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Friday, July 16, 2004
![[Item Permalink]](http://radio.weblogs.com/0112083/images/ur_bullet.gif){kind=small} Starting my vacation -- Comment()
I'm on vacation for the next two weeks. I'll probably not update this weblog during that time. Based on the Finnish weather so far this Summer, I believe there will be lots of rain and some sunshine during the next weeks. I don't think I will be bored by too little changes in the weather. Pablo Picasso: "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." Well, I'll not be painting, but probably I will take quite a lot of photos. Does that count?
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IT products for the intoxicated -- Comment()
Today appeared my net column on developing IT products for the intoxicated (in Finnish, Tietotekniikkatuotteita päihtyneille). This is relevant now that Nokia has problems selling their mobile phones. Perhaps the intoxicated could be a new fast-growing target group?
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-- Comment()
The Church of the Long Now: "I believe that the folks over at the Long Now project are onto something, although they don't seem to quite realize it. [...] I propose that the Long Now has profound implications for our species - implications that range from the mundane to the practical to the spiritual. What better way to organize and direct such implications than to form a new religion? All rational thinkers, hear me: Welcome to the Church of the Long Now." [kuro5hin.org] The Long Now project echoes nicely the idea of software which lasts 200 years.
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Forming opinions based on the strength of a social connection -- Comment()
I read the paper by Wu and Huberman on networks and opinion formation (available in PDF here). The analysis is not too complicated, and the model is nicely simple yet able to exhibit non-trivial behaviour. But I wonder: in the model all the links in the social structure are equally strong. In real life this is not so. For example, I know a few people intimately, a few dozen people rather well, and hundreds of people slighly. (But seem never able to remember their names...) On the other hand, quite a few people have met me on courses or events where I have lectured. And the IT magazine where I write columns has a quarter of a million readers. So, the degree to which I can affect opinions varies greatly with the strength of the connection. On the other hand I must admit that I often seem to have trouble in changing the opinion of even my closest ones.
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Sony Ericsson P910 - the killer smart phone? -- Comment()
Sony Ericsson debuts keyboard smart phone: "Sony Ericsson today upgraded its P900 smart phone, adding a Blackberry-style QWERTY micro-keyboard to the handset in a bid to grab a bigger share of customers moving from PDAs." [The Register] The P910 has an interesting form. Perhaps this phone offers the functionality I want in a phone: large screen and also a keyboard. My current Nokia 6800 does have a nice keyboard, but the small screen is bit of a problem. A few colleagues have P900 phones, and seem satisfied with them. And I believe the Bluetooth connectivity works well with Macs.
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