February 2015
Spock's Final Tweet
by Volker Weber
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015Live Long And Prosper.
Lenovo’s Promise for a Cleaner, Safer PC
by Volker Weber
Lenovo wants to add less crapware to PCs and offers to to add some more:
we will offer Lenovo PC users affected by this issue a free 6-month subscription to McAfee LiveSafe service (or a 6-month extension for existing subscribers). ... And we will continuously solicit feedback from our user community and industry experts to ensure we have the right applications and best user experience.
Microsoft provides a clean Windows install. Don't add anything. That would be great.
When you have no other news
by Volker Weber
The Sonos agency calls to check whether I have received yesterday's press release. Yes, I receive all press releases you send me. Email is pretty solid at vowe's magic flying circus. Agencies do that when nobody picks up the story. What's the story? Well, since Sonos does not have any new players or anything else newsworthy, they create a limited edition PLAY:1. It's more expensive than a regular PLAY:1 and it plays exactly the same music in exactly the same quality. But it's limited, right? Yesterday's press release told us nothing new. Besides the exact date and time you can order it.
Well, now you know.
Aus der Serie 'Oberschlau' :: PrivDog telefoniert nach Hause
by Volker Weber
Um seinem Claim 'PrivDog schützt Ihre Privatsphäre, während Sie im Internet surfen' gerecht zu werden, tauscht das Tool potentiell gefährliche Werbebanner auf Webseiten aus. Um das zu bewerkstelligen, hat PrivDog dem Journalisten Hanno Böck zufolge alle besuchten Webseiten unverschlüsselt an den Mutterkonzern Adtrustmedia gesendet. Diese Vorgehensweise führt den Sicherheits-Aspekt des Tools abermals ad absurdum.
Love this Instagram account
by Volker Weber
Mark Seliger has some great photos from this year's VF Oscar party. Check them out. Maybe you also want to look at mine? ;-)
Too many bezels?
by Volker Weber
I know this looks like Pebble Week at vowe's magic flying circus, but I am trying to wrap my head around the design of the different Pebble models, and I have to write stuff down to get my thoughts straight.
If you compare the different Pebbles, you will notice a trend. There is more decoration around the screen. The original Pebble had a large curved faceplate and the display was visible through a window in that faceplate, that was exactly the same size. With the Steel Pebble introduced a bezel around the display that would bridge the gap between the steel body and the display. And then they put their logo on that bezel. Amateur hour.
The Pebble Time reminds me of a CRT screen. Think Original iMac. There is a faceplate with a rounded cutout. Then there is a black bezel, and then there is the display again with rounded corners. On CRTs you tried to make that black frame as thin as possible, but here it is quite pronounced.
I have a feeling that this will look seriously geeky, especially when compared to the fit and finish of the Apple Watch.
Pebble, Microsoft and what could have been with Windows Phone
by Volker Weber
.. the plan I am told was for Microsoft to develop the app, including eating all costs associated within, and even to help Pebble keep Windows Phone app parity long-term with continued support. In exchange, Pebble owns the app. These kinds of deals are very familiar with Microsoft as the company knows it has to be aggressive when winning over clients.
Pay-for-play, eine alte Taktik um Hits zu "machen", davon lebt das App-Ökosystem bei Windows Phone. Alle guten Apps sind kostenlos, weil schon bezahlt. Aber die Taktik funktioniert nicht immer. Bei Pebble anscheinend gar nicht, und bei Sonos nur ganz langsam.
Pebble Steel
by Volker Weber
This is now the fourth Pebble design I am trying. I still like the original design, both in Jet Black and Cherry Red. Then I used the Steel in Matte Black with a matching steel bracelet. At first I did not like the Brushed Steel, but now that I tried it with a leather band, I have changed my mind. This looks pretty good.
Watchface: Digits, vaguely inspired by Pebble Time new watchfaces.
Android and iOS dominate unit shares
by Volker Weber
"Instead of a battle for the third ecosystem after Android and iOS, 2014 instead yielded skirmishes, with Windows Phone edging out BlackBerry, Firefox, Sailfish and the rest, but without any of these platforms making the kind of gains needed to challenge the top two," said Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
The latest IDC numbers paint a very black picture for BlackBerry and a dark grey one for Windows Phone. A few thoughts of my own:
- Apple continues to dominate profit shares. Nobody in the mobile market is making as much money. Rightfully so. They have the best products.
