Martin Weigert’s thoughts on the social web. And life.

 

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September 3, 2010
 

First impressions from Thailand

After having stayed on Ko Samui for a few days now, it's time to highlight some of my first impressions. For those of you who have been to Thailand before these observations might be no news, but for me it is my first visit to Asia, so there is a lot that catches my attention.

Thais are unbelievably friendly. Smile at them and you can be sure that they will smile back. And their politeness is hard to explain. They thank you permanently and excuse themselves all the time for interrupting (e.g. at the restaurant). Unfortunately their knowledge of English is usually pretty limited, which makes it hard to have a meaningful conversation.

From what I have heard before I came here I thought you need to be very careful with your belongings, don't leave them out of sight etc. But I had to change my mind (at least partially) after having spent some time at Bangkok Airport (while waiting for the connection flight): Several times I saw Thai people leaving bags or even handbags on a bench outside of a store, coming back five minutes later picking them up again. Even for someone living in the country of honesty (Sweden) that is a new dimension of good faith.

There are lonely dogs everywhere. I'm not sure if those are street dogs or if their have an owner and are just going free, but if you have a problem with dogs, Thailand doesn't seem to be the country for you. On the other hand, people here hardly walk, they either take the motorbike or car, and there are taxis everywhere honking at the poor tourists who choose to go for a walk. So if you get yourself a rented car or motorbike, that might solve the dog issue.

The Thai food is great and pretty cheap. Yesterday my girl friend and I had dinner at one of the coziest restaurants I ever have been to, directly at the beach - we ate a soup for starter, some fried pork dish each, drank a bottle of water, 3 beers and one cocktail each. The bill was 1040 Bath, about 25 Euro.

At the Bangkok Airport we went straight to the store of Thai operator AIS to get a 1-2-Call prepaid SIM card for our iPhones. You get a lot of minutes (which I don't care about) and unlimited data for 25 Euro per month (recharging does apparently cost even less). The data transmission works via EDGE... The speed is not very impressive but it is enough to make VoIP call via Skype in acceptable quality (so it is nice to see AIS not blocking VoIP). We also have a Wireless Network in our appartment which is slightly faster, but not that much. But after a few days I can state that you get used to it, and you start to become more efficient in your internet usage (e.g. not closing Browser tabs that you might need again later and so on).

In order to have a secure connection when using the Wireless Network which is kind of public (and also to be able to use Spotify Free) I always connect to Ipredator VPN (it costs 15 Euro for 3 month).

I will follow up this post with some additional impressions at a later stage. But so far I can say that I really love it here! 

 

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August 24, 2010
 

Soon even your grandparents will know what a check-in is

Check out my article over at the Twingly Blog explaining why soon even your grandparents will know what you mean when you tell them that you have to check-in at a location. Yep, you guess it, it's all about Facebook Places!

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August 21, 2010
 

Realizing a dream (part 2)

In May I published a blog post titled "Realizing a dream", explaining how I took the step to quit my full time job as a Project Manager at a company here in Stockholm to solely work as a blogger and editor. I'm still very happy about my decision. In fact, it was part of a bigger plan. Because my dream was not only to blog for living about everything that happens in the web and tech industry, but to do it from somewhere in the world where it is warm and sunny. Since I only need a computer and an Internet connection (thanks to my great employer Blogwerk AG which gives me this flexilibity), there is no need for me to stay in Europe during cold and grey autumn and winter.

So that's why my girl friend and I are going to stay in Thailand for the next six month. We rented an appartment on the island Ko Samui and will work and study from there. I have never been to Thailand but heard a lot of good things, and after having lived in Sweden for a while, Thailand seems to be the most natural choice (it's the main holiday destination for Swedes outside of Europe or something like that).

We will fly there in one week, and hopefully won't have any issues with our Internet connection (as you can imagine, this is my biggest fear). Unfortunately, Thailand doesn't have a 3g network yet, so mobile web alternatives won't be very speedy, but somehow it will work (if you have recommendations on which operator to choose for best/most stable mobile data coverage on Ko Samui, please let me know).

