July 2011
VW T1
by Volker Weber
[Danke, Hajo]
The Tarantino Mixtape
by Volker Weber
Three days with the Nexus S
by Volker Weber
Three days ago I started using a Nexus S (middle) instead of the Nexus One (right). My main phone is an iPhone 4 (left), but I have used Android phone extensively starting the the Google Dev Phone (a.k.a. G1). There are a couple of different models and I should be using the GSM Model 2. Samsung has switched from the Super AMOLED panel to the cheaper Super Clear LCD which I am using.
Nexus One (N1) and Nexus S (NS) both run on 2.3.4 (Gingerbread). No big surprises there. I had to adjust to one minor change. N1 and NS have a different order for the four buttons at the bottom: Back-Menu-Home-Search vs. Back-Menu-Search-Home. Since you need to hit the Home button quite often, this takes a while to get used to. Microsoft has made the order mandatory for Phone 7: Back-Windows-Search.
The NS is considerably larger than the N1. While the N1 has a matte finish, the NS is glossy. Also, the NS is slightly curved, both on the front and the back. That makes it a really good phone. You know, making calls and such. It's just very natural. While I like the touch of the N1 better, I believe the NS to be prettier.
Two big changes: camera and display. While you can't read the N1 AMOLED display in direct sunlight, the NS LCD has no such problem. Certainly good enough. I have seen but not used the Super AMOLED on the other NS. Currently I would lean towards the LCD panel, since it works well in the open. Not as brilliant as an AMOLED indoors, but certainly good enough.
The iPhone 4 had the first camera that made a small camera redundant for me. Big glass SLR, Prosumer G11, or iPhone. I am happy to say the NS camera also falls into this "good enough" category. I can shoot what I want without missing a "real" camera. That was not the case for the N1. Heiko Hebig shows us, that a N1 camera can be good enough, but he largely uses Camera 360 to make artsy photos. It would be really interesting to see what he could do with an NS. I have one better smartphone camera, and that's the Nokia N8. If only it had better software.
iPhone 4 and N8 are king in terms of build quality. How does the NS score? So, so. Much better than I thought on the first day. It feels tight, the backcover does not make any squeaky noises, the screen is easily cleaned. On a scale from 1 to 10, where the iPhone 4 is a 10, the N8 would get a 9, the N1 would score 8, and the NS 7. A BlackBerry Bold would finish 6, a Torch maybe 4 to 5, and a Palm Pre a solid 3.
There is a small issue that irritates me on the NS:
The screen is concave, which is novel, but it's not even. As soon as the screen comes alive, you won't notice, but I see that when it's off.
Things I did not use: front facing camera and NFC. That will come later.
Last but not least, battery life. My benchmark is 18 hours. I need to sleep 6 hours, during which time a phone can charge, but outside that small window it has to work. Phones that did not pass were the Palm Pre and the Nokia N900. Nexus One barely passes, Nexus S does. So does the iPhone 4 and any BlackBerry or Nokia. Again: good enough.
Would I recommend the Nexus S? Absolutely. If you want an Android, this is the one to get. The current Google reference implementation. No fancy UI extras. If your data is in Google Mail or Apps, you should love it.
Navigate London public transport on Google Maps
by Volker Weber
Starting today, you can get public transport directions for London within Google Maps. One of Europe’s largest metropolitan areas, London is a major destination for both business travelers and tourists. More than 1 billion passengers are serviced by Transport for London (TfL) every year across over 18,000 bus stops and over 250 Underground stations.
Nebula to Democratize Web-scale Cloud Computing
by Volker Weber
Nebula, launched today by a team of engineers and entrepreneurs from industry tech giants and led by former NASA CTO Chris C. Kemp, announced plans for a turnkey OpenStack hardware appliance that will shift the fundamental economics of computing by allowing businesses to easily, securely and inexpensively deploy large private cloud computing infrastructures from thousands of inexpensive computers with minimal effort.
Message Header Analysis Tool
by Volker Weber
Extract a message header from a mail you want to investigate. Copy/Paste into the box above and click on "ANALYSE"
Kids don't try this at home
by Volker Weber
Is the Mac getting overly complicated?
by Volker Weber
With each OS X release Apple tries something new. The dock and the desktop have been there all the time. But they added (and now removed) Front Row. They added the Dashboard. Spaces, Expose, now Mission Control. And finally the iOS launcher, Launchpad. Throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks does not sound like a good master plan.
