Nightmare Flight to Norwich

 
  KLM, Royal Dutch airlines have been cutting back on a lot of things, much of which I don't mind as long as safety remains number one. The flight to Norwich this afternoon, to see parents, was an example of really poor organization. Norwich airport had been shut by freezing fog for the whole of Thursday morning. So when we took off from Amsterdam at 1255, they must have known the chances of landing there in "45 minutes" was going to be rather slim. In the end, we circled North Norfolk for 45 minutes before concluding that this Fokker 50 flight was going to have to divert to Stansted. Passengers were promised everything has been taken care of - a bus to Norwich airport had been laid on. In fact it was. The only problem was that KLM has zero ground staff at Stansted and the staff that were recruited to assist hadn't a clue what they were doing. Cabin baggage was delivered to a mystery belt number, and after customs they put a guy with a clipboard and a stammer in charge of telling people where the bus was going to leave. Nothing against the guy - he couldn't help his speech impediment, but he also couldn't explain to the Dutch people on the flight what was supposed to be happening. The driver was sulking because people had thrown suitcases into the back of his bus without permission - so he didn't get credit for driving us safely to Norwich in pretty awful conditions. A classic case where a little bit of information would have made KLM into heroes of the day, instead of just fumblers in the dark.

Mandriva and Skype Partner - Linux

Mandriva, publisher of the popular Mandriva Linux operating system, announced today that the Mandriva 2006 Linux operating system integrates software from Skype to add free voice calling over the Internet capabilities. Mandriva Linux 2006 offers out-the-box use of Skype's popular application.
The two companies have worked closely to provide users a special version of Skype's software customized for Mandriva 2006. The resulting application enables customers to start using the voice calling feature immediately - without going through a supplementary installation."

Russia Yesterday -or already History?

Update: The Russia Today site has now gone from being a promise that things would happen after December 20th into a "404" site. New Years Resolution - hire a real website designer. This makes the station look absolutely ridiculous.

Wide Open

We found it amusing that the Russia Today satellite TV station was hacked within 48 hours of going on the air. The Voice of Russia website looks equally vulnerable. Don't these webmasters care - or don't they know? 

Have a Very Wierd Christmas

Had an interesting bunch of Christmas cards arrive this afternoon. Three were actually for the neighbours, one was addressed to someone who used to live in this house in the 1970's and who must still have an Uncle Theo somewhere in Holland - and one that was addressed to me simply said " Happy New Year 2006. p.s. I am a celebrity. Please help me to get out of here!". With the gloom surrounding Dutch broadcasting (I see jokers have manipulated the old NOS logo already), the fun is definitely happening in other sectors of the media industry. If you're celebrating, have a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to everyone.

LesBlogsNL

 


Just came back from an interesting dinner with other bloggers, some of whom were in Paris last week for Les Blogs, others just using software to blog their passions and share with the rest of the world. Great conversation. I am sure it was on par with the Rotary meeting in Utrecht in the room next door. 

Russia Yesterday?

What is going on? Lou Josephs advises that the new Russia Today channel is already off the air after two days. The reason? Computer Hackers. This is according to the Gazeta.Ru internet newspaper quoted Russia Today's press service as saying.

"Due to attempts to break into the channel's computer system from outside and a suspected virus infection, the channel has had to cease broadcasting until technical malfunctions are mended," Russia Today said in a press release. "The channel offers its apologies to its audience,".

The 24-hour, English-language, state-funded television channel Russia Today was launched on Saturday, Dec. 10 and the first announcement about the channel was made in June. It is headed by Natalya Simonyan, a 25-year-old former Kremlin correspondent for state TV channel Rossiya.

This must be a very soft launch...the website says it will start on December 20th 2005. Is this a Russian way of launching things?

 

Livesupport Nears Completion of First Stage

Radio is still the most powerful method of disseminating news and educational material to disadvantaged groups and in areas with high poverty, fragile technological infrastructure, and/or instability. But while radio is extremely effective, the tools available to most community stations are very limited in function. The LiveSupport project, based in Prague, seeks to address this by giving stations an open source, end-to-end solution for managing a radio station.


