Monthly Archives: February 2011

UK NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Posted on by
Reply

 

I came across this site while listening to the BBC World new. The UK government has put ‘1,000 years of national government documents’ online for everyone to use. They are also seeking people’s insight and support, if you see a picture that you recognize they encourage input to help them collect more data on the who, what and where.

In the African site you see pages and pages of colonial era photos, now posted on Flickr. I found the letter from an employee to employer with regard to his ‘dejobment’ fascinating; note the number of children that he has brought into this ‘vale of tears’. I wonder if he was ever ‘rejobulated’? (Although I would wager that using the word homicide in a letter cannot increase one’s odds).

I hope they post more pictures of Egypt. I cannot imagine living in those times, where there were no barriers and people would still climb the pyramids.

Of course it would have taken a month by boat to get there ….

Amazing raw insight into the past.

INSIDE THE MNAC

Posted on by
1

 

Inside the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya are a range of pieces dating back to the 1300’s. As I travelled through the galleries it became clear that early Spanish art was heavily influenced by the Christian religion in the same way that Italian museums are gallery after gallery of saints, church officials and Christian scenes. Of the religious works, two stood out for me. The first being this piece titled ‘Crist cami del Golgota’.

2011 02 17-23

It wasn’t the overall picture that caught my eye but this specific image. I found it haunting.

2011 02 17-22

The next is one that I cannot find on the web but simply found very odd. Titled ‘Nen Jesus triomfant’, a sculpture of a baby Jesus standing on a skull by Lluis Bonifas I Masson. I could find very little on the artist and nothing on the piece. Art is about the viewer interpreting the piece, but I would love to ask what he was thinking. I found it quite disturbing, I could see a dead serpent but a human skull?

2011 02 17-27

 

One other piece that struck me odd was ‘Nina Cosint’. Is it just me or is poor Nina to be forever remembered as the girl with the gigantic man hands?

2011 02 17-20

In the last gallery we came across more contemporary but, as one of the few English plaques stated, ‘not that unique’ pieces geared towards pleasing the general audience of the time. Personally, I found many rich in color and spectacular. Below are a few photos that I will use as desktop backgrounds.

The first from 1805, ‘Gerro amb flors’. A camera fails to capture how rich this painting is.

2011 02 17-29

A gallery was filled with these landscapes, each with striking deep colors and a style that was clearly ‘de rigueur’ during the late 1800’s in Spain. Perhaps I am just a sucker for a striking sky.

2011 02 17-33

2011 02 17-31

The gallery also contained the famous 15m long canvas depicting The battle of Tetuan from the Spanish-Moroccan war. The scale of the piece was impressive.

The last notable was a small coin section tucked away at the top of the gallery. Moving from 200BC to contemporary times, it documents the evolution of coins and forgery. These were from the BC era.

2011 02 17-25

A nice way to spend a few hours.

IN THE DISTANCE

Posted on by
Reply

 

I had zero time to tour Barcelona as it was a very busy week, other than an hour in the art museum at the top of the hill on the last day as the event closed. It was raining (again) and overcast. In the distance you could see La Sagrada Familia. I wonder how much it has changed?

2011 02 17-37

From the conference grounds, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya keeps watch .. a beautiful building. What I didn’t realize (until now) is that it is home to several other museums.

The Palau Nacional, the emblematic building of the 1929 International Exhibition, is the home of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. It is situated on the mountain of Montjuïc, a privileged site from where you can enjoy a magnificent and unique view of the city of Barcelona.

The Palau Nacional is situated in a unique setting: Montjuïc, the mountain of museums, leisure and sport, well on the way to becoming an area of culture and life. The institutions you will find spread around the Park, of renowned international prestige, make Montjuïc the museum centre par excellence in Barcelona, with a diverse, complete offer. As well as the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, you can visit the Fundació Joan Miró, the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya, the Museu Etnològic and CaixaForum, among others.

2011 02 16

The ballroom is spectacular.

2011 02 17-19

2011 02 17-18

And the domes (which you can see from outside) are breathtaking. We just don’t have these types of buildings in Canada.