"Our security auditor is an idiot"
by Volker Weber
A security auditor for our servers has demanded the following within two weeks:
- A list of current usernames and plain-text passwords for all user accounts on all servers
- A list of all password changes for the past six months, again in plain-text
- A list of "every file added to the server from remote devices" in the past six months
- The public and private keys of any SSH keys
- An email sent to him every time a user changes their password, containing the plain text password
From my inbox
by Volker Weber
Von einem Unternehmen hier um die Ecke:
Sehr geehrte Editor, anbei eine Presse Mitteilung über Kommunikation für Feuerwehr. Ich beilege auch ein paar Fotos. Wenn Sie mehre Informationen brauchen, dann bitte nur melden. Wenn Sie die Meldung bringt, bitte ein Kopie zu uns schicken.
Um was geht's?
Im Kampf gegen Waldbrände zählt jede Sekunde und eine reibungslose Kommunikation der Löschkräfte
So ein ordentliches Regenwetter ist auch ganz hilfreich.
Security hole in RAIDiator 4.2.18 (x86)
by Volker Weber
The RAIDiator 4.2.18 (x86) has been pulled due to the fact that any AFP-enabled share will inadvertently obtain guest access, allowing anyone on the LAN access to your AFP-enabled shares. If you have updated to 4.2.18, you can go through each of the AFP-enabled shares and disable guest access to close this security hole. In the meantime, we are preparing a 4.2.19 beta release that fixes this hole as well as provide OS X Lion compatibility. We apologize for any inconvenience.
This is funny on so many levels
by Volker Weber
This may be a Paul Mooney feature. Watch and learn.
Pump up the volume
by Volker Weber
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
To misquote Sallah [Raiders of the Lost Ark]: "New operating system. Very dangerous - you go first"
— Andy Goldstein
[Hat tip, Jörg Hermann]
Samsung Nexus S: first impressions
by Volker Weber
I am very late to the Nexus S. The primary reason is that there is no need to upgrade from a Nexus One. However, my Nexus One seems to have a digitizer defect, that's driving me crazy. You touch something on the screen, and the touch gets registered at the very bottom of the screen. That goes away when you briefly sleep the phone, but it was enough hassle that I wanted to swap the phone.
So I asked 1&1 to send me a test sample. It arrived today. Plain Nexus S packaging, no 1&1 branding. I switched off the Nexus One, swapped the SIM out and into the Nexus S. Insert battery, close back cover, connect tiny USB charger. There is also a cable and a headset in the box that I am not going to use.
I switch on the Nexus S. Battery reports 60% and charging. Enter Google ID and password and the phone does its thing. Downloads my settings, mail, contacts, calendars, my apps from Android market. All over Wi-Fi since it knew about it from the intitial settings download. Half an hour later it's al there. From the cloud, over the air. As easy as that.
1&1 did not mess with the software on the phone at all. It downloaded its 2.3.4 update after the intitial setup. Samsung also did not mess with the Google Experience. This is just like the Nexus One I initially got in the US of A. It's the real thing. Thank you, Samsung, thank you, 1&1. Recommended.
Since I already know everything about the software, how's the hardware? Well. Samsung. Thin, shiny pastic, that attracts fingerprints. Excellent display. Just the right size. And it's fast. If you never had an iPhone 4, you are going to love it. I prefer the design over the Nexus One, but not the materials. I will see how the display works out in the sun. While the Nexus One display is pants in direct sunlight, I expect better from the Nexus S.
Sonos apologizes for OS X Lion bugs
by Volker Weber
I’d like to apologize to all of our Mac OS X customers for the incompatibilities between Sonos and the Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) release, and for our delay in communicating this issue. Here’s a little more background on the problem and our plans for resolving it.
Repeat after me: don't upgrade your operating system in the first week after it became available.
Not too senior
by Volker Weber
Please Note : The client is only looking for candidiates with 2-5 years Notes/Domino development experience. Please DO NOT apply if your experience exceeds this.
[Hat tip, Ben Poole]
NETGEAR ReadyNAS RAIDiator 4.1.8 beta supports Mac OS X Lion
by Volker Weber
Yesterday, Yo-dah posted a couple of updates on Twitter which indicated that Netgear was making good progress with a new firmware to support OS X Lion on older sparc-based ReadyNAS devices. In the evening a beta was published:
We'll use this thread to update you with info on the latest beta releases for RAIDiator 4.1.8. RAIDiator 4.1.7 release supports the ReadyNAS NV+, NV, Duo, 1100, X6, and 600 systems -- yes, even systems as far back as 7 years old.
