In these days there is a tool I would like to build, seriously. I am trying to understand if what I think is doable and if it would be of any interest apart from me.
I was thinking of a sort of “clip” to be applied on the hands (theoretically between the thumbs and the forefingers) in order to track the movement of the hands and of the fingers. For the movement of the hands the issue is not this big, an accelerometer is enough. The problems could come up when thinking of the finger movement. My idea is that it should be possible to “sense” the movement of the muscles on the back of the hands.
However… I feel that there is no technological barrier for it. Now the few of you still reading this could ask themselves: what are you talking about?
I am talking about a next generation input device, capable of replacing keyboards and mouse. It would allow everyone to use a “virtual keyboard” without being limited by a physical object. It would also be the next step in a multipoint cursor (like Tom Cruise in Minority Report).
I am pretty sure that this would be quite early in the adoption curve, but this would also mean being able to change the things…
…where can I go to understand the technology limitations? I am not interested in the gloves ’80s style, I am interested in what’s next!

Do I really have to call the psychiatrist?

One thing i cannot stand is greediness. I cannot accept singers or actors who cry because some evil people steal their music or film, setting their families at stake of starvation… or so it seems. I cannot accept it because it is unfair. In a public interview I have read some days ago, George Clooney was telling that he feels himself lucky, and that his colleagues who cry because of their hard life should shut up. He did not use those specific words, but the message was the same [Metro or London Lite..., London].
This morning I was reading some pages of the Metro, when I saw the title: JK ‘nearly in tears’ at Harry Potter case.

Now, keep in mind that the Metro is NOT the Independent or the Guardian, nevertheless I decided to go to page eleven. I was curious.
If you do not know the case, it can be simply told: some Harry Potter fans kept a website (Harry Potter Lexicon) for years, cataloguing every single element born from the ming of JK Rowling. It was something like Wikipedia, but exclusively aimed at the world of Harry Potter. I went once or twice on that site to clarify some doubts. Now the curators of the website has decided to publish the materials he collected in years, and that was the thing that JK Rowling did not like. The Harry Potter author decided to sue Steve Vander (the author of the wannabe Harry Potter Encyclopedia).
We all know that Mrs Rowling is one of the wealthiest person in Great Britain, but this did not stop her from telling some absurd sentences. For how much I love her books, I think she is absolutely wrong in this case (like in others in the past).

“I really don’ want to cry…”
“I am deeply troubled by the portrayal of my efforts to protect and preserve the copyrights I have been granted in the Harry Potter books”
This is too much. This is greedy. This is the disrespect of the fans of her creation.
Poor JK Rowling, not only the copyright will be valid only for 75 years after her death, but now she has to sustain these incredible attacks against her “creature”(!)
Why didn’t she bring the case to the court when the site was visited by millions of users? Do she ignore the fact that internet is another way of shipping media and contents, or do she think that those banners on the site are without meaning?
She blamed the guy to have “decimated my creative work over the last month” because of the lawsuit.
Well done, JK, show the world that you and only you can write about Harry Potter (*). Show the world that nobody is allowed to steal the bread without which you would die of starvation(!)
* = Appy only to printed paper. JK Rowling is well known to ignore internet and the new media (ebooks and online publications)

It is the time to distribute open applications, not linked to a Big Brother that defines what is right, what is wrong and who gets the money. It is time to think about how simple is the iPhone interface and how complex is to handle Apple.

Yesterday i was talking to a friend, and we were discussing about iPhone applications. In the end my point was that to create some innovative, mobile delivered service, you do not need the iPhone. You do not need it because tomorrow there will be another iPhone, and the day after a new Nokia, and than an Android. Mobile phones are like computers: they pass. The era of the death of software is here: Google, SalesForce.com and many others are teaching it. The fact that the SDK is finally out is tiring, because the iPhone hype is now something “cool“, but the market is much more than the simple iPhone.

So I will warmly welcome Android, I will welcome something different, something capable of destroying the iPhone. Our society is constantly evolving (or it should be), so everything is destined to be forgotten, and the Apple first phone will be no different.

I am quite tired of loving and hating Apple. Lately it seems to me that the Cupertino company is going nuts, playing the role of God more than ever in their little domain. Do they understand that they seem no “different” any longer. Do they realise that they are becoming the same as IBM thirty years ago (do you remember 1984, don’t you)?

Welcome, Android, whenever you will be here (soon, I hope)!

Think Different!

Looking the problems in the eyes and solving them using the human relationship is fantastic. Resolving the diversities analysing what people can do, raising the stake to reach a level of awareness that an alone human being cannot reach is something that creates value. On the other side of the managerial approach the questions can be settled in a clean, cold environment, where the risk of being personally involved are extremely limited is a safety net.