2011 02 17-36

ONE MORE WMC EYE CATCHER

Posted on by
Reply

 

Continuing on the theme of face recognition, in the Embedded Showcase the company Viewdle demonstrated their application. Working with the camera on a smartphone the application picks up the identity of the individual and provides action options (according to the staged demo and video). The demonstrator pointed the phone at herself and voila, the application recognizes and tags for use in social networking, gaming or ….?

2011 02 17-11

Their concept video was interesting to watch. The power of these small devices is opening up so many different options

2011 02 17-9

EYE CATCHING AT MWC

Posted on by
Reply

 

Whenever I go to World Mobile Congress I always make a point of getting to the NTT Docomo booth. They never fail to impress by coming up with something unique. Of course, I just don’t get a few of their ‘innovations’ like the ‘real wood’ shell for a smartphone, and they don’t seem to want to let that one go. This year’s surprise was a translation program. You speak into a phone on one end and it translates real time. I stood on one side, the Japanese demonstrator on the other and we attempted to have a conversation. While not perfect, it definitely opens up a very interesting potential market. After all, voice recognition continues to get better and better. I use Vlingo all the time with pretty good success.

2011 02 15-3

2011 02 15-1

I can absolutely see this type of application working in the next 10-20 years.

2011 02 15-2

At the NEC booth I found my second most interesting application. A camera that scanned the crowd and recorded demographic information – sex and estimated age. The only issue if you keep standing there it keeps guessing your age which makes you wonder on accuracy if it was looking for a quantity of people count … in my case it guessed my age from 30 to close to my real age, 43. There are clearly some bugs to work out but you can see the application. Currently retail stores have trip counters that record traffic as people walk in and out, giving an estimated close rate when correlated to sales. This provides a completely different level of potential sales and demographic information. Enjoy me at a point in time between 30 and 43 …. 35.

2011 02 15-4

Along the same lines was VTT’s digital interaction demonstration, a product seeking an application. You appear on the screen and random word bubbles jump up beside your head. Amusing, but I am not sure of the practicality. Of course, that is part of what VTT does as a research institute.

2011 02 17-2-2

A small smattering of different applications and ideas hidden among the business show.

FRANKFURT

Posted on by
Reply

 

I do not claim to be a big world traveller. I travel more than some, less than others. I have been all through Canada and the US, through many airports in Europe – London, Paris, Barcelona, Munich .. etc. But I do know a good lounge and the Germans have it nailed.

Arriving off the red-eye in Frankfurt I had my customary ‘Camel chuckle’ and headed into the Lufthansa lounge. I love their lounges. While they are crowded, they are decked out with all of the right trappings. The food is fantastic, muesli, fruit smoothies, lots of fruit and a bagel-like bar where they make these wonderful morning concoctions fresh. To top it off, the coffee. Sitting enjoying a espresso with a choice of 10 English language newspapers just seems like a good way to pass the time while I wait for a connection.

The Germans have it right.

UDEMY

Posted on by
1

 

I came across the site UDEMY through the week and am intrigued by the idea:

"There are millions of experts everywhere, and we provide them with the tools to share their knowledge online. Udemy gives instructors the ability to use video, PowerPoint, articles, and blog posts to build rich courses. They can even host virtual conferences with students. People spend $9 billion on casual learning each year, and another $20 billion on continuing and professional education. We can catalyze that market to move online, and provide forums that create in-depth learning experiences about everything from Thai cooking to calculus to Esperanto. We launched in May 2010 and more than 2,000 courses have been created. We’re introducing a pay platform so our instructors can decide if they want to charge for their courses, but we expect 80% will remain free. The education industry is very top-down, but this has the power to change that."

It is a very interesting notion, but it will have to differentiate from simple video sites and there is a question of the end game of the content creator. If a author simply wants to sell more books – then a medium such as YouTube is more effective due to broad reach. However, if I am an educational institution or an educator/presenter, there is a revenue opportunity and it is a neat idea – that I can go and provide a high quality web course at a low one time cost.

There is also the potential draw of the website being educationally orientated and focused – a place to easily find course content. Which leads to the question, how do they keep it focused and vet quality? For example, while I enjoyed the ‘course’ Fun with Posters and Charts, is this really a course? Not really, it is more appropriate for a site like slideshare.

That being said, a site I will watch.

Via.

 

PS: Loved the slideshare ‘10 Ways to Suck at Social Media’, great piece for companies.