Praxistipps zu Lion
by Volker Weber
Nach dem Upgrade auf OS X 10.7 häufen sich die Probleme und Fragen. Mac & i gibt Antworten. Schreiben Sie uns, wenn etwas Wichtiges fehlt, dann ergänzen wir diesen Artikel nach und nach.
Sonos and Mac OS X Lion
by Volker Weber
Sonos support writes:
The new Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) release is not compatible with your current Sonos system if your Music Library is stored on your Mac. We will have an update to your Sonos Desktop Controller for Mac very soon and will notify you when it is available. In the meantime, please stay with your current version of OS X.
Repeat after me: don't upgrade your operating system in the first week after it became available.
Vogonen, Oder: Warum es bei c't keine VDSL-Tests mehr gibt
by Volker Weber
Kollege Johannes Endres räumt mit der falschen Vorstellung auf, c't habe es einfacher:
Die Welt war schön, denn wir hatten einen VDSL-Anschluss von der Telekom in der Redaktion. Wenn wir ein VDSL-Gerät testen wollten, einen Praxis-Artikel zu diesem Anschluss schreiben oder etwas beim IP-TV-Angebot T-Entertain ausprobieren, alles kein Problem. Dann wurde die Welt noch schöner, denn die Redaktion zog in ein schöneres Gebäude um — und deshalb können wir jetzt leider keine VDSL-Tests mehr machen.
Bilder vom Ruhrgebiet: Deutschlands Zukunft wohnt hier nicht mehr
by Volker Weber
Nachschlag zur Kulturhauptstadt: Eine Fotoausstellung im Dortmunder Hoesch-Museum widerspricht dem Bildprogramm der Ruhr 2010 und zeigt das Ruhrgebiet, wie es nicht gesehen werden will.
Bilder von Haiko Hebig. Mal gespannt, wie lange der dort noch wohnen darf. :-)
Sonos PLAY:3 unboxing
by Volker Weber
UPS guy brings a big box. Let's look inside.
An Interview with Sonos founder and CEO John MacFarlane
by Volker Weber
Thomas Ricker:
It was in Hilversum that I also caught up with Sonos’ affable CEO, John MacFarlane. John was refreshingly candid for a chief executive, whether discussing Apple’s competitive AirPlay technology or the opportunities he sees in home theater audio. According to John, the latter “is awfully attractive” to Sonos because it’s so “horribly done” by the home theater industry. The entire conversation was free of bureaucratic double-talk and non-answers. Just frank honest discussion from a man who clearly understands his customer base and remains boyishly enthusiastic about the company he founded in 2003.
Good news for ReadyNAS and Apple OS X Lion
by Volker Weber
Intel:
If you are using a x86-based ReadyNAS system (Ultra 2/4/6 [Plus], Pro 2/4/6, Pro Pioneer, Pro Business, 1500, 2100, 3200, 4200), you’ll need to update to RAIDiator 4.2.18, which was just released this morning (see Release Notes). With this release, AFP and Time Machine will work just fine. If you choose not to update to 4.2.18, AFP access will still work, but Time Machine backups will fail.
Sparc:
If you are using a ReadyNAS Duo/NV+ or past sparc-based systems (600, X6, 1000S, 1100), do not update to Lion if you are accessing the ReadyNAS over AFP or are using Time Machine. We’re working on a solution, but this will take some time as it involves optimizing some code for the sparc-based SOC (System-0n-Chip), so please bear with us. In the meantime, if you have to have Lion and you’re not using Time Machine, you can use SMB to connect to the ReadyNAS.
So both Intel and Sparc get the update. Since I advise to wait a few weeks before moving to Lion anyway, I consider this excellent news.
The Rise of the Fake Apple Store
by Volker Weber
Apple products have always been coveted by other electronics makers, especially Chinese manufacturers. The company’s products are so sought after that some electronic makers actually create fake replicas of iPods, iPhones and Mac computers, which are sold in electronics stores and online marketplaces.
Now Apple has to contend with a new genre of copycats, those who are actually replicating Apple Store retail locations and setting up shop around the world.
