Image by MASON(alex555) via FlickrThanks to blogger for hosting my blog for such a long time. It has been a wild ride, which will continue on www.funkykaraoke.com
See you!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Moving To Wordpress
Image by MASON(alex555) via FlickrThanks to blogger for hosting my blog for such a long time. It has been a wild ride, which will continue on www.funkykaraoke.com
See you!
Monday, February 9, 2009
We Are All Fu***d
Google did it again. In just a couple of days Google shook the mobile landscape more than a really huge earthquake. Google launched Latitude and Sync for mobile in quick sequence, just before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. What are the implications of this two services?
There are already many blog posts on Latitude with which I mainly agree. I absolutely loved this one:
Latitude: Google’s Trojan Horse (or, Why Who’s Nearby Is Not A Business) by Andrew. I don't have much to add to that.
I will focus on Sync for mobile. Since we have been active in this space for a couple of clients I know very well what can be done once you have all your web contacts on your mobile and more importantly what can be done if you have all your mobile contacts on the web. Google will now have the biggest repository of mobile numbers in the world. Beat that operators. Beat that Zyb, Soocial or any other sync service on the web, based on Funambol and some hacking...
Android's phonebook is already in the cloud, but now Google is adding more address books, calendars, to-do lists and more in the cloud. All this lists contain a great deal of precious information which can be used in various ways. I will illustrate just an example with the address book...
Image you could call any contact directly from the web on his usual phone - identifying yourself with your usual phone number. Of course you could use Skype, but why use Skype if you can do the same from Google Talk or even better from your GMail inbox (with the voice & video plugin). I would bet that the next version of Grand Central will enable you to make calls from GMail with your Grand Central number. I know because we (Marand) can do this today. True, but you need an operator for the last mile you will say. My answer will be: "Not for long!" Truphone is a neat example of how you can do mobile voice over the data layer. Operators, be afraid.
Secondly - there is no better social graphing tool than your phonebook. Add some frequency of calling (from your phone), emailing (from your GMail account) and meetings from calendar (...GCal) and you have the perfect social graphing tool at your fingertips. If I know that, guys at Google probably know it even better.
In all this story there are almost no operators or startups involved. There is only the mighty Google. That is why we are all fu***d :)
p.s.: On the other hand this position looks great since operators and the Telco space should finally wake up and open their eyes ... even though some of us have been explaining this for the last couple of years.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Barcelona Here I Come (Again)
Image by tomazstolfa via FlickrNevertheless I will be flying to Barcelona along with Tadej for the following events:
Sunday (15.2.2009) - Mobile Sunday Barcelona
Organized by Rudy De Waele, Mobile Sunday is basically a party for people in mobile. The goal is to mingle and exchange ideas. It is the place to be on Sunday because this is the event where most influent people in the mobile industry and its convergent area’s will be partying. This is also a chance to chat with most of the MobileMonday global chapter founders in one spot. My expectations: Get a chance to talk with some interesting people about interesting concepts and implementations and hopefully see if I can bring MobileMonday to Ljubljana.
How to get in: RSVP
When: 19:00
Where: Club Mix, Comerç 21
Tag: #msb
Monday (16.2.2009) - Mobile Peers Awards
The second event organized by Rudy are the MobileMondayMobile Peer Awards. This is one of the most influential events in the mobile industry. 163 startups participated and 42 nominees were selected by their respective chapters. An international Jury selected the 20 finalists to present at the Peer Awards event in Barcelona. This year the keynote will be given by Anssi Vanjoki.
My expectations: I expect to meet a bunch of amazing innovators and innovations.
How to get in: RSVP
When: 16:00 - 20:00
Where: Petit Palau, Palau de la Música Catalana, calle Palau de la Música, 4-6
Tag: #mpa
Sweedish Beers is supposedly one of the greatest events during Mobile World Congress. It usually gives you the opportunity to meet with a lots of mobile industry people - basically the ones you missed on Sunday and Monday :). It is hosted by Helen Keegan - a great blogger. According to the latest info is happening at BelChica, a unique place in Barcelona.
My expectations: I expect to have some great beers and have a chat with the friends I made on Sunday and Monday.
How to get in: Swedish Beers No RSVP
When: 19:00 -
Where: Bel Chica, Carrer de Villarroel 60
The event has been moved to Wednesday (more info here), so we will have to find another mingling place for Tuesday.
I will have to leave on Wednesday morning so I will have to skip the events going on the next few days.
I am sure it Barcelona will be great and that there are many interesting discussions ahead. Ping me on Twitter or drop me an email if you want to meet and have a chat ;)
See you!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
How They Saw the Future in 1981
A very nice video showing how they imagined the future of newspapers, distributed via a computer network. I love the phone-modem part :)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Be Funky, Be Agile
Image by pcalcado via FlickrAgile software development has been around for a while now. An adaptive software development process was introduced in a paper by Edmonds (1974). Notable early Agile methods include Scrum (1986), Crystal Clear, Extreme Programming (1996), Adaptive Software Development, Feature Driven Development, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) (1995). These are typically referred to as Agile Methodologies since the Agile Manifesto was published in 2001.
The Agile Manifesto states:
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Princeples behind the Agile Manifesto:
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
As of today most of the companies I know develop software according to the agile philosophy but with different flavors of the above methods. During the last few days Scrum has been popping out on different occasions, so I decided to find out a bit more about it.
and I also found a really good video about agile development at Google:
Agile development feels pretty much natural to me and I can't really imagine how a team could be fast enough in a different way. The Agile Manifesto is very customer oriented and that is how it should be :)
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