A WINNING SALES MODEL

Posted on by
Reply

 

A friend and business leader I admire has a great model for running a sales organization – he calls it the winning sales model . I found it a great ‘check list’ of questions to review when looking at an organizational sales model. I have added parts of it to the 90 day model that I have been evolving over the last six years, that I will review at the Sales 2.0 conference in March. Call it food for thought.

image

GELATERIA

Posted on by
Reply

 

I was walking from an event in Vancouver a few weeks ago and happened upon Bella Gelateria. The owner was there and took the time to regal us with tales of his life and education in Italy where he learned the art. His passion for gelato was evident, and it came through in his craft. He explained each flavour, speaking of the hours invested and exotic ingredients gathered from around the world.

It was one of the best gelatos I have ever had … as good as Grom in Florence. As a reminder, if you want to know the easiest way to identify great gelato – it is by the color. The more color, the worse it is. The below is very bad gelato set to suck the tourist in (taken in Rome).

2009 04 07 Italy _MG_3520

UPDATE ON THE RUINS OF DETROIT

Posted on by
Reply

 

Looks like the Mayor isn’t happy with Detroit turning into a contemporary art exhibit of urban decay. If you are a firefighter or police officer you can now buy a home for $1,000 and qualify for additional funds for the renovation.

Hats off to the mayor, move a respectable class of citizen back into these decaying areas and hope for a turn-around. Great idea.

ATLANTIC STORM

Posted on by
Reply

 

I have never really seen an Atlantic storm in person before this week. When I landed on Tuesday night, Halifax was deep into it. As my cab drove me to the hotel, he slipped and slided so I reassured him; “Seriously, it is already late. I do not need to get there fast. Take your time” just as a car whipped by at 120 KM/hr only to go sliding down into the ditch a few minutes later (Reminds me of the saying “Go slower to go faster”).

The next day I looked out the window as the day progressed and commented “Well, if I cannot see the bridge, then I am stuck”. An hour later …. No bridge (It was crystal clear an hour before this picture).

Halifax Bridge Snow

It was amazing to watch the storm drive into the city. Another example, watching the hotel across the street slowly disappear as captured by my phone …..

Halifax Blizzard 

Halifax Blizzard 2

I had heard about it. Now I understand it.

MORE DECAY

Posted on by
Reply

 

Walking through the airport I stopped at the photos of the crumbling buildings, curious about their origin. DK Photography is a collaboration of artists:

The DK Photo Group is a collaborative effort, drawing together a group of photographers with similar interests. We have joined together to create this site to bring our vision and our photographic art to the world. We hope that you enjoy it and can find the same fascination with decay and abandonment that we do.

Our urban world is filled with so many structures, some forgotten and others well-loved. Why are some saved and others left to die? What stories do these buildings have to tell, what scenes have these stones witnessed? Why are city-zens so obsessed with erecting their monuments in metal and brick – and why do they so carelessly abandon them when they are done with them?

We prowl the areas where most will not go. We do this to bring back the images that we feel we must share with the world. We want others to be able to see what we have seen, what others do not want you to see. The rot, the neglect, the careless abandonment. Some would just bulldoze them into the earth, forever burying their stories.

As a gallery they are closing, but their Flickr site is fascinating. You can see their photo stream here. Sad to see so many beautiful buildings falling into disrepair, but beautifully captured. A bit haunting.

INDIA LIFE LESSON

Posted on by
Reply

 

I was speaking with an old colleague who is retired and travelling extensively. He mentioned a life lesson that he applies in his travels, as he has often grappled with the level of poverty that he sees in some of the countries he travels to:

                “Tip the working poor well. You can’t save the beggars”

It is a statement that I have pondered multiple times over the last week. I am one of those guys who will drop a fiver on a homeless person in the street. Sure some of them can be working but I just know that to get where they are today, some terrible things have happened (whether because of their own choices, or because of something that was done to them). Not sure if I agree, but an interesting thought.

The author of Waiter’s Rant wrote a book on tipping, profiled in Men’s Journal in December, covering when tipping has a result …

In the worth tipping column:  waiters, doormen, babysitters (for sure!), Concierges, Car Valets (Remember Ferris Buller?).

In the not worth tipping colum:  bartenders, landscapers, maitre d’s.

Worth pondering.