In unit sales, iOS already eclipses HP's and DELL's business combined
by Volker Weber
Apple said Tuesday that it sold sold 33 million iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches during the quarter ending in June. By contrast, HP sold just 14.8 million PCs during the second quarter. Dell sold only 10.6 million. Suddenly, the post-PC era is here.
Lots of Apple news today, n'est-ce pas?
by Volker Weber
Great last quarter, Apple stock up considerably, OS X Lion released and shipping, new MacBook Air gets backlit keyboard, new Mac mini, new Display, all with Thunderbolt ports. And all that without a SteveNote. They are not slowing down, are they?
New wheels
by Volker Weber
My current usage of social networks
by Volker Weber
Now that my contacts on Google+ have largely outgrown any other social graph, this is my usage pattern:
- Google+: fully engaged
- Facebook: check once a day, post occasionally
- Twitter: follow news outlets, post occasionally
- XING: only react to networking requests, no actual usage, do not reply to messages
- LinkedIn: only react to networking requests, no actual usage, do not reply to messages
New Sonos player released today - and everything changes
by Volker Weber
Today marks the release of the Sonos PLAY:3. It also marks the day that Sonos changes its branding, new website, new artwork and all. The S5 will now be referred to as the PLAY:5. And all the other products will be rebranded as well through the rest of the year. Today, Sonos also updates the software to 3.5. It comes with updated controllers for iOS and Android. The Android controller gets multiple localizations, including a German one. You may also notice that the PLAY:5 will sound better at lower volumes.
Before I talk about the new player, I will let you in on a dirty little secret. You are not going to buy one Sonos player. Unless you live in a one room studio, you are going to buy about half a dozen. And with that, it gets very important to bring the price down. That's the driver for the PLAY:3. It's 25% less than the PLAY:5. If you can afford the PLAY:5, continue buying it. It's the superior machine.
I have often been involved in early testing of software, but never in hardware. The PLAY:5 is the first hardware I got many months before the product gets to market. That comes with responsibilities. And today I am finally relieved from yet another secret I have to keep. Testers are not supposed to write about the things that happened during the test, and I am going to adhere to that guideline. Let's just say that I would not have recommended the initial machine I tested, and that judgement has turned around during the course of the months. Today I am quite happy with it.
Anyway, on to the new player. The PLAY:5 had five amps and five drivers. One bass, two midrange, two tweeters. The PLAY:3 has three amps, three drivers — two midrange, one tweeter — plus a passive bass speaker going out the back. Where the PLAY:5 has line-in, headphones out, two Ethernet ports, the PLAY:3 has only one Ethernet port and no audio in or out. So it's very basic: Ethernet, power, that's it. And of course the wireless SonosNet. And there is a small feature you will love, if you want to mount the speaker to a wall: on the back of the PLAY:3 there is a metal thread like you find on cameras. If you can run power to the place where you want to mount a speaker, things will look very tidy.
The PLAY:3 has four tiny rubber feet on the bottom, and another four on the left side. It can be run vertically and horizontally. It actually adjusts its sound parameters depending on how it sits. You will probably want to run two PLAY:3 players as a stereo pair, if it sits upright. There is your classic stereo with shelf speakers. The PLAY:5 is easy to carry, since its bass reflex opening on the back serves as a handle. The PLAY:3 has no handle at all, and it's surprisingly heavy. Which in itself is a good thing. It has two rubberized bands around the front and the back, so it's better protected, not just as easy to carry.
On to the most important thing: how does it sound? It's not as airy and as powerful as the PLAY:5. More middle of the road. The PLAY:5 can deliver quite a punch. I am missing that on the PLAY:3. Near field, it can deliver stereo separation, but if you move away just two meters, you want two players instead of one.
I have spent hours comparing six different configurations. One PLAY:3, one PLAY:5, PLAY:3 stereo pair, PLAY:5 stereo pair, ZP120 with original Sonos speakers (no longer available), ZP120 with original Sonos speakers and Yamaha subwoofer. I like them in this order:
- ZP120 with speakers and subwoofer
- PLAY:5 stereo pair
- PLAY:3 stereo pair
- PLAY:5
- ZP120 with speakers
- PLAY:3
#3 and #4 are almost a tie. The PLAY:3 stereo pair wins on stereo separation, but the PLAY:5 wins on bass response, volume and transparency. It's just an incredible machine. The big loser is the ZP120 with inexpensive speakers. Today, you would certainly buy two PLAY:3 instead, unless you need the audio inputs on the ZP120. If you want to add a subwoofer, you need to go with the ZP120, since the PLAY:3 do not have any audio out.
