. Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nike, USA
Viviane Reding, Commissioner, Information Society and Media, European Commission, Brussels

Challenger

Dennis Kneale, Managing Editor, Forbes Magazine, USA

Moderated by

Peter Schwartz, Chairman, Global Business Network, USA

During the discussion questions like "What is Web 2.0? Is it a structural revolution? Is this a big thing for business?" are being answered by the panel. Good discussion on how both industry leaders and how the government see evolve Web 2.0.

Media files from this discussion:

Webcast: http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2007/default.aspx?sn=19781&lang=en
Podcast: http://download.world-television.com/wef/2007/podcasts/19871.mp3 (file unavailable now)
Vodcast: http://download.world-television.com/wef/2007/podcasts/19781_2.mp4

All the Annual Meeting 2007 Webcasts, Podcasts and VodCasts can be found here.

Technorati tags: The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models, World Economic Forum, Davos

Scott Guthrie was in Belgium and an udpate on Designertopia in London

David Boschmans — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 17:55:33 GMT

While I'm currently in London, attending Designertopia, the VISUG/MSDN meeting with Scott Guthrie in Belgium was a success! 250+ attendees saw Scott deliver two excellent sessions on the newest ASP.NET technologies:

First Look at Visual Studio and ASP.NET “Orcas”
ASP.NET 2.0 and ASP.NET AJAX Tips and Tricks

It was the first time Scott was in Belgium. Our VISUG-community appreciated it. Microsoft Belux appreciated it. And therefore I want to thank Scott, Hans Verbeeck (for the support) and last but not least, all of the attendees! I've also noticed that Jan blogged about the event and the question whether the UpdatePanel works in web parts.

UPDATE: Tom posted Scott's first video on his blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/tommer/archive/2007/02/03/video-of-scott-guthrie-s-newest-presentation-first-look-at-visual-studio-orcas.aspx.

You are probably wondering how Designertopia is going, right?

The first day, yesterday started off with a keynote by Eric Zocher, General Manager Expression Tools. The keynote covered Microsofts approach towards designer and developers. Of course the Expression Tools were featured. Some news that I missed earlier this week - probably due to the Wow - were some new product releases of the Expressions Tools Suite:

Expression Design hit Beta 1
Expression Blend hit Beta 2

Both downloads are available from the Expression website. More info on these releases can be found on Robert's blog.

The keynote was filled with demos - that unfortunately - failed a couple of times. Some cool demos of ASP.NET AJAX, WPF, WPF/E and the Expression Tools were shown though. They gave a good overview what Microsoft technologies can and should be used, and in which scenario (on/off line) to create the richest user experience possible. Personally I was most impressed by Expression Media. This is due to the fact that I already played around with the other tools that are part of the Expression Suite. But the demos of Expression Media convinced me to give it a try soon.

Later on the day I was really impressed by the presentation on "Participatory Design" by the director of the Webby Awards. The Steel-Software Blog has an excellent wrap-up of day 1 where the "Participatory Design" session details are covered. The session showed how user participation can (Doritos) or cannot (Chevy) work.

In the evening we had dinner with all the Belgian agencies that attended Designertopia. It was the first time that Geert and myself brought these people together at a Microsoft event, but it turned out very well. Thanks to all of you for joining us!

Technorati tags: Scott Guthrie, ASP.NET Orcas, ASP.NET AJAX, VISUG, Designertopia, Expression Tools

Windows Vista Launch: Praga Khan concert streaming in Second Life

David Boschmans — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:44:00 GMT

In my previous post I listed a number of Second Life locations where the live concert of Praga Khan will be streamed tonight. Meanwhile Miel has updated these locations. I re-post the locations below:

Strawberry Estate, Miel's own chunk of land with a miniature Atomium in the garden. In every sphere of the Atomium there are screens where people can watch the concert. There will also be 2 giant screens in the Strawberry Estate Club.
Parioli Club in the Italian Virtual Parks region. They have created a great looking themed location, especially for this launch.
Club Elements
Crayonville Island
Isle of Lesbos
Mermaids Gentlemens Club
ShowGirls
Liquid Dreams
The Sanctuary Rock
Irie Vibes Club

Miel has posted some screenshots of the SL locations. The shortcuts to the Second Life locations can be found at the SLForum.

It looks like they're handing out Windows Vista t-shirts in all these locations ... so if you're an SL enthusiast go get one! Oh ... and Ine has already posted some pics of the soundcheck of Praga Khan, live from the atomium.

Technorati Tags: Experience the Wow - Worldwide launch event - Praga Kahn - Second Life

Experience the Wow in Second Life!

David Boschmans — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 15:29:13 GMT

The upcoming weeks will be busy! Besides the visit of Scott Guthrie to Belgium I will be attending Designertopia in London, an internal technical training event in Seattle, WA. But first there's the the Belgian part of the Worldwide launch event Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live!

While the event is an invite-only-event the "Experience the WoW" event already got some press coverage (before any press release was sent out), mainly due to Miel posts (status update) which were picked up by Radio Donna, StuBru, De Morgen, webwereld.nl, gamesplanet.be, De Standaard, Het Laatste Nieuws and webwereld.be. Of course we do expect a lot more press coverage in the next few days.

