Category
Daily ramblings
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04.27.06The death of betaAfter writing about my first experience with the new Yahoo GO TV people keep reminding me about the fact that this is beta software. At some point back in time a "beta version" of a software package was a complete version, but with possibilities for bugs and maybe some minor functions missing. This whole Web 2.0 thing has destroyed the "beta" state completely. "Beta" means nothing as long as the world's most successful photo sharing site - Flickr is still in "beta" after years of existence and the world's best web based mail - Gmail is also in "beta". So ...
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04.21.06Stupid artist families and stupid astronomersThomas Hawk has an excellent comment on the fact that Joan Miro's family just sued Google because they incorporated parts of his art in their logo on his birthday: "So let's get this right. Google chooses to create a special logo to honor the art and memory of Miro and his birth in 1893 and his family wants to get all pissy about it?" I hope Miro turns in his grave in disgrace of his own family. This is just ridiculous. It reminds me of the story from 1994 when Apple used the code name Sagan for their new PowerMac under construction. The ...
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03.24.06How to waste your company’s money and make an utterly stupid audio format1. Be careful about timing. Find an exact point when the majority of the users of existing formats are willing to change their habit. Around 1999 something happened to the way people wanted to consume music. 2. Analyze what this change is all about. At this point people clearly moved towards more availability and was actually willing to sacrifice quality for the availability. Uncompressed audio was compressed and moved quickly between devices. Welcome MP3, Napster, iPod etc... 3. Now plan a format that is exactly the oposite of what people want Welcome Super Audio CD (SACD). It was released in 1999. Most of you haven't ...
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03.06.06Shovel, shovel and shovel some moreI was in a meeting at Ullevaal Stadion last friday. It's Norways biggest football stadium, and during winter it's obviously not in use. Out on the field I discover this guy: The problem is that he was alone. It looks like he is in for quite a bit of work...
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01.27.06A quick look at NRK’s new HD busI had a short peek inside today. It's called HD1 and is a brand new bus for outside broadcast. Producing HD video and 5.1 sound. The total area inside the bus when fully extended is about 60 square meters. It has already been used during the Norwegian skiing championship last weekend. Next trip is for the winter olympics in Torino, Italy.