However, if you replace the Sonos speakers with something bigger, everything changes. I also have one ZP120 with floor standing Braun speakers and that configuration trumps all of the above.
If you are on Windows, check your computer's health on Google.com
by Volker Weber
Go to Google.com, issue any search query. If you see something like the screen above, your computer has been infected with a particular piece of malware.
Mixed Tape 40 "Anniversary Bliss" is out
by Volker Weber
01 | DAYDREAM | CHASING KURT
02 | NEW-ISH | AZEKEL
03 | LENTIS | KLINKE AUF CINCH
04 | SUNNY DAYS (F-BLOCK REMIX) | KING LOUIS COLLECTIVE
05 | HOW LOW? | NICHOLAS ABERSOLD
06 | OVER TO YOU | HIP NOTHINGS
07 | LOVER OF ARTS | LAYEEEFA
08 | WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US NOW | SPIDERS
09 | THE CLOWN ON THE 22ND FLOOR | PETER CAT RECORDING CO.
10 | THE HARD WAY IN | PANDA BEAR JONES
11 | FAG (RADIO EDIT) | THE WORDS
A curious antenna problem
by Volker Weber
Looks like a squirrel's life savings.
IBM Second-Quarter Earnings are out
by Volker Weber
Revenues from the WebSphere family of software products increased 55 percent year over year. Information Management software revenues increased 18 percent. Revenues from Tivoli software increased 9 percent. Revenues from Lotus software increased 12 percent, and Rational software increased 4 percent.
That's a rebound for Lotus from last year's second quarter, where they lost 6%, and the year before (minus 14%), Websphere continues its incredible growth. Last year 17%, this year 55% on top of that.
Healthy Sex Toys
by Volker Weber
Public service notice:
Could your dildo be dangerous? Many sex toys contain toxic chemicals, including plasticizers that can lead to infertility, hormone imbalances, and other health problems. In Germany, the Green Party is making moves to clean up the country’s goodie drawers.
[Hat tip, Detlef]
My Ultimate Ears have a bit of a problem
by Volker Weber
I love my ear canal headphones from Ultimate Ears. Unfortunately some parts of the clear cable have turned into a yucky yellow color. The cable is detachable from the earpieces, so I contacted Logitech, the company which owns UE, for a replacement. That did not go so well:
Thank you for contacting Logitech's Customer Care. i am sorry to hear about the change of color of your Logitech Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5. Unfortunately, we must inform you that your product is defective and a warranty exchange is needed.
Thank you for contacting Logitech's Customer Care. I regret to inform that the spare cable for Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5 is not available. Logitech understands the situation in which you have been placed. Unfortunately, we are unable to replace your product as Logitech's Limited Hardware Warranty (http://www.logitech.com/warranty) for your product has expired.
Logitech values you as a loyal customer and as a gesture of goodwill I can provide you with a Loyalty Discount code. The Loyalty Discount code will allow you to place one order on the Logitech.com online store (http://www.logitech.com) with a discount of 50%.
I think I will just continue to use the excellent headphones and provide Logitech with some great coverage of the defective product.
On heavy rotation
by Volker Weber
Wonnemeyer 7. Produziert von Heiko Müller. Wie immer, gut. Mein Favorit dieser Reihe ist "Dance on the beach".
c't kaufen
by Volker Weber
Das war ein schwieriger Artikel. Vor zwei Wochen geschrieben und dann immer wieder angepasst. Google+ ist ein bewegliches Ziel.
Lovely VW campaign
by Volker Weber
So liebe ich das
by Volker Weber
Deshalb lese ich gerne Technik & Motor in der FAZ.
Das Familiendrama: Der jugendliche Nachwuchs will einen Tablet PC, weil jetzt "alle" so einen Flachcomputer haben. Natürlich soll es ein iPad von Apple sein. Die Kreditwürdigkeit des Juniors wurde jedoch vom Haushaltsvorstand schon mehrfach herabgestuft. Stichwort: alte Handy-Rechnungen.
Auch potentielle private Gläubiger wie Oma und Opa sind nicht willens, auf freiwilliger Basis einen Teil der Lasten zu tragen. Also wird ein Rettungspaket geschnürt, das in der Familie jedoch höchst umstritten ist.