- Android is making huge gains against everybody else. But only Samsung is making any money, and their profits are declining. Expect Samsung to be unseated by Chinese vendors.
- Nokiasoft has not found success as they predicted, not even by going downmarket with cheap handsets. The Next Version needs to fix it. Again.
- BlackBerry is now below one percent and completely irrelevant, as far as the public is concerned. Hardly anybody is considering buying another BlackBerry. Anybody but a few companies who value the security of their data. Will they be able to sustain their hardware business? We will find out this year.
- Tizen, Sailfish, Ubuntu, Firefox OS? Yeah, right.
Pebble Time
by Volker Weber
While I was away, Pebble announced its second generation watch. The original Pebble is a tough act to follow. They hit the sweet spot with their first shot: excellent battery life, readability in bright sunlight, extensible with small apps, and customizable with your own choice of watch faces. The new watch brings three major hardware advancements: a color display, a microphone and an accessory port. The color display is again a low power ink display, not an LCD or TFT. Pebble wants to preserve the excellent battery performance. The microphone lets you record quick replies or reminders. And the accessory port will allow third parties to augment the watch.
Pebble goes back to a plastic watch, now with a full metal face plate. I understand the original Pebble will continue to be available but the Steel does not really make sense any more. It's more expensive than the new one while only delivering the features of the old one. Pebble also plans to bring the new timeline interface to the original Pebble, once they have brought the new one to market. No delivery date but it seems doable.
Pebble has successfully raised money on Kickstarter for the new watch, blowing past their $500,000 goal within minutes. All those supporters will get their Pebbles first, so even if the watch starts shipping in May, you will not be able to buy one in the store any time soon.
BackBeat Pro und Siri
by Volker Weber
Kann der @vowe das verifizieren, dass der Backbeat Pro mit Siri Probleme haben soll? Kann ich mir ehrlich gesagt kaum vorstellen. @MicSpehr
— Jan Spoenle (@spoenle) February 22, 2015Der hochgeschätzte Kollege Dr. Michael Spehr hatte das BackBeat Pro für die FAZ getestet und dabei festgestellt:
... leider ließ sich jedoch die Sprachassistentin Siri fürs iPhone nicht starten
Ich wusste es auch nicht mehr ganz sicher und hatte das Headset nicht dabei. Aber Jan Spönles Vermutung ist richtig: das funktioniert sehr wohl, ist nur etwas kniffelig. Drückt man die große Taste auf der rechten Muschel, ertönt zunächst ein kurzer Ton und danach kommt die Ansage "Pairing". Lässt man die Taste nach dem Ton und vor der Ansage los, dann ist man mit Siri verbunden.
Das ist übrigens wunderbar formuliert. "Ließ sich nicht starten" heißt nicht, das geht nicht. Das hieße "lässt sich nicht starten". Er sagt, ich habe das nicht hinbekommen. Perfekt!
Back in Black
by Volker Weber
Pebble continues to be my favorite wearable. Runs up to a week on one charge, display is always on and delivers the two interesting data points at all times: date/time and step count. My phone is on silent, all notifications come in through Pebble.
The watchface is Futura Steps and utilizes the Smartwatch Pro app written my Max Bäumle who continues to provide me with a stream of new Pebble watches. So far I have used a Red Kickstarter Edition and a Matte Black Steel. Today I broke the red watch by losing one of the buttons and Max gave me a Black Kickstarter Edition instead. This is the least flashy model and I quite like it.
New IBM study debunks five common myths about Millennials
by Volker Weber
How are Millennials alike or different from our colleagues? Are the stereotypes about us true? And, what changes must we make in our organizations?
To answer some of these questions, today IBM is releasing the results of a global study on Millennials in the workplace, of which I was a co-author. Essentially, after surveying more than 1,775 employees from organizations of all sizes, across 12 countries, we found that Millennials’ expectations are the gold standard for what everyone wants.
You can download the study without registering.
Heftiges Bildschirmflackern auf dem Passport
by Volker Weber
Seit dem Update auf 10.3.1 zeigt mein Passport manchmal heftiges Bildschirmflackern, das nach einem Reboot verschwindet. Keines der anderen Geräte zeigt dieses Verhalten.
