Going Google

GoogleLast week I decided to leave aside my doubts about Google and went “all Google“. I am already an user of many Google services (like Adsense, Analytics, Google Docs,…) but I am in the process of integrating Gmail and Google Calendar in my workflow. Big move to host those datas in the Google Cloud but the services look good enough and they are so well packaged with nice features that it is probably worth it. I am not 100% sure I can trust Google but I have to reckon that so far they have been pretty good at not fooling around with my datas and hopefully it will remain like that (why would not they?). Also, unlike some “competitors”, they do not try to lock you down by “encrypting” your datas in some proprietary formats, you can always move away with your datas in an interoperable format.

Coincidentally I have been playing around with an Android phone and it appears quite obvious now that any Google user will end up as an Android user (if it is not done yet).

Right now I am trying to find the best possible way to move and manage my agenda with Google Doc, Outlook, my phone… more on that later.

One more thought, I might be about to fully trust Google but I am still wondering if the monopol they are building up on the internet is not dangerous.

New tools

I thought that my iPhone was broken yesterday night. I plugged it on my computer to charge it and synch it with iTunes for my weekly dose of podcasts and the screen turned suddenly black (“à la” windows blue screen) and that’s it, no way to switch on again.

I had to quickly found alternatives tools… on the left an iPod 1st gen (I bet you have not seen one of this for quite some time mmh ?), and on the right an HTC Magic phone. Both needed to be charged but are working just fine. The Android phone gets the preference over my good old N95 because I wanted to take the opportunity of trying out “new” Google OS.

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It actually appears that a hard reboot was enough to heal my iPhone. I did not think of it at first because I am used to simply remove the battery on my N95 but it does seem quite obvious now (more and more often I do really wonder if I am really an engineer…).

I have to admit that I was a bit scarred to live without my iPhone but despite its recovery I will be testing the HTC Magic for a while… and might report here my thoughts.

CFF: Suppression des “Espaces silence”

Quelques commentaires sur le dernier communiqué de presse des CFF:

  • Nouveau horaire dès le 13 décembre. Watch out!
  • “Le réseau des CFF est le plus densément exploité du monde et il est à ses limites de capacités [ndr: blbablabla]. Une forte extension de l’offre ne sera possible qu’après la réalisation de grands chantiers de construction d’infrastructures, comme par exemple la ligne diamétrale de Zurich […] Ben oui la région de Zürich par exemple… ou Lausanne-Genève???
  • Amélioration du traffic international et national…
  • Suppression des “Espaces silence” en 2ème classe: pas surpris! C’est pourtant une très bonne idée mais les gens ne respectent pas cette règle et c’est en fait en plus frustrant d’entendre parler dans un “Espace silence” que dans un wagon “normal”. Et non ce n’est pas aux contrôleurs de faire la pollice et de faire respecter cette règle de “savoir vivre”, ils ont autre chose à faire. Une idée à ressortir quand on sera mieux éduqué (et en 1ère c’est exactement la même chose!)
  • Meilleur connexion internet sur certaines lignes: “A partir du changement d’horaire, les lignes entre Genève et Lausanne ainsi qu’entre Berne et Thoune disposeront elles aussi d’un accès à large bande. Swisscom continue en outre à développer le réseau actuel le long des lignes ferroviaires.”

Oh en j’ai commencé à répertorier mes trajets et mes retards… je peux pas continuer de me plaindre sans chiffre à l’appui.

The real-time web: RSS Cloud and Google’s PubSubHubbub

It was quite a revolution when RSS became popular (created in 1999, it became wide used around 2005/2006) and integrated in almost all tools. To the point that some people were even challenging that it would use too much bandwidth… Why is that ? While RSS is a neat system to find out when something changes on a website it still requires from the client to poll the server. Bad designed client (that were not using correctly the HTTP protocol and its 304 status code) and the multiplication of tools (CMS, CRM and co.) would load servers and the network and eventually causing some problems. After a while we get it to work nicely but notifications still relies on the polling mechanism and its frequency. Good… but not enough for the real-time web. Real-time Web? one of the 5 futurs trends on the web (see also a list on ReadWriteWeb of the Top 50 Real-Time Web Companies).

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[ma vie en image] Cuisse de grenouille

Cuisse de grenouilleVu cette semaine, mercredi je crois, cette manchette qui m’a laissé un peu… perplexe! En vrac:

  • Ah oui! L’influence de la rédaction du Matin Bleu se faire ressentir à 20 minutes
  • Il se passe vraiment rien d’autre sur notre belle planète ?
  • Ils font exprès c’est pas possible autrement
  • La presse traditionnelle n’est pas sorti de l’auberge… paraît qu’elle est dans la merde
  • Pôv’grenouille

Cisco “Connected Cities”

This is how it looks like when two “cafeterias” (one in Zürich and one in Rolle) are connected over Telepresence for 3 days… the video is great but seeing it live was really great and actually quite a disruptive experience! Making it permanent would definitively improve collaboration within the company!