Ein wunderbarer Einstieg in einen Produkttest. Von Michael Spehr.
GEMA, you are losing this battle
by Volker Weber
Spotify now streaming on Sonos in the USA
by Volker Weber
After many months of patient waiting, residents of the United States can now enjoy streaming music from Spotify. In conjunction with today’s Spotify announcement, Sonos is offering stateside customers the ability to add the service to their systems. Just follow this quick tip on adding a new music service, sign up for Spotify Premium, and start streaming high-quality (320kbps), ad-free tunes throughout the home.
Kein Problem
by Volker Weber
Nein, ich bin nicht süchtig. Ich kann jederzeit aufhören. Aber drei Tage ohne iPad waren jetzt doch etwas lang.
Gelassenheit durch Kompetenz
by Volker Weber
"Google plant die Super-Datenbank", so titelte gestern die SZ, die ZEIT ebenso deutlich mit "Google will Nutzerprofile direkt verkaufen". FeFe ist drauf angesprungen und auf Twitter rollt jetzt noch ein Empörungstsunami. Ganz schlimm, was Google da macht. Man sollte es in Googlemort umbenennen. Aber mal im Ernst, was is da dran, is das ne Ente, übertriebene Empörung oder will Google tatsächlich den Adreßhändlern, die unbehelligt und zumindest in Deutschland vom Listenprivileg geschützt agieren, Konkurrenz machen? Glücklicherweise bin ich nicht der einzige, dem das komisch vorkommt.
ueberall-musik.de jetzt Trusted Shop
by Volker Weber
Unter uns Betschwestern ist ja schon bekannt, wo man Sonos kauft. Nun hat Thomas auch noch ein Siegel für Leute, die ihn nicht kennen. Und ich finde, eine ordentliche Bewertung:
Weder Thomas noch ich hätten damals gedacht, wie sich das ausweitet. Und nein, ich bin an diesem Geschäft nicht beteiligt.
Bio hacking
by Volker Weber
[Hat tip to ITS]
Vodafone Hacked - Root Password published
by Volker Weber
The Hacker's Choice (http://www.thc.org) announced a security problem with Vodafone's Mobile Phone Network today. An attacker can listen to _any_ UK Vodafone customer's phone call.
Live traffic information for 13 European countries
by Volker Weber
Since introducing the live traffic feature on Google Maps in 2008, our team has been working hard to make this feature available to more users in more countries. ... Today we’re announcing new coverage in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Coverage includes all freeways and highways, as well as large roads in major cities. Users in the UK will also benefit from a finer grain of street level coverage.
Apple App Store Volume Purchasing for Business
by Volker Weber
Whether you’re providing apps to two employees or ten thousand, the Volume Purchase Program makes it simple to find, buy, and distribute the apps your business needs.
The Volume Purchase Program also provides a way to purchase custom B2B apps built by third-party developers to meet the unique needs of your business.
This closes a huge hole in Mobile Device Management. Currently every employee has to buy their own apps from the store. Unfortunately:
The Volume Purchase Program for Business is coming soon to businesses in the United States.
Let's hope this gets rolled out globally.
Ballmer: Windows Phone 7 not successful yet
by Volker Weber
Computerworld reports:
While Microsoft has enjoyed many successes over the past year, Windows Phone 7 hasn't been among them, admitted Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during the opening keynote Monday at the 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, being held this week in Los Angeles ... He did display some modesty in admitting that the company did not make major in-roads with Windows Phone 7. "In a year, we've gone from very small to ... very small," he said, referring to the market share that the phone operating system has made since its introduction last year.
Google+ is growing like crazy
by Volker Weber
The social graph on Google+ is growing at an enormous rate. In the first four days between June 30 and July 4, 380 people put me in their circles. Another eight days later, and that number is at 1500. That means it almost doubled every two days. It has already surpassed my contacts on Facebook by more than 50 percent, and it will soon pass the number of Twitter followers that accumulated over years. I am pretty sure most of them are dormant accounts anyway. From reactions to tweets I assume that only one in five is active.
While the total number of users seems to be doubling every four days, the growth in my social graph is going to level off soon. I just don't know that many people. Google is not publishing any numbers, but over the weekend there was talk of 5 million, then 10 million today, with 20 million by the end of the week.
Interactions on G+ are great. Growth is tremendous. Looks like the eye of a perfect storm.