Unable to upgrade to BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.3.1 due to insufficient space
by Volker Weber
The BlackBerry 10 OS requires 2.5 times the downloaded package size, for example, an update package of 1GB will require a total of 2.5GB's free space to download and install successfully.
I would install via PC or Mac and BlackBerry Link. That requires a lot less space.
100 GB of OneDrive storage for Dropbox users
by Volker Weber
Pretty easy. Microsoft verifies you have a Dropbox account and then gives you 100 GB for a year. If you are in the US, they also have a Bing Rewards bonus of 100 GB for two years. Lots of those promotions in the fight for users.
Reifenwechsel
by Volker Weber
Seit ich viel laufe, habe ich ein neues Problem: ich verschleiße Schuhe in atemberaubendem Tempo. Am Anfang bin ich noch auf GEOX gelaufen, aber die haben nur ein paar hundert Kilometer gehalten. Dann erzählte mir ein Freund, dass er seit Jahren ein Paar Scarpa Mojito hat und dass die Sohle unzerstörbar ist. So sieht eine Vibram-Sohle aus, wenn sie neu ist:
So ähnlich sahen die Mojito auch aus. Selbe Profiltiefe, aber anderes Design. Ein halbes Jahr und 2500 km später komme ich nicht mehr über den TÜV:
Sohle austauschen macht keinen Sinn, weil auch das Innenfutter ähnlich abgelaufen ist. Außen ist eigentlich noch alles prima, aber der Schuh ist fertig. Und weil er so lange durchgehalten hat, gibt es wieder ein Paar Scarpa. Diesmal eine Nummer fester: Zen Pro. Siehe oben.
Vielleicht sollte ich anfangen, Schuhe zu testen.
Adding insult to injury
by Volker Weber
our goal was to enhance the experience for users
Lenovo, you are insulting our intelligence. Do you seriously think that anybody, anyone, will believe that you are enhancing a user's experience by adding ads to the content they are viewing? And that it's OKish to insert a proxy and a root certificate for that purpose? Because yada yada yada ...
Here is what you could have written:
We made a stupid mistake. Can we please ask for forgiveness?
And then, maybe, hoist the person responsible up a flagpole by their tiny balls? You think that maybe a bit too much? In that case you should look at the attack vector he created.
Update: Slowly getting there.
We're sorry. We messed up. We're owning it. And we're making sure it never happens again. Fully uninstall Superfish: http://t.co/mSSUwp5EQE
— Lenovo United States (@lenovoUS) February 20, 2015
BlackBerry 10 OS 10.3.1 Arrives
by Volker Weber
Press Release is out:
Discover a refreshed visual look and feel along with powerful new features, including BlackBerry Blend, BlackBerry Assistant, and access to hundreds of thousands of apps
I am currently installing on Passport, Classic, Q10, Z10, Z30 followed by P'9982 and P'9983. Maybe I should try the Q5 and the DevAlpha as well. Just for kicks.
tizi Mega-Tankstelle
by Volker Weber
Bisher nutze ich eine tizi Tankstelle, wenn ich verreise. Ein Netzteil, bis zu vier Geräte. Sie hat nur zwei Nachteile: erstens hat sie einen festen Eurostecker - nicht gut für Reisen ins Ausland - und zweitens weiß ich nie, welches Kabel wo reingehört.
Das Problem löst die neue Tankstation. Die kann auf jedem Port bis zu 2.4A Strom liefern. Bei 5V macht das 12W. iPad und iPhone nehmen so viel Strom auf. Insgesamt liefert die Station zwar nur 8A, aber man stöpselt abends im Hotel einfach alle Geräte ein und morgens ist in jedem Fall alles voll. iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Powerbank. Nur eine Steckdose im Hotelzimmer und bis zu 5 Geräte, das reicht sogar mir.
Das Steckerproblem löst die Tankstation gleich noch dazu. Man kann in jedem Land das passende Kabel einstecken. Ich habe 'zig verschiedene, teilweise sogar sehr kurz. Zusammen mit kurzen USB-Kabeln ist das eine sehr elegante Lösung.