But lets not forget what this day is all about! January 30, 2007 will be bookmarked as the day that Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live will be available in stores to millions of potential buyers. For this the very special occasion, the Atomium will be rebaptised “WOW Experience Center”, where Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Live play a central role. Numerous personalities of the Belgian political and economic landscape have been invited to witness this exclusive event.

If you're not part of the lucky few that can attend, you will still be able to watch the Praga Kahn concert on the internet. Microsoft Belux will take care of a unique live streaming experience of the performance. It is unique indeed because the streaming can be picked up through three different media channels, which makes it at the same time the largest streaming effort ever done in Belgium.

The Praga Kahn concert can be watched as of 11 pm (CET+1) on:

The MSN.be portal: Micrsoft online services portal is streaming the concert live and keeps it on the portal for later watching
The Vodafone Live Portal where it can be watched through 3G enabled smartphones via Proximus, the mobile telecomoperator who fully realizes the 3G promises by the exercise.
Second Life, the popular virtual online 3D world, where the concert can be watched at different spots. The Second Life inhabitants will be informed by several billboards on the places to be for watching the concert.

The streaming will be realized technically by Telenet.

It is the first time for all the partners working together in this experience, to be able to stream a Belgian concert live. But the fact that these three channels will be streaming the concert live and simultaneously has never been seen in Belgium. Subscribers to the Proximus services can view the concert is they have a 3G enabled smartphone.

The streaming of Microsoft Praga Kahn concert will mean a great event in Second Life, to be watched in the virtual Atomium and many trendy and crowded ‘Second Life’ clubs:

The Strawberry Estate with a miniature Atomium. In every sphere of the Atomium there is a plasma screen where people can watch the event. It will be the meeting point for all Belgian people who want to witness the concert.
The Mermaids Gentlemans Club: a submarine club with tropical fauna and flora.
The Isle of Lesbos: on a tropical beach in a beautiful region; a very spacy location
The Showgirls Gentlemen’s Club: a Modern Dance Temple with trendy interior and lots of visitors
Liquid Dreams: Great atmosphere with lots of Lords of the Acid fans
The Sanctuary Rock: a Top 10 location in Second Life where more than 50,000 avatars pass daily. It’s an enormous Gothic complex
The Parioli Club in SL by Virtual Italian Parks. Bruno Cerboni, the founder and CEO of Virtual Italian Parks has opened his whole region for the event. It is a Top 10 location with a daily traffic of more than 30,000 visitors. This place, where Rome has been rebuilt to the smallest detail is the welcome portal for all Southern European people

You can find more details on the Second Life on-line event on Micromiel. For those attending the concert IRL, see you on Tuesday in the Atomium in Brussels!

Technorati Tags: Experience the Wow - Worldwide launch event - Praga Kahn - Second Life

Blog silence is over ... catching up!

David Boschmans — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 23:06:51 GMT

This blog has been very silent over the last couple of weeks. Main reason for this: I spent a couple of weeks in hospital with an additional 2-week recovery period. :-(
What initially was planned as a little intervention and a 3-day stay in hospital turned out into 14 days in hospital and the implantation of a defibrillator.

Since a couple of years I do some running/jogging a couple of times a week. During one of these runs I didn't felt too well. And as this happened a couple of times after that in a short period of time I decided to visit a cardiologist. After a couple of visits, some investigations, a number of electrocardiograms (ECG) and echocardiograms (), etc the cardiologist detected an atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm which involves the two small, upper heart chambers. Atrial fibrillation results in a heart rate which is too fast, in my case. And after been on heart monitoring for a number of days the verdict was rather hard: persistent or chronic atrial fibrillation.

There are a variety of solutions to this. 4 in total I've been told by Dr. Brugada of the AZ VUB in Brussels. The first way of treatment is by the use of beta blockers. The second way to control the heart rhythm include an electrical and chemical cardioversion. The electrical cardioversion involves the restoration of normal heart rhythm through the application of a DC electrical shock. The chemical achieves the same result by using drugs. The third way is Radiofrequency ablation (RFA). RFA uses radiofrequency energy to destroy abnormal electrical pathways in heart tissue. While this is still an area of active research this method was tried in my case but failed. Left was only the 4th option: an open-heart surgical procedure intended to eliminate atrial fibrillation or the implant of an internal defibrillator, aka an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The device is designed to deliver an electric shock to the patient, in an effort to stop pulseless ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia (more information after the link on Wikipedia).

For those that have never heard of an ICS, but have seen the 2006 James Bond movie Casino Royale: Bond uses a defibrillator from his Aston Martin DBS, to revive himself after being poisoned with digitalis during his poker game. On returning to the table he wittily remarks "Sorry; that last hand -- nearly killed me."

So if you are wondering what this thing (ICD) looks like, have a look at the site of Biotronik. To end a long(er) story I can say that I recovered pretty well of all of this. I'm still alive and back at work. :-) The upcoming weeks I'll keep a close eye to my work schedule (work-life balance!) because I feel that the mental recovery will still last a couple of months.

This clarifies a little bit on how I spent the holiday season and why it was so silent on this blog. I hope I can change that in the coming days, because with Developer & IT-Pro Days 2007 coming up, Designertopia taking place next week, Scott Guthrie coming to Belgium, etc there are lot of events to blog about. Stay tuned for more!

Technorati Tags: heart - cardiologist - defibrillator - ICD