LiveSupport is the first free and open radio management software that provides live studio broadcast capabilities as well as remote automation in one integrated system. They have also understood that such software is worthless unless it is backed by support - and a simple way to maintain it. I've been impressed by the first betas, all of which are posted on the website
As in all Campware products, LiveSupport software is language independent: virtually everything in the user interface can be translated into any language using Unicode. Multilinguality is implemented on all levels of the user interface as well as for the metadata for audio files in the storage system.

LiveSupport has been designed for a Linux environment, but it was built it on top of standard, cross-platform classes. Such an architecture allows for easy porting of LiveSupport to different operating systems in the future.

In short, expect interesting developments in this sector from these guys in the first quarter of 2006.

Edam like cheeze

 


Eat your heart out Holland. This is on a Czech menu... 

Global Voices

Global Voices Online is a non-profit project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society in the USA. In addition to building a global community of bloggers, they aim to create a useful resource for news editors and reporters to tap into story ideas and information from bloggers and podcasters in all parts of the globe. Many communicate ideas and information that the mainstream press in their countries won’t publish.

Because American blogs currently dominate the English-language blogosphere, their aggregator does NOT include U.S. blogs and the roundups focus on countries and regions that tend to be under-represented in the mainstream media. The problem is that it is difficult for reporters to build up a "reputation" with mainstream media - just at the moment they are trusting the reporter, the story from that region loses its significance for the mainstream media.

That said, this is an extremely useful resource.

Gigapixel Project

If you are reading this text on a 1280x1024 computer monitor, a one-gigapixel image would be 35 of your screens wide and 22 screens tall. A four-gigapixel image is twice as wide and twice as high—that is, 70 screens wide and 44 screens tall. I'm sharing this info because a group in the US are using a 4 Gigapixel camera....the sort of resolution used in spy satellites in space. This is a film camera...since digital resolution on a chip hasn't got that far yet. When printed at the highest resolution discernable by the human eye, these images range from 5×10 feet up to 10×20 feet in size. Compared to leading 6-megapixel digital cameras, a Gigapxl™ image has between 160 and 666 times the number of pixels. Image collection during 2005 has remained at a brisk pace; bringing the total number to around 1,200. Naturally, only a portion of these will make it to the Gigapxl™ Project web site. Nevertheless, compared to the small number of images currently displayed in the Gallery, this represents an enormous backlog. Fortunately, during the next several months, they anticipate a substantial increase in the rate at which images are processed and prepared for display both in the Gallery and elsewhere. This, in turn, will put the group some way on toward satisfying a further objective of the Gigapxl Project; namely making the Portrait of America available to the widest possible audience. My favourite is the picture of Angel's Window in the Grand Canyon. The canyon drops some 5,000 feet down to the Colorado river....seen it once on a plane trip, but not in this kind of detail.

Focussing after the Shot...

Following a tip from Jim Cutler, I explored this piece of research at Stanford. Knowing what it is like to rescue important shots that went out of focus, you have simply GOT see this. Scroll down and watch the WMV (or the AVi if you have a really fast connection.

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcamera/lfcamera.wmv

Bush Falling

James Burke alerted me to an amusing site where Bush is apparently falling out of control.

Google Fights

I don't take this too seriously. Seems I won in a battle with Adam Curry. But what were we fighting about? The mystery deepens.

Rubbing Shoulders with Royalty

 


This afternoon I went to the annual Prince Claus Awards in Amsterdam, this time held in the new IJ Music Centre because the Royal palace at Dam Square is being restored. This year the theme was Humour with the main prize being awarded to Jonathan Shapiro, the South African political cartoonist. There was also a stunning performance by a Senegalese dance ensemble. It a preview of an opera which has been commissioned by the Prince Claus Fund and will be performed in Senegal and the Netherlands next year.