Kein Kabel dabei? Mit diesem Schlingel wird das unwahrscheinlich. Ich mag diesen USB-Stecker, der in jede Richtung reingeht. Aber das Kabel hat auch einen ziemlich stolzen Preis.
Pebble is counting down
by Volker Weber
Next Tuesday, 16:00h. I think they want to show us something before Apple Watch hits the stores.
Lenovo Pre-instaling Adware :: Superfish
by Volker Weber
First thing i done was download chrome and already noticed when i google search, adware adverts appear into the search results. These are cleverly designed to fit into the search results to make them appear to look normal.
So today i got some time to investigate and narrowed it down to a piece of software called Superfish. I check the install date and ......its the 1 month before purchase when all the other lenovo bloatware was installed.
That's an insult which goes beyond bloatware.
Here is Lenovo's statement:
"Lenovo removed Superfish from the preloads of new consumer systems in January 2015. At the same time Superfish disabled existing Lenovo machines in market from activating Superfish. Superfish was preloaded onto a select number of consumer models only. Lenovo is thoroughly investigating all and any new concerns raised regarding Superfish."
My Yoga did not have Superfish installed. I believe these really bad ideas stem from the fact that in many market segments PC makers race to the bottom. In pursuit of ever lower prices they add software which makes a few dollars of profit. Be it Antivirus trialware, useless add-ons or in this case adware.
You can easily avoid this behavior if you buy from a company like Apple. You get a clean user experience, no pesky stickers, no bloatware. Just the real thing.
Apple Watch
by Volker Weber
If I can't have this, I want that.
Ed Brill :: The Secret of IBM's Social Business Transformation
by Volker Weber
Over the decade that I have been involved in social and online collaboration, the definition of a social business has evolved. Today I like to describe it as an organization whose culture of participation and systems of engagement enable groups of people to drive business outcomes. We have moved past the early adoption phase of "holding hands and sharing files," where it just felt good to have an audience for a weekly blog or uploaded presentation. Today, the key is to create an environment where the results - for the company and for the individual - are the focus.
The New Yorker :: Jonathan Ive and the Future of Apple
by Volker Weber
How an industrial designer became Apple’s greatest product.
Excellent long read.
Sonos, your beta upgrade mechanism is broken
by Volker Weber
I love Sonos players and I have been testing your software for years, ever since you only had but one player, the venerable ZP100, the Soviet iPod and no software controller. But lately, I am feeling a bit left behind. How did that happen? In the olden days betas would get a name and an easy to remember URL where to download the latest controller. But last year you broke this easy mechanism. Now I would receive an email with a short random URL. I could download the latest controller from there. And then I got stuck. At least on Android. On iOS I would hit the Update Now menu item when it appeared and I would get the latest update.
Not on Android. There I would be dumped to a page that explained I needed to fetch the link from an email I received. Did that, installed the version I downloaded, only to be greeted with the Update Now menu item. Rinse, repeat. It does not really matter to me. The controller keeps working and I can ignore the Update Now item. But it's not in your interest to let me run an old beta, or is it?
Please fix this. You have great products that deserve a beta program that actually works.
Blackberry 10.3.1: Alle BlackBerrys, alle Carrier, ein Betriebssystem
by Volker Weber
BlackBerry bereitet das größte Systemupdate für alle im Markt befindlichen Geräte mit BlackBerry 10 vor. Am 19. Februar soll 10.3.1 über alle Carrier ausgeliefert werden.
Subsonic :: Stream Your Own Music
by Volker Weber
Stream from your own computer. Your media - your terms.
Subsonic works with Chromecast and SONOS. Apps available for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Chrome and many more. Runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeNAS, unRAID etc.
You want this if you have a huge media library and need to make it available everywhere.
Withings Health Mate on Android now tracks your steps
by Volker Weber
I upgraded the Samsung Note 4 to Lollipop today and found something new to me. Withings Health Mate 2.0 on Android can now track your steps, exactly like I do on the iPhone 6 Plus.
Two wishes for Samsung to get back in the game: make the next one feel less cheap and dump the touchcrap. It's so tiring to have at least two of everything. If you must preload all of this bloatware, please make it so that it can be uninstalled.
