Shotcodes: why?

A few years ago I met with Dennis Hettema in a bar in Amsterdam to talk about ShotCodes. Dennis is one of the founders of OP3. OP3 is the company that invented shotcodes and the software to read them. A ShotCode is similar to a Barcode but has a different form.

Today I read an interview with Dennis on Blueace. Ever since we met I try to keep up-to-date with what is happening with Dennis and OP3.

But even after a few years I still don’t understand the concept. I don’t think that ShotCodes won’t be popular or that OP3 won’t make money but I just don’t see why ShotCodes are cool.

Why would I want to use it?
What is the added  benefit of a round barcode?
On which occasion would I be gratefull to have a ShotCode?
When will a ShotCode save my life…
Or at least make my life more convenient?

I wonder if I will ever understand but at least someone does. Mellisa had a ShotCodes tattood in her neck. She writes about it on her blog: “The Needle“.

Is that a real tattoo???

Gadget Envy

Patrick ruined my week. He is visiting Barcelona to set-up the Spanish version of SMSeenHuis and he bought the new Blackberry Pearl!

He is going to rub it in my face for weeks once he is back. My only hope is to find a Blackberry Pearl in the Netherlands and buy that before he gets back, or find an even cooler gadget than the Pearl…

Sync Google Calendar With Your Blackberry

One of the gadgets I’m still having trouble syncronizing with is my girlfriend. And she is my most precious gadget!

My Powerbook, Blackberry and Office PC all know where I am every minute of the day but if I want to plan anything with my girlfriend we need to sit next to each other and compare calendars manually. I don’t mind doing manual stuff with my girlfriend but I would like to have our calendars sync digitally.

I’m Serious. Really.

We tried using Google Calendar but it just doesn’t work to have another calendar unless it syncs with our real calendars. So today, when I read this new article on how to Sync Google Calendar With Your Phone I decided to check it out. The software that WebWorkerDaily talks about is still clearly in beta. There is no clear installation manual and I couldn’t get it to work on my Blackberry just yet.

But as soon as I do I’ll be in sync with my girlfriend! She will be able to add the Google Calender to Outlook and I will sync it to my Blackberry and we will never miss a date again!

Pitchtalk.tv: How do I visualize innovation?

Big Trouble. Originally uploaded by Kristal.

Tonight I will be a guest at Ronnie Overgoors Pitchtalk TV Show. The interesting thing about Pitchtalk is that it is a talkshow made for Internet only. It isn’t live so I don’t know when the show we film tonight will be available.

The topic of tonight is “Innovation” and the other two guests are Han Gerrits and Kees Zegers.

I’m still looking for a good visual metaphor for innovation. Maybe I should smash some eggs or break a chair or crash myself into the table or something so I can demonstrate how difficult it is to innovate.

Any suggestions?

Juggle and unicycle performance today

Juggle. Originally uploaded by DewCon.

This morning I’m scheduled to give a juggling performance at my daughters school.

My girlfriend volunteered me while I was away for my trip to the US a few weeks ago. I have a unicycle like the one in the photo here and I juggle 5 balls.

I’m a bit nervous because is has been years since I juggled before a large group. And 3 tot 4 year old children are a tough crowd…

Coca Cola Collection

When I was 8 I started collecting Coca Cola cans and bottles. I didn’t want the Coca Cola bed, flags and toys. Just the cans and bottles.

Lots of kids started collecting Coca Cola stuff when they were kids. I recently had diner with three other entrepreneurs and they all had Coca Cola collections as a child. One of them told me he recently went to his parents house and found that his whole collection was worthless because the exposure to light for years had faded all the colors. He could barely read the print on any of the cans.

Today I visited my parents house and took another look at my Coca Cola collection. When my parents moved to their current house, about 15 years ago, my mother organized my whole collection in a closed, dark and airtight (well, sort off) closet. Everything looks as bright and new as it did 15 years ago.

Another cool thing about the collection is that I actually saved a lot of full bottles. I have several 20 year old Coca Cola bottles with real 20 year old Coca Cola in it. I tried 10 year old Coca Cola a few years ago and it tasted fine. Maybe I should have a Coca Cola tasting evening for Coca Cola lovers where we open and taste some of my special bottles.

A few specials:

17 year old American Original Coca Cola
21 year old Yugoslavian Coca Cola
18 year old French Coca Cola

And those were just the first three bottles I looked at.
This might even be worth something….

UPDATE: …or maybe not. When I got home I tried eBay and there are lots of older and more exotic Coca Cola bottles for sale. I ended up offering $20 for a full Coca Cola bottle from 1914. If I win it I’ll throw a party and drink it together with anyone who is interested in tasting 92 year old Coca Cola.

When is something finished?

As we are trying to finish Fleck and launch it to the world I keep thinking of this quote:

“I never finish a painting — I just stop working on it for a while.” — Arshile Gorky.

I was reminded of this little bit of wisdom while reading Hackers and Painters from Paul Graham. It also made me think about another subject I have been wrestling with for a while now. I think that one of the differences between real entrepreneurs and other people is that entrepreneurs never consider anything ready, complete or perfect.

It is not that we are all pessimists and perfectionists (not all of us at least) but we just know that everything can be even better. Anything and everything and always.

I wonder if this is logical and normal or if it is indeed true. Do you think the iPod is perfect? Do you think the Mona Lisa is perfect? Is there one product in the world that is perfect and finished? Can you name anything that can’t be perfected?
I don’t.

I think Steve Jobs at some point drew a line in the sand and said ‘this is it. Save all the great improvements we have for the next model and launch this version of the iPod, now!’. If you don’t seriously think that anything is ready to be improved on you might be to hesitant or reserved to become an true innovator.

I think you have to be able to question any system or product and constantly be asking yourself ‘Why should that work like this?’ or ‘IS this really the way this should work?’ and ‘That might be the way other people do it but I’m going to try it in a different way’.
And Da Vinci? He put his pencil down one day and said;

‘This is it. I’m going to stop working on it for a while…’

Help with the Fleck Extension

Fleck. Do you still remember that? :-)

I posted a small update on the Fleck Blog yesterday. We are spending a lot of time on it again after a period of relative silence. One of my personal responsabilities is the Browser Extension. I do the design and development of the Extension.

At this moment I’m working on two final issues;

• Auto Install
• Welcome Page

At this moment the extension works great but it doesn’t install as good as I want. What I want is that when you install the extension it automatically adds the Fleck button to your browser just aftet the STop and Home button. Right now you have to manually add the button.

The other thing I need is that if you installed the extension and you restart the browser for the first time we can show a page with a special message.

Both issues shouldn’t be that hard. I have been reading the source code of the Del.icio.us extension and it must be in there somewhere since that extensions does both things.

Nevertheless, if you have experience with this and would like to help me let me know.