My picnic08 experience in a mindmap - feel free to edit!

Reding puts Social Network Services on the European Commission's agenda

Rapid - Press Releases - EUROPA: "Because of the open nature of social networking sites and the fact that they offer cultural diversity and enhanced interactivity, they can serve several different audiences with minimum financial effort and bring about new economic opportunities for the European industry. [...] Social networking sites also turn people into active users of new technologies and empower them to make active choices about their environment by offering the opportunity to create new creative content.[...] The most obvious change brought about by the social networking sites is probably the influence on the way people manage their social contacts. [...] Social networking sides also have started to raise new issues with regard to data privacy and protection of minors."
I still think Commissioner Reding would make a great speaker for a Brussels Girl Geek Dinner on Politics.
Link found via Pascal van Hecke.

Good food and good eating aren't a class thing

Ministry of Food - About: "Jamie Oliver’s new TV series [on Channel4] and campaign, Ministry of Food, is all about getting people cooking again. He wants to show us that anyone can learn to cook – and that it’s fun, cool, can save you money and help you, your family and friends to live a healthier life."
Here's a Jamie's agency or genuine user generated video that illustrates the "pass it one" idea of this campaign: Jamie Oliver's 'Pass It On / Ministry of Food' Campaign - Sizzling Beef Recipe.

G1 is ugly but Google doesn't care. Here's why.

Android: Why Android Will Soon Kick Ass: "Google has their eyes on the long haul with Android. Which is why reactions to a somewhat scattered UI in the very first implementation is not something they're worried about too much. This is a platform about further reducing the mobile carriers to raw pipes of data, and giving full control to the consumer. It’s about creating a critical-mass open-source ecosystem. And even if they fail to sell a ton of handsets, they've already put pressure on all the carriers and phone makers by the fact that they've created a free alternative that does not have to win to impact the players in this industry."
I don't agree with the "free alternative" party: I'm pretty sure that all those hardware manufacturers and mobile carriers will make sure the phones are as locked-in as possible. Except maybe in Belgium ;-). But apart from that: building up a critical volume first by engaging the developer community is the way to go. No matter how small that community may seem in comparison to the smartphone buyers market - they are bound to improve the product and related services before it reaches the (mass) market.

See good, do good

Project 10 to the 100th: "Project 10100 (pronounced 'Project 10 to the 100th') is (Google's) call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.."
It appears to be linked to Google's tenth anniversary. I'm pretty sure it's going to be pretty big; but not sure if it will help Google's current "Google is evil" image.

Qui connecte un œuf connecte un bœuf

PICNIC - Commercial Collaborations: Tools, Things and Toys: "Rafi Haladjian, founder of Nabaztag, shows how personalized connections generate new toys and tools."

I had been wondering what the smaller rabbits were I saw in a newspaper article, and Rafi told us they're Nanotazs. They're not portable versions of the "smart rabbit", but one of the many ways to make the internet of things. Key object in Violet's RFID universe is not a portable rabbit or a cool looking keychain, though, but the upcoming product Mir:ror.

To Violet, it is simply step two in their strategy for the construction of an Internet of objects :

1. One: connect the Rabbits. (Check. See also our home rabbit Woz, and married couple Ekmi and Edzimbi)
2. Two: connect everything else. (Mir:ror launches on October 23)

The mirror serves as an RFID reader and although it's an unexpected object to pick as "internet connected", I like the subtle reference to the magic mirrors in the Snowy White and Alice in Wonderland stories.
This proves the big difference with the Belgian RFID project tikitag: tikitag focuses in its communication on the technology, while violet came up with a cute, innocent looking object first, then tried to figure out ways to make it more interactive.

Aaron Koblin: infographics as an art form

PICNIC - Wednesday 24th Sept: "Aaron Koblin is one of the most-discussed and thought-provoking contemporary artists, focusing on the creation and visualisation of human systems. His work ranges from the latest Radiohead music video to data visualisations of flight patterns."
Koblin uses collaborative powers, laser techniques and telco data to create impressive infographics. Or, in the case of Radiohead's House of Cards, a really cool music video.
Presenting complex data in such a way that anyway can grasp its essence is truly an artform.

Velociraptor - Clo: 1-0

I could survive for 60 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds Pedia

A bug's life

The Astonishing Eggs of Alien Nations: "The Lacewing is a clever creature. It doesn't want the eggs it has spent time and a great deal of energy producing snaffled up by the first hungry bug that wanders by in search of a meal. So, the female extends a slither if silk and deposits the egg at the end. In this way the eggs can be kept out of the way of casual predators in search of a free meal. Come to think of it though, isn't every meal in the bug world free?"

The lazy bloggers blog post

The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator: "OMG! I just got slapped with a wet salmon - really - I have not updated this since Hammertime was in the charts... You would not believe the fairy dust I have to clean up. Apologies to my regular readers! Even the little blue ones!.
I am totally and utterly flat out with waiting for a fine young gentleman to propose, choosing my retirement village, just generally being asleep, dreaming and chancing to every Lost Boy that crosses my path, my day is a magical flight from the moment my children manage to unlock my bedroom door and use me as a jumping castle to I see my darling's 10000 text messages. I am totally loving it, dudes. life happens.
I will try to remember I promised you although very chaste ones. Until I need your shoulder to cry on. Unless of course the pool with the cocktail bar is heated!."