Bluetooth Keyboard connected to Windows Phone
by Volker Weber
This Lumia 830 is running Windows 10 Technical Preview. And it finally is able to connect to a Bluetooth keyboard, a feature sorely missing from Windows Phone 8.1.
IBM to publish ConnectED presentations
by Volker Weber
ConnectED 2015 Presentations: Missed a session or two? Need a bit more detail on some key topics? There's only one week left for ConnectED attendees to access presentations before they are made available to the general public.
Sounds like IBM is going to make ConnectED presentations generally available. That would be a very good move. But then, why the urgency? "One week left"?
World's thinnest international charger
by Volker Weber
This is a very cool Indiegogo project. 2.4 A USB charger with replaceable plugs for different countries. Even the notoriously big UK plug gets folded into a very thin configuration.
[Thanks, John]
Announcing the first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones
by Volker Weber
I’m excited to announce that our first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones is available now for Windows Insiders! The team here has been working hard to get this out to you and we know that you’ve been waiting patiently since we announced that it was coming. This is a long post, but there is a lot of important information so if you want to jump in and install the preview on your phone I really encourage you to read it completely.
Available for Lumia 630, 730, 830 and variants thereof. The 630 has only 512 MB of RAM. I was wrong when we speculated that Windows 10 might not be coming to phones with only half a gig of RAM.
The Human Equation Every IBM Analyst Needs To Compute
by Volker Weber
This story is from my book, A View from Beneath the Dancing Elephant: Rediscovering IBM's Corporate Constitution. It is the story of one twenty-four hour period within IBM's most profitable division - IBM Software Group ((SWG)). The number of these 24 hour periods that have occurred over the last fifteen years are innumerable. Their human toll is incomprehensible.
I have too many friends in this place not to care.
Denim Update für Lumia 925 und 1020
by Volker Weber
Fünf Monate nach Ankündigung kommt Lumia Denim gerade auf 925 und 1020 CV Germany an.
Samsung Smart-TVs blenden Werbung über abgespielte lokale Inhalte
by Volker Weber
Bestimmte Smart-TVs von Samsung blenden offenbar Werbung über Inhalte, die aus dem lokalen Netzwerk abgespielt werden. Standardmäßig voreingestellt ist eine Einwilligung des Nutzers, die man extra zurückziehen muss.
Die Software auf meinem Samsung "Smart-TV" war von Anfang an eine einzige Enttäuschung. Apps, die ich immer wieder reingedrückt bekomme, obwohl ich sie nicht will, großflächige Werbebereiche, die Samsung mit eigenen Apps vollpflastert, eine einzige Zumutung. Was Samsung hier demonstriert, ist fehlender Respekt vor dem Kunden. Und das wird sich rächen.
Sonos app for Windows Phone leaked
by Volker Weber
Windows Central picks up a story about the Sonos controller for Windows Phone, which is currently in development:
The good news here is the app still looks to be in active development as suggested by Sonos tech support. The bad news is we have no idea when it will release. However, we cannot imagine it will be too much longer.
As other private betas, the Sonos app is distributed via the Windows Store and you need to know the URL to find it. Now that we have that, we still can't install it, but we know what the development name is and that it has been updated less than two weeks ago.
A beta test for Sonos always takes a couple of months. 5.3 just went into public beta. So I don't agree with the assessment that it won't be much longer. But I am confident that it will come out this year.
Stepz - Schritte zählen mal ganz privat
by Volker Weber
Letzte Woche habe ich eine freundliche Mail von Michael Szumielewski erhalten, in der er mir seinen Schrittzähler für's iPhone vorstellte. Es arbeitet mit dem M7/M8 Motion-Coprozessor in iPhone 5S/6/6+. Für einen Euro schaltet Michael die Werbung ab und dann ist das ein sehr angenehmes Programm. Was vielen sicherlich gefallen wird: Stepz behält die Daten auf dem eigenen Gerät und meldet sie nicht an einen zentralen Service. Es lohnt sich, auch mal seine anderen Programme anzuschauen, die ähnlich aufgebaut sind. Gute Leistung für wenig Geld.