Awesome: Tron Legacy 8 bit
by Volker Weber
Absurdistan+
by Volker Weber
Heute bin ich unbeabsichtigt in die Feminismus-Waschmaschine gefahren. Hintergrund: Google+ verlangt für ein Profil vier Angaben: Vorname, Nachname, Geschlecht, Geburtsdatum. Die ersten drei Angaben sind zwingend öffentlich. An der Angabe Geschlecht entzündet sich die Diskussion. Hier sind drei Angaben möglich:
Diese Angabe soll nun nach Ansicht der Protagonisten weibliche Teilnehmer bei Google+ benachteiligen. Aber lesen Sie mehr >
From my inbox
by Volker Weber
... eine Ära geht zu Ende: Maja-Florence Loose ... verlässt zu Ende Juli 2011 ... das IEB
Nie gehört von dieser Ära. Sehr witzig sind die angehängten Bilder. Alle in 5 kB Größe.
Klar
by Volker Weber
Photo: vowe
Ich liebe Produkte, die in klaren Glasflaschen mit unbeschriftetem Deckel verkauft werden. Banderole ab, in die Spülmaschine und schon hat man einen formschönen Behälter für Lebensmittel.
Persona by Jason Travis
by Volker Weber
Photo Jason Travis
On heavy rotation: Klassik Lounge Werk 9
by Volker Weber
Compiled by DJ Jondal. Produziert von Heiko Müller. Wie immer, gut.
Apple’s Ping attracts 78th member, rolls toward 100
by Volker Weber
CUPERTINO, CA — It’s a miracle that Apple’s servers haven’t melted under the onslaught. After a shaky start, music fans are now flocking to Ping, the iTunes music community. At the current rate, Apple predicts they’ll be signing up their 100th member on September 20th — just after Ping’s one-year birthday.
HP Scanjet sucht neues Zuhause
by Volker Weber
Prima Scanner, braucht nicht viel Platz. Problem: Mac Software taugt nicht.
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
I tell lies for money. Now fuck off, little student, and leave me alone.
— Charlie Stross
How to join Google+ if you haven't done already
by Volker Weber
Google+ is growing at tremendous speeds. My circle is already larger than on Facebook, LinkedIn or XING. And there is more interesting stuff happening. I can maintain a 25% follow/follower ratio, ten times higher than on Twitter without being bored by irrelevant status updates. On Facebook I had to block hundreds of applications and users to get the signal/noise ratio up.
Step 1: Go to https://plus.google.com/ and sign in with your Google ID*.
Step 2: There is no step 2, unless you can't get in. In that case send an email and I send an invite. Enough already. Stop sending mail. ;-)
Find me on Google+ at http://vowe.net/+.
*) Hint: Your Google ID contains an @-sign.
A skate regeneration
by Volker Weber
Quabach
by Volker Weber
Ich liebe Menschen, die Ihr Geschäft verstehen und die mir helfen, wenn ich mal wieder zu blöd bin. Johannes Quabach ist so einer. Ich benutze seine Buchhaltungssoftware. Simpel, schnell, zuverlässig.
Heute konnte ich meine Elsterdaten nicht verschicken. Mail an Johannes Quabach. Am heiligen Sonntag eine schnelle Antwort. Update installiert. Daten übertragen. Gerettet. Danke.
Mac OS X Lion für 20 Euro
by Volker Weber
Mac OS X Lion kostet 23,99 €. Ein 25 Euro Gutschein kostet bei Real diese Woche nur 20 Euro. Bleibt noch ein Euro für eine App Eurer Wahl.
Neue Firmware für Fritz!Box 7390, 7270 und 7240
by Volker Weber
Berlin. Zum Sommer startet der Berliner Kommunikationsspezialist AVM mit einer neuen Firmware-Version für die FRITZ!Box-Modelle 7390, 7270 und 7240. Nach dem Erfolg der vielen zusätzlichen Funktionen im FRITZ!Labor steht nun die offizielle Firmware zur Verfügung. Von der erweiterten Kindersicherung, der DECT-Repeater-Funktion bis zur vollständigen Unterstützung von IPv6 wird die Funktionsvielfalt durch das kostenlose Upgrade konsequent erweitert. Informationen zu allen neuen Funktionen befinden sich auf www.avm.de. Das Upgrade für die FRITZ!Box 7270 und 7240 steht sofort zum Download bereit, das für die FRITZ!Box 7390 folgt in Kürze.