The king of kitsch in Versailles

At Versailles, an Invasion of American Art - The New York Times > Art & Design > Slide Show > Slide 1 of 11: "America has invaded the gilded chambers and sculpted gardens of the Ch�teau de Versailles in the form of an exhibition by the American superstar artist Jeff Koons. Versailles in recent years has displayed only a few select works of contemporary artists. The exhibition of 17 Koons sculptures marks the first time that the chateau built by Louis XIV has organized so ambitious a retrospective of one contemporary artist. The exhibit, which opened on Wednesday, will continue until Dec. 14."
I'm going!

Death, cable tv, and why you drink

YouTube - Le Grand Content "examines the omnipresent Powerpoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand 'association-chain-massacre'. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters."
A Film by Clemens Kogler together with Karo Szmit. Voice by Andre Tschinder. The diagrams are inspired by the wonderful indexed.blogspot.com created by Jessica Hagy.

New York, natural habitat of the cougar

The New, Interactive Singles Map. Or, Looking for Love in All the Statistically Wrong Places.: "Ladies: After your mid 40's, you will be fighting tooth and nail for the nine or ten single men.
Gents: Single men become a rare commodity later in life, and we all know what happens then. They don't call it Perfectly Inelastic Supply for nothing!
Gals: Do single young girls exist? Not according to math! Fact: around 1/3 of 20-24 year old women are married. Only 70% are single!
Guys: Again, fact: Only 1/5 of men are married by age 24. 80% single! Like suburban deer, there are too many of you in relation to your prey, and you're destroying each others' game. Older, wiser deer who don't spend their time doing kegstands are snapping up your lady-foliage."

More Cowbell DJ

More cowbell is an American pop culture catch phrase originally derived from an April 8, 2000 Saturday Night Live comedy sketch about the recording of the song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. See also previous posts I gotta have more cowbell and Finally: more cowbell. MoreCowbell.dj: "is an application built using The Echo Nest Analyze API . Analyze API is a tool that enriches your software's understanding of music. It uses a perceptual model of human listening to generate detailed XML descriptions of a song's structure and musical content to power music applications with a much deeper musical understanding."
Check out the Recent Cowbells or Add your own.
One example is this horrible Cowbell version of Monkey Gone To Heaven by Frank Black. Enjoy:

	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

Kein Platz für Gerold

Studio FILM BILDER - Works - Shorts - No Room For Gerold: "After ten long years in the flat, Gerold the crocodile is being thrown out. Is there a conspiracy against him? Does newcomer Ellen the wildebeest have something to do with it? One thing is for sure - the wild days are now just a distant memory."
No Room for Gerold (YT).
Found via Daniel Nocke.

Smashing (Perfectly Good) Guitars

Imagine you're an American so-called alternative rock band who broke up in 2000, reunited in 2005 but never quite had a decent hit since then. Radiohead has done the free download (for "In Rainbows") and White Stripes have done the "album on an usb stick" (for "Icky Thumb"). Metallica has done the "sue the blogger who leaked the song" (for "Death Magnetic"). Your singer is too ugly to be involved in any sex scandal. (Billy Corgan looks like a full grown version of Verne Troyer) So what possible "release gimmick" could be left for this rock band's upcoming album?

1. Make a frame-by-frame remake of the Verne Troyer sex tape anyway. When sex scandal doesn't work, tell the press it was really the music video footage, leaked by a blogger, who smuggled it out on an usb icky thumb.
2. Put up a virtual concert in the virtual ghost town called Second Life.
3. Make friends on MySpace, where music marketing zombies and emo kids silently have taken the place of the young music loving crowd.
4. Create a Facebook application, because that's where everybody is now. (Blocking applications like crazy)
5. Release the first song from the album exclusively on music video game Guitar Hero IV. And let Billy Corgan become a playable character.

Guess what: it's number five.
But will this work? I think it will: the Guitar Hero series is awesome not only because of its clear impact on popular culture, but also it tells my son repeatedly He Rocks! Plus he learns his rock classics in the process. Did I mention that Guitar Hero III is awesome? I'm looking for a second Mac-compatible (= xbox 360) controller by the way. Anyone?

Bloggers as rock stars

BLOG08 conference - Rockstars of the Web!: "A rockstar without a stage is like... well, a rockstar without a stage. With BLOG08 we're offering a stage for some of the most inspiring bloggers around the world. Like Pete Cashmore from Mashable. Or Hugh MacLeod from Gapingvoid. On October the 24th we will have an awesome gig in Amsterdam. Stop washing yourself and stay away from fancy hairdressers for a while, because you're invited to one rocking blog conference."
I'm glad and honoured to be one of the speakers, but I'm not sure about the stop washing part.