Meine FritzBox-Sperrliste
by Volker Weber
02035094990 02088642264 022143073339 022198239018 02283822567 02317257820 023443881515 02345074289 030187543758 030762398 03078783118 030800927198 03092702890 03419950255 03834231340 039831429096 051133060197 061287477837 06927307 06975911000 06998660724 08003636266 089124711
Das sind die Telefonnummern, die sich einen Eintrag auf meiner Sperrliste verdient haben. Marktforschungsunternehmen und andere Hausierer.
The Wookie on partnering with IBM
by Volker Weber
Looking at the new offerings it feels like a major change coming from IBM, during the good times IBM products did 80% of what the clients wanted with the parters like LDC filling in the remaining 20%, however in the last few years IBM products have only been providing 50%-60% of what clients wants (compared to the competition) meaning people simply did not buy them and thus the partners got to provide 0%, now IBM seem to be fighting back with their design team leading the charge, however to me they seem to aiming to provide about 95% of what clients want…will the remaining 5% be worth waiting round for?
This resonates well with some of the thoughts I had about IBM business partners. It all comes down to what value you can add for your customers. Less about being an ISV and more about making things work for your customer.
99% of Networking Is a Waste of Time
by Volker Weber
"Everyone gets this wrong. They try to look right and sound right and end up being completely forgettable. I’m having a ball just being myself. I don’t wear suits or anything like that. I do not care about first impressions. I’d almost rather make a bad first impression and let people discover me over time than go for an immediate positive response. Curiously, research I read years ago suggests that you build a stronger bond over time with someone who doesn’t like you immediately compared to someone who does. Everything about Jack Nicholson is wrong, but all of the wrong together makes something very cool."
Tizi Flip
by Volker Weber
Wenn der Erfinder von USB einst beerdigt wird, dann wird man seinen Sarg noch zweimal heben bevor man ihn endgültig richtig herum ablässt. Ich weiß wirklich nicht, wie oft ich den USB-Stecker gewendet habe. Sehr clever das Ladekabel von tizi. Das passt in beide Richtungen. Verschiedene Längen, auch als Schlüsselanhänger. Und mit Apple-Zertifizierung, damit das iPhone nicht mault.
Sonos Blue Note PLAY:1
by Volker Weber
Our first ever limited edition speaker celebrates more than 75 years of the finest in jazz with a custom design and access to exclusive playlists.
Kann man machen. Muss man aber nicht. ;-)
Boom gets an update
by Volker Weber
Now it has the same features as Megaboom. You will now be able to double up a Boom with a Megaboom. I love it when manufacturers upgrade products they already sold.
[Thanks, Alex]
Stuff that worked brilliantly at ConnectED
by Volker Weber
I did not bring a lot of gear to ConnectED. You'd be shocked:
- iPhone 6 Plus with Pebble Steel and Voyager Edge. I use that for everything including calling home over Facetime with very discreet audio. Platronics replaced my original pre-launch sample because it could not be upgraded to the latest firmware. I wanted to try a Jawbone Era, but the agency turned out to be very difficult to deal with. ("We don't have a charge case and I will first send you a contract.") Thumbs up for Plantronics, again!
- Lumia 930. I brought this for a simple reason: if I had the chance to record a video interview I wanted the best camera I have. It can record up to 4k video with 5.1 surround sound. It can also record directional stereo. That means things in front of it are louder than things behind it. Very impressive. Why not the Lumia 1020? Only two microphones instead of four and no Denim upgrade yet. I used it for ten minutes, but they were worth taking it.
- Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. I left the Macbook at home and instead brought the Yoga. That saved me from bringing an iPad or any other tablet. I was really happy to have it since I had to do a few quick emergency fixes over SFTP and SSH, that would have been impossible or at least very difficult on a tablet.
Yes, that's it. Three machines, one that required no recharge and one that needed only one recharge. For the first time ever, the iPhone did not need a recharge during the day, but I kept a powerbank in my bag with the little charging dongle attached which TimeToAct gave away in the showcase.
While the Yoga is a great machine, it has some challenges rooted in Frankenstein 8.1. Sometimes it would not turn off the keyboard or trackpad when folded. Then the mouse pointer disappeared and I could only get it back by powercycling the machine. Both never happened on my original Yoga 11. Not once. Those were minor inconveniences. And then I returned home and found that the Yoga had shed a tiny part. I don't know why this happened because I always treated it with exceptional care. I did not even notice when it fell off.