I expected the awards ceremony to have rather more jokes - bearing in mind the theme. But it was great to be able to speak to Shapiro after the event...he was obviously gobsmacked at getting the award. He deserves it bearing in mind the risks he has taken - and continues to take. 

Shapiro & Farnon

 


Had a chance to speak with the Prince Claus Award winner Jonathan Shapiro just after the event. He's pictured here with Katherine Farnon of Radio Netherlands. 

Innovation Platform Event

 


On Wednesday morning, I joined 2000 people in a former factory on the outskirts of Utrecht. The Dutch Innovation Platform had organised an event designed to show how Holland is blossoming as an innovative centre again. The purpose was clearly not to convince any foreign investors (it was all in Dutch). I wonder how effective it all was. It may have looked "cool" and innovative to hold it in this factory, but the acoustics were terrible and the technica facilities only so-so. Presenters had to shout to make themselves heard since the presentation areas were open and (non-interested) public was milling around within metres of the presentation space.

Stand holders I spoke to complained that the organisation left a lot to be desired. Perhaps they should have farmed it out to the private sector? No, not perhaps...they should have hired different set of professionals. 

Scratchworx 2

 

The Society for Old and New Media in the Waag were showing off a VJ/DJ machine they had built for a kids project in Amsterdam. It allows you to mix video and music segments into a live performance. It runs on a Mini Mac and is intended to be robust as well as "reasonably" light to transport to different venues. I am surprised that the Waag doesn't seem to have plans to market the design - if it is such a success, why doesn't it want to move from just a student's research project into a commercial project. 

Audience from the Prime Minister

 


Naturally, the session where the Dutch Prime Minister turned out where well attended. 

Cramped Innovation

 
 

Workshop in the Portocabin

 


I quickly escaped from the workshops in a portocabin...cramped and hot. 

loic looks for a connection

loic looks for a connection
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

In Paris today for the Les Blogs convention. I'd like to hear a lot more about what's happening in the non-English blogopshere - not everything is happening in the US.

Downtown Geneva Blues

Although not obvious from any signs, the centre of Geneva (by the famous fountain) has decorated the trees in the same mysterious blue as Leicester Square in London- does Harry Potter live here too? I think we should be told. It is cold by clear in this part of Switzerland with heavy rain forecast for tomorrow.

Navteq doesn't get it

My car uses CD-ROMs to give the navigation system the maps it needs. Navteq, the supplier of the maps sent me a flyer in the post because it wants me to buy a new set to "keep up to date". I plan to replace the car next year and I know that the new car will probably use a single DVD rather than a set of CDs. Would I be able to exchange the set of CD-ROMS for a DVD to fit the system in the new car? No, says Navteq,

"NAVTEQ is the database provider for your navigation system. We are not a system vendor. BMW is the company that choose the device that is factory fitted in your system. You currently have a CD based system and it is possible indeed that the new BMW are now factory fitted with a DVD based system.

About subscription policy, please note we do not deliver such a service. If you wish to update your maps, you have to place an order. If your dealer informs you that the CDs are not compatible with the system of your next vehicle, you are the only person who decides if it is necessary to update your maps."

With an answer like that, I know my answer is going to be "NO". They could offer a subscription service, offering data in any relevant format as a way of building customer loyalty. The cost of the CDs and/or DVD is just a few cents. But no, Navteq is working on an "out of business" model.

SMS Replaces Radio for Warnings?

Some of the regional public broadcasters in the Netherlands have a special status in this country because they would work with emergency services in case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. They are seen as "emergency sources".

I guess their status will come up for review since these networks only tend to appeal to older listeners. The police forces are working on SMS alert systems for the public, which they clearly think are more effective. After a very successful SMS alert pilot in a specific neighborhood in Tilburg, the Netherlands, the Dutch police force is now ready to gradually roll out the service to the rest of the Netherlands. The SMS alert combines SMS mobile-technology with the effective eyes and ears of local residents, to offer a service for improving local security and providing a communication system for mobilizing local residents in case of a crisis.

During a special ceremony attended by national press, police forces, the major and other dignitaries, corps chef Frans Heeres officially launched the service, by sending an SMS with his postal code to the dedicated shortcode 8844.

