Starting to quantify myself with a Withing Pulse

I bought myself a Withings Pulse which, I suppose, initiate my first steps into the Quantify Self movement (wikipedia). I received the device earlier this week and I would not draw a conclusion too fast as I am still in the “honey moon” period but it has been quite pleasant so far to discover the capabilities of the device, with a few caveats.

While unboxing was pleasant and setting up the device was smooth I bump into some problems when trying to charge the device. The USB cable was very hard to insert in the device and when eventually charged it was even harder to remove it to the point that I broke it. Luckily they are using a standard USB charging cable which means I can use the charging cable from my Samsung S4.

I opened a case on their website but I have not heard anything yet.

Upgrading the device software through Bluetooth was not that smooth as it has hung for a while until I stopped it and tried again a few times. Did it again a few times to finally get it working, I think.

The Android app is really nice, very user friendly and easy to use.

My wish list, to be completed when needed:

  • I am currently missing some explanation on how exactly the device and its various sensors work. I am doubtful about its accuracy and would love to have some insights on that.
  • In the same line of thoughts how does the sleep mode work? How is it making a difference between light sleep and deep sleep? Is it using the accelerometer sensors? Or the heart rate? In which case I’d like to see those heart value in the related graph.
  • What about periodical (to be set) notifications to take my heart rate? Or an automatic mode when wearing the wrist?
  • more to come :-)

Now I am looking forward to see what to do with those data :-) but that will not stop me to order the Withings Balance.

Déjà vu

[…] I have had an extremely busy day, I am tired, and all I want to do is sleep, something pulls me to the computer to see what is going on. Just to make sure I haven’t missed anything new or an interesting point of view. […] Src

I did not realize one can “quit the internet”… it must feel good. really. but is it doable?

Test

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Test de publication depuis l’app Android… pas mal du tout

The Discipline of Innovation

Innovation is the responsability of every executive and it begins with a conscious search for opportunities.

Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship, whether in an existing business, a public service institution, or a new venture started by a lone individual. It is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth.
Most innovations result from a conscious, purposeful search for innovation opportunities, which are found in only a few situations.

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Péréquation financière

Pourquoi ce billet? Ma fibre citoyenne se réveille et je commence à m’intéresser sérieusement à l’organisation de nos institutions fédérales… ce sont là quelques notes que je saurai où et comment retrouver le moment venu :-)

La péréquation financière nationale régit les relations financières entre la Confédération et les cantons, elle porte sur:

  • la répartition des tâches publiques
  • la redistribution des moyens financiers entre la Confédération et les cantons

Deux buts:

  • réduire les disparités entre les cantons en matière de capacité financière
  • accroître l’efficience dans l’exécution des tâches publiques

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Incubators vs. Accelerators

I have been using the terms incubators and accelerators quite interchangeably until I figured there has to be a difference between those two terms (otherwise we would not have needed two different words for the same meaning is not it?). After a few investigations I found out there is actually differences between incubators and accelerators both in terms of experience and results (returns) but sometimes VC runs their own accelerator programm, or accelerators are also incubators…

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Engage with VC and co.

Venturebeat.com: If you can’t explain what you do in one paragraph, you’ve got a problem

Founder should be able to explain what they do in one paragraph. Not a the “one sentence mashup approach” (e.g. “We are like Pinterest + Groupon + Facebook for dogs”). but three sentences: (1) what we do, (2) who we do it to, and (3) why you should care. Sometimes this can be two sentences, sometimes four, but never more than a paragraph

(note to self)

YouTube app vanished?

ipad-youtubeWTF… went through the iOS update for the iPad sitting in our living room (which remains the only device Apple branded at home) and I could not find the YouTube App any more… it had disappeared, vanished without notice, without warning. I knew that the new Maps app was sucking big time which I have not tried yet but did not hear anything about YouTube app being removed from the front page. What if I had bought this iPad only for that app? Apple really does not care? This is really a good example on why and how a close ecosystem like the one from Apple can be bad and I do not want to be part of.

For those interested Google has released the YouTube app for iPhone and I am sure the iPad one is in the pipeline… in the meantime you can safely use the web version which has all the features needed.