Zur Nachahmung empfohlen
by Volker Weber
Heute Abend eine schöne Email bekommen:
Hallo Volker,
von einem langjährigen Leser Deiner Beiträge einen besonders herzlichen Dank für die ausdauernde öffentliche Aufforderung, den Arsch aus dem Sessel zu bekommen. Ich habe das nun im vergangenen Jahr so lange bei Dir mitgelesen, dass 2015 mein "do it like vowe"-Jahr werden soll. Seit zwei Wochen bin ich mittags knapp zwei Stunden mit Hund ... unterwegs und Du hast vollkommen recht: Man lernt spannende Dinge über sich selbst, wenn der Atem langsam wiederkommt.
vowe is a good mother. Danke dafür!
Sowas freut mich ungemein. Ich erzähle von meinen Bemühungen, um mich selbst in die Pflicht zu nehmen. Aber auch, damit das vielleicht jemand nachmacht. Ich habe so viel gutes dadurch erfahren, dass ich meine Faulheit überwunden habe, dass ich das auch anderen wünsche. Da fing mal an, als ich von Dr. Michael Spehrs "3.5 Millionen Schritten und kein Fortschritt" las und das für eine Wahnsinnsleistung hielt, die ich niemals schaffen würde. Heute weiß ich, das kann jeder. Nicht auf Anhieb, aber mit langsamem Anlauf. Zuerst kommt der Kreislauf, dann die Muskeln, dann die Bänder. Nicht so ungeduldig sein. Ich habe drei Monate gebraucht, um von null auf 10000 zu kommen.
Ich war davon überzeugt, dass Liegen die einzige natürliche Haltung des Menschen ist. Sitzen und Stehen sind beide ganz schlecht. Heute weiß ich, es sind Liegen und Laufen.
Where Jeff Schick wants to take his business
by Volker Weber
IBM had set up a half hour meeting with Jeff Schick in Orlando. Instead of just talking high level management, I asked him to record a short video. He was fine with that and rather relaxed. See the uncut seven minutes on heise video by clicking the photo.
For those interested: this video was recorded with a Lumia 930 in 1080p and full stereo and then downsampled for size. There were no studio lights, just light coming in through the window of his executive suite. We were sitting at the corner of a conference table with the Lumia propped up on a table stand. The video was originally about 1 GB and I had a very hard time uploading through either the Swolphin or ConnectED network. I was just glad I did not go full throttle, since the 930 can also record in 4k with DD 5.1. That file would have not made it through the network.
Gamification as motivation
by Volker Weber
Gamification works for me. Totally. Ever since I set my goals to 10000 steps a day and 100 km a week, I have not missed one of them. Not even once. That's 14 weeks and counting. One week I clocked more than 160 km. That's more than half a marathon every single day of the week.
Last week was difficult. There were three slow days where I hardly made the 10k. Monday was the most important day of Lotusphere, Thursday was only 18 hours long and I spent half of that time in an aircraft, and Sunday the big flu hit again. 102.43 km. You don't do 13 weeks and then give up on the 14th.
That's a motivational trick developed by Jerry Seinfeld:
He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."
You need to set yourself a reasonable goal and then stick to it. I actually set two: 10k/day, 100k/week.
Today was another difficult day. I did not get up until around noon. Everything hurts. And yet, the dog needs walking, I need fresh air, and I have two goals to check off. So I put on a heavy jacket, gloves and a hat, and off I went.
What do I use? iPhone 6 Plus with Withings Health Mate as tracker. That app also tracks my weight and blood pressure. Pebble Smartwatch as display. What you see is the Futura Steps watch face which pulls data from the iPhone via the SmartWatch Pro app. Pebble has turned out to be the best match for my requirements. The watch is waterproof, the display is always on, yet it runs a couple of days on one charge. The watch itself can track steps if you don't want to carry the iPhone all day, but I found the sensors in the iPhone to be superior and more accurate.
Set yourself a reasonable goal, hang up that calendar and start walking. If you are not used to walking, start with 6500 steps, always park at the far end of the parking lot and never use escalators. Generally, avoid anything with wheels on it. Things will change quickly.
Bending Jaws
by Volker Weber
Must watch this.