These two representation of approaching team problems is something that defines, from my point of view, the joy of working or the boredom of executing.

I like people, I like hating them because they have ideas better than mine, I like challenging them to get over their limits, I like making them smile for a job well done.

I hate when the numbers are pretty good and nobody receive a slap on the shoulder, I hate when the company get together with the exception of the management, I hate when the information are divided in airtight seals, I hate when numbers come before people.

In the end everyone of us have to face the fact that sooner or later we will have to fight the numbers, but in my vision I believe that a close team can fight the problems much better than an aseptic, measured management.

How many times will we need someone to update something that should be dismissed?

Tags: HTML5, HTML, semantic, layer, information

In the last months I have analysed different possible “ideas 2.0″ to kickstart, but I have not been really in love with any of them, but the last one. Yes, this one is something that hit me like a lightning bolt, and I am working hard to analyse/criticise/improve. It is called theClef.com and in our mind it will be a hit for every unsigned artist. Clearly I cannot leave my day-to-day job right now because I have responsibilities to carry on, but I am working hard in any minute I have to reach a critical point. In the horizon there can be ideas for external funding (Angels, Venture Capitalists or whoever) so it is obvious that I am following trusted advices. One of the most important was “The Art of the Start“, a spectacular book by Guy Kawasaki.

I follow Guy’s blog with much interest, but today I am not sure on how to read his latest post: “In search of inexperience“. From one point of view I can joy from the power I can get from his post, the triumph of the new generations of Brin & Page, the call for new ideas to come from new entrepreneurs… but there is the other side of the coin.In particular I have been hit by a passage of his post where he says:

Amen, baby! I vote for two guys or gals in a garage who are an unproven team, unproven technology, and unproven market.

Great, but what does he say on the guidelines of his own VC company (yes, because he is a Venture Capitalist)? The guidelines of Garage are clear, expecially in the section “Critical Factors for Obtaining Venture Funding“:

You may have a great idea, but if you don’t have a strong core team, investors aren’t going to be willing to bet on your company…

…the founders have to have the credibility to launch the company…

This is a different point of view, isn’t it? I know it seems I am looking at the small details (?), but find a VC ready to believe in your idea is not easy. Please,try not to offend me: I know their job is to make money, and they can do it selecting only those ideas who can really make the market explode. I know this, nevertheless working hard, knowing that looking for funding will be the hardest part of your dream is not so easy.

I have an idea, and I think it is Great. I have a team, brilliant brains that works well together. I have a Dream.

I know I can be repetitive, but this video is the one I watch every time the times are dark and the problems seem to be impossible to overcome.

See you soon, Guy.

I think that this is a disruptive approach to music distribution, also because Radiohead are no longer under contract with EMI, but are self produced! I think that this move can start a revolution. In the face of the Majors!

There are no big solicitor ready to sue everyone who will download the album from the net, no never ending lawsuit against the bloody pirates. Just go on the website, download the album and pay the price you think fair. I have already bought my copy, paying for it.

Radiohead have decided to run without a big company covering their shoulders, therefore their marketing will be much smaller than expected. I believe that the fairness of the decision they took with the pricing of In Rainbows should be recognized by those who constantly think (and tell) that the music industry is NOT fair.

Stand Up, write this, show the world you want the things to change!

I am listening to In Rainbows right now. Not only it is a Fair Music, but it is also a very nice album!

Greedy

They are not creating any innovation, but they want money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money…

I feel sick!

Do you need some F.A.Q. on FON? Really?

• What is FON? FON is a voluntarily free distributed wireless connectivity.
• What does it mean? It means that you can but a small wireless access point to share part of your broadband connection with every “Foneros“
• Why should I provide free connectivity to strangers? Because when you are outside you can use theirs! Do Ut Des!
• I pay for my GB… Well, you can decide how much bandwidth your guests will be able to use!
• How much does it cost? Nothing, of course. It is Voluntarily free! You just need to plug a cheap access point.

The partnership with British Telecom is a milestone for FON in the UK, because in this way the number of Foneros will be able to rise quickly, allowing a large number of new distributed access point throughout the United Kingdom.

What can you do now? You can go to the website of BTFON to read something more. Please keep in mind that even if you do not have your connection with BT you can be a Foneros, sharing your connection and using the connection of the others.

What can you do after? You can buy the small (and cheap) access point, becoming a Fonero!

if I have one pound and you have another pound, and we give our pound each other, we will still have one pound each. But if I have an idea and you have another idea, and we give our idea e