Another big advantage with Thailand are the low living costs. In fact it will be much cheaper for us to stay in Thailand than to live somewhere in Europe -  ok, maybe with the exception of Berlin ;).

If you are planning to travel to Ko Samui during your next vacation, get in touch with me before so that we can meet up for a cold Singha beer in the sun.

 

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August 17, 2010
 

I've been following the "Cult of less"

It's a funny thing: You read an article about some kind of cult/trend/movement, and you realize that you are following the same idea or concept described in the text, but without thinking too much about it.

That happened to me when I read this BBC piece about the "Cult of less". For some years I have been trying to get rid of stuff I don't need, things that only stand somewhere in your appartment waiting for the removal of dust. The more our life is centered around digital content and information, the easier it is to replace tangible with intangible goods. It might sound like a nightmare to collectors and people who love to live between billions of things that have nothing more than emotional value. But for me, it's an attractive lifestyle (for now).

The advantage of the Cult of less: You are much more flexible and mobile, which is a plus in our globalized world. Put all your stuff on a harddisk and back it up in the cloud (or the other way round), and you can go and do whatever you want. And the best thing: Wherever in the world you are, you feel like home when you start your computer or smartphone.

Although I wouldn't want to go as far as some of the people mentioned in the article, who voluntary got rid of their appartment. That's a bit too minimalistic for my taste.

 

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August 10, 2010
 

Launching Google Street View in Germany must be harder than giving birth

After a lot of back and forth, Google finally announced that it is about to launch Street View in 20 German cities before the end of the year. But to comply with the requirements of notoriously supercritical German politicians and privacy advocates, Google will give every citizen the chance to prevent the company from publishing photos of their houses. In these cases, Google will blur the pictures shown on Street View.

In order to achieve that, people have to fill out an online form or send a written letter. The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection is even providing a draft for everyone to print and send to Google's headquarter in Hamburg.

Of course, all this is just the continuation of a tedious debate about the value and importance of privacy in the digital age in Germany.

But while the conflicts surrounding Google Street View have been extremely annoying, at least we see some funny ideas to ridicule the exaggerated Street View discussion:

First, we have a movement of users who plan to take, publish and geotag a photo of every house that has been removed from Google Street View after residents have objected. And second, there is another, "unoffocial" letter draft which you can send to Google in order to object possible objections regarding the removal of photos from Street View. So if you live in Germany and have neighbours that you suspect could make the effort to forbid the publication of photos on Street View, you could use that draft.

Because according to Google, if you live in a building with several apartments, it's enough if one resident doesn't want to see the house on Street View to blur the complete building. Google won't just blur a few windows.

I'm pretty sure this wasn't the last chapter in the German Google Street View soap opera. A pathetic and sad soap opera that was not nice to watch. And while Street View even made it into the main TV news, hardly anybody in Germany heard about today's really important Google related news - news which could change the Internet forever (for the worse).

 

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August 9, 2010
 

How language influences behaviour and culture

It is a question I have been thinking about a lot: How does language influence how people in different countries think? Do people change when they switch to another language? How closely is language connected to culture and mentality?

The Wall Street Journal has published a very interesting article on this topic, proving that languages and the way we think are depending on each other, even though it is not clear if languages influence behaviour or if our behaviour influenced the creation of the different languages.

In my 4 1/2 years in Sweden I have made the experience that the Swedish language is pretty limited in the amount of words available, compared to the very complex and versatile German language. The consequence is that Swedes have much less possibilities to differentiate themselves by using language, unlike Germans who pretty much can make everybody understand to which part of the society (or class) they belong by only saying two sentences (note that I don't claim that the Swedish language does not allow for differentiation at all). And having a look at the two countries, Sweden is much less divided into classes and social groups than Germany. Could language (among other factors) be responsible for that?

I also find that Swedes have the great skill of simplifying complicated context by removing all the unnecessary information and keeping its core. My perception is that Germans generally don't have this skill. Now I'm asking myself if the (or one) reason could be the limitations of the Swedish language, which simply does not seduce people to say more than necessary? From my own experience I can tell that this is not the case with German: You can vary the German language in a way that allows for talking for 10 minutes without actually saying anything. 