Currently the service has over 2500 inhabitants subscribed to the service and was successful on many occasions. Roland van Veen, project leader at West Brabant police force: “During the pilot, which started mid 2004, we have been able to locate 4 missing children after sending out a SMS to all subscribers with their profile and last known location. Also we were able to arrest two men who stole an elderly lady’s electronic wheelchair. Besides this we could notify citizens when there was an active burglar in their residential area or alarm them for other calamities."

Also internationally the project received interest. “Police forces in the US stated that this system could have helped a great deal with warning citizens about the Katrina hurricane”, comments corps chef Heeres.

Medical Instruments

Medical Instruments
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Fascinating shop off Wenceslas Sq in Prague that sells old medical instruments, including microscopes and early box cameras. Well worth a browse.

Medical Instruments

Medical Instruments
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Fascinating shop off Wenceslas Sq in Prague that sells old medical instruments, including microscopes and early box cameras. Well worth a browse.

Medical History

Medical History
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Fascinating shop off Wenceslas Sq in Prague that sells old medical instruments, including microscopes and early box cameras. Well worth a browse.

First Snow for Prague

First Snow for Prague
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

In Prague for a broadcasting conference. This was a shot looking out of the apartment window, to see the first snowfall of winter 2005.

Jags in Johannesburg?

Jags in Johannesburg?
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Interesting promotion for South Africa on this London taxi. It says "No Lions and Tigers prowling our streets...just jaguars."

Pub-licity

Pub-licity
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

That edition of the London Evening Standard sold out much earlier that usual....they were gone by lunchtime the newspaper vendor complained to me. For a European, this discussion about open hours still seems rather strange.

Zimbabwe House on the Strand

Zimbabwe House on the Strand
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Zimbabwe House in London is indeed amazing....completely empty, except for the posters. I wonder why Mugabe keeps it open when he hates the UK so much

St Pauls Cathedral

St Pauls Cathedral
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

I remember vividly climbing to the top of this cathedral with my father in the early sixties. There was a tiny ladder to the top. I remember being really scared that the wind would blow me out onto the dome. Amazing how I recall what must have been 15 seconds looking out onto London

Pubs Open 24hrs

Pubs Open 24hrs
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

The Wellington near the Aldwych. Too bloddy cold to sit outside in the winter. To dangerous in the summer with the Carbon Monoxide fumes from the Strand!

Harry at Leicester Square

Harry at Leicester Square
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Ask for HP in London and they used to hand you brown sauce. Now it means Harry Potter (and the Goblet of Fire) which dominates the scene in Leicester Sq at the moment. The premiere took place here. The trees on the square have been clever lit by spotlights on the side of the cinema to create the "letters" effect seen in the first film

Great Software Store

Great Software Store
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Enticed into this shop at the start of Tottenham Court Rd because I recognised the voice booming out of the Home Cinema display. Jim Cutler was promoting a HD DVD production. Jim is one of the great voice actors living in NYC and part of the former Media Network production team.

Shop window in London

Shop window in London
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

This is a new radio from the Freeplay company, although there are not many countries in Africa where this "safari" style radio would work. Seen in Stanford's shop window while on a trip to London

Ian Henderson

Ian Henderson
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Ian heads the sales force for the Internet radio at Reciva. VPRO radio appears to have bought some for experiments in the Netherlands

Radio at the Edge

Radio at the Edge
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

Excellent turnout at the Radio Academy's special event on Radio at the Edge. 140 people, with some interesting and controversial views on the future of radio. The Royal Society of the Arts is a great location, although their sound system in the great hall refused to work on all occasions it was needed.

Tottenham Court Road Radios

Tottenham Court Road Radios, originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks.

DAB Radios are supposedly one of the hot items for Xmas in the UK. Unfortunately, after much publicity, the DRM chip sets won't be out until March 2006. So DRM is for Xmas 2006. I wonder how that will affect the relaunch of Radio Luxembourg in the UK.