Watching Adele live from London on iTunes
by Volker Weber
Ten years and counting
by Volker Weber
Eckhard Eilers reminds me that vowe.net is 10 years old today. What, ten years have passed by? Anyway, vowe.net never really had a purpose. I was just lazy sending people email about stuff that mattered. The things that floated by and where interesting enough to log them. This website is an example for how things can just happen, without a big plan.
One of the good things I never intended to happen is that people send me interesting stuff. Most of it is virtual, some of it is tangible.
So why am I doing this for ten years now? I guess because I can. And because you give back to me. Thank you for reading. And thank you for making this a pleasure.
Sticky post: No invites for Google+
by Volker Weber
By now I am convinced there is no such thing as a Google+ invitation. All that feature does is to guide people to the front door, where they get in, or they don't, depending on whether the door is open or not. Google opens the door for short periods of time to grow the user base by a set number of users. While the door is open, you get in. There is no line where you queue up and wait. If you register to be notified you are also not taking a ticket on a first come, first served basis. You will only get notified when there is nobody at the door to get in.
I am posting this in the future, so it stays at the top.
Facebook announces group chat and Skype video calling
by Volker Weber
Zuckeberg says that Facebook now has 750 million users who share 4 billion things every day. He announces three new features:
- Group Chat
- New Chat Design
- Video Calling with Skype
Close, but no cigar. You have to download a Java .jar file and run it.
Next you should be able to make a call, which did not work for me initially.
Today's hero
by Volker Weber
Climbing in a tree eight meters from the ground. Working with chainsaw and other tools, cleaning up one of the trees around the house.
The unsinkable Nokia E71
by Volker Weber
Adelaida writes.
My Nokia E71, the one who took a bath on the weekend and then later that night, while we were drying it, ALSO got plunged into the cat water bowl in a follow-up toddler experiment, has just switched on (with only a slight flicker). Wow. Hat trick. I got a new phone in the meantime, though: the boring ol' C3. Love it.
Simplify your Google+ experience in three easy steps
by Volker Weber
- Create one circle Follow with people you follow. Use that instead of Stream.
- Create one circle each for groups of people you want to share with. Do it ad hoc.
- Goto Incoming, if you want to read what other people outside your Follow circle share with you.
Neulich bei IBM
by Volker Weber
Lösung: man nehme den Gummibaum.
vowe.net/+
by Volker Weber
Should point there now.
Google+ app for iPhone is submitted
by Volker Weber
the Google+ iPhone app has been submitted to the App store (no not today, sometime prior to today) and is awaiting approval.
OS X Lion and Time Machine on your NAS
by Volker Weber
When OS X Lion ships, it will require AFP features that your NAS probably has not implemented yet. Those boxes are using NetAFP Netatalk, and there is a small problem:
many corporations are using and making money from Netatalk, but in the past none of these cared that the cow they’re milking gets fed, Netgear Inc. being the one exception, thanks for that.
You will need an update to NetAFP Netatalk 2.2. And the only company likely to have access to that is Netgear:
Now in order to stir things up, we’ve released NetAFP Netatalk 2.2.0 to customers only, without pushing to Sourceforge. Sourceforge Netatalk will stay at 2.2-beta4 until we’ve convinced enough OEMs that working with us is in their own interest, until we generate enough revenue to pay our bills.
Netgear has not shipped the update to RAIDiator 4.2.18 yet, but they could do that when Apple ships Lion. Netatalk has been available to customers since June 9. The good news is that Netgear is likely to ship an update for their X86 based NAS machines. The bad news is they have not updated their older Sparc-based NAS machines for a while. Lets hope those get an update for the older 4.1.7 as well.
Sonos Zonebridge now 50% less
by Volker Weber
I always felt the ZoneBridge was too expensive. Then Sonos sold it for this price when bundled with a new S5 player (or gave it away when you bought two S5). Good thing, they finally made this the regular price.
Advantage Android
by Volker Weber
The Android app for Google+ has already been updated twice within a single day, while the iOS app is still waiting for approval.
Path for Android
by Volker Weber
We are excited to announce Path for Android is available today in the Android Market. We have decided to release Path for Android as a public beta for everyone to test and enjoy.
This is probably coming too late. Google+ which lets you share with closer circles of friends, may have made Path obsolete.
Google is dropping the ugly
by Volker Weber
If you are a GMail user, go into Settings/Themes and select Preview or Preview (Dense). I like.