Maybe all this is too far-fetched. But it is worth to think about and to do some more research on. 

Let's for one second assume that in culture and behaviour are strongly connected to the language spoken in a country - the conclusion would be that some countries could have serious disadvantages in adapting to specific situations as long as they keep their language... Germans would always remain complicated and the German society would always be fragmented, in the same way the language is.

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August 2, 2010
 

Twitter in real 'real time'

A few days ago Twitter launched its new User Streams API in limited beta, allowing the Twitter clients Echofon and Tweetdeck to enable it for a limited number of their users. I signed up for access through Tweetdeck and got it on Friday, so the past 3 days I have been using Twitter in the new real time mode that becomes possible with the new API.

Instead of seeing tweets in my personal Twitter feed updating ever minute or so, they appear in the very second they have been published by users I follow. For some this might sound like a minor feature, but in my eyes it is huge, because it's only with the new API that Twitter has become a real "real time service".

Since weekends are usually calm times on Twitter I look forward to the next hours and days to see how and if the real time feed changes my Twitter experience. But already now I enjoy just sitting in front of my screen and looking at the continuous stream of tweets, without me having to do anything. It's like TV, just much more interesting.

The Next Web has an overview about other new functions connected to the new API, which according to GigaOm might become broadly available until the end of the year.

 

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July 22, 2010
 

A world without net neutrality

No thanks!

via

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July 21, 2010
 

Spotify is profitable - in Sweden

Swedish marketing and media news site Dagensmedia.se has some interesting numbers on the economical performance of popular music streaming service Spotify in its home country Sweden.

According to the site, the total revenue of the Swedish Spotify branch (Spotify AB) was 90,3 million Swedish crowns in 2009, approximately 9,5 million Euro. In 2008 the startup generated 725.000 Swedish crowns in revenues, about 76.000 Euro. Last year the company reached an operating profit of 14 million Crowns, about 1,5 million Euro.

So in Sweden Spotify is profitable on an operational basis. On an international level though the company is still losing money, which was confirmed to Dagensmedia.se by one of the Spotify investors, namely Pär-Jörgen Pärson from Northzone Ventures.
 
The article says that Spotify's total revenue this year is expected to be somewhere around 350 million Swedish crows, almost 40 million Euro. 

With about 500.000 subscribers paying about 100 Euro per year for Spotify Premium plus revenues from advertising that estimation does actually sound a bit too low. 
 

 

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July 9, 2010
 

Do you notice the stereotype?

Even if most Swedish women would tell you that Sweden is far from having gender equality, it is at least one of the countries in the world that has come closest to this goal. For me being from Germany which is definitely more traditional compared to Sweden, it is interesting to observe how Swedes react towards potential discrimination. 

Take this ad for example which according to resume.se has been criticized for showing gender stereotypes. It was supposed to be part of an advertising contest but is now being removed from the competition by the ad agency and the client behind it.

I wonder if people in other countries would even notice the stereotype. After having lived in Sweden for 4 years, of course I do: 2 female flight attendants and 2 male pilots.

Now one question would be it is the advertiser's responsibility to sugar-code reality. And the reality is that most pilots are male. I don't even recall a single flight when the pilot was a woman. 

On the other hand, it's not that uncommon anymore with male flight attendants. So having one female and one male flight attended might have been the better choice, and maybe only one pilot.

Furthermore, the ad promotes the Museum of Technology and hence is payed for by the state (= tax payer). The state of Sweden and all organisations owned by the state try hard to be a role model regarding equality, which might explain why the ad is being cancelled.

It's funny how you become increasingly aware of these kind of "incidents" the longer you live in this country. 

The other day I was watching the German TV broadcast of a World Cup match. One commercial caught my attention where a successful looking man wearing a suit wanted to buy a car (I don't remember the brand). And one of the first things the dealer asked him was if he planned to buy the car for his wife...  

I'm not sure but I don't think this commercial would have been accepted in Sweden. Or would it?
 

 

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