Blog closed

Since I succefully finished the course for which I had to make this blog, I will no longer post anything on this blog. At the moment I am keeping up another blog where I keep the homefront (and other people interested of course) updated during my stay in Stellenbosch South Africa. Visit the site here! (http://koeninafrika.co.cc)

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Koen

Pc persons vs. Mac persons

Since I am an Android #fanboy, I will answer neither' if someone asks me if I am a Mac or PC person. Obviously, I don't use Android as an operation system for my PC, but I would like to have laptop that does. Anyhow, check out the infographic that I came across this afternoon:

(source http://www.coolinfographics.com, click to enlarge)

Although that the survey for this infographic got many respondents (388.315 persons), the statistics aren't considered a good reflection of the real world. Since 69% of the PC users prefer to ride a Harley Davidson and 52% of the Mac'ers would choose a Vespa, I wonder where I would end up as someone that is planning to buy a BMW F650. Well, let's just say that my choice of bike doesn't decide wether if I am an Android-person or not. Therefore, a double related Spotify song today, since it's your own choice what you like the most, PC or (Fleetwood) Mac!

Fleetwood MAC - You can go your own way

Vlog: Gestures in placement events

What? Vlog in blog? Yep! Here is the video that I have worked on with my Business Information Technology collegues. So, this time not a blog but I vlog (video log). Instructions: 1. Watch the movie 2.Learn about gestures in placement events 3. Tell me what you think (optional).

Oh, and since I forget to add a song last time, here is a song related to the video (get the link?:)):

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I put a spell on you.

Better trafficflow with GPS?

During my daily routine of checking nu.nl for the news, I came across an article about GPS systems and the improvement of traffic flow. Since I was blogging about my GPS system I use for touring on bike last time, I thougth it may be nice to tell you something about the way how GPS systems can contribute to smoother traffic.

The idea is to let the cars communicate with special systems besides the road. These systems can communicate information to dynamic traffic signs, which on their turn can communicate traffic information or rules to the road users.

In the article it is mentioned that the software that is used for the GPS systems should be open source, in order to work well. If it isn't open source, cars of different brands can't communicate with each other. It could be a nice opportunity for Google's Android! However, this would add more stress to Google's privacy problem; if most cars rely a google product, the giant company would have even more data of their users. They will even know their location and driving habbits besides the things they already know.

As the research is still under progress, it is very reasonable to think that GPS can provide a solution for the trafficjam problem in The Netherlands. I am courious how it will develop over time. For now I am going to enjoy my own GPS system by going on a short but sunny motorcycle trip before heading to work!

Spring has arrived

I haven't been blogging a lot lately, due to my busy schedule that contains working, sports, driving my bike and, if there is a timeslot left, writing my thesis and other assignments. Many events did occur since my last blog. The shit has hit the fan in Libia while the spring entered The Netherlands, the Ipad2 was released while I bought the HTC Incredible S (which is great by the way), the motoGP season started while the first Formula 1 race was canceled. Meanwhile, Japan was hit by multiple earthquakes, tsunami's and a couple of (near) nuclear disasters. It seemed like moving weeks to me!


Lets start with the spring. The condition of blue skies, calm winds, 14 degrees celcius and singing birds gave me the opportunity to go out for nice ride on my (dad's) bike. Although that I;ve driven it nearly all winter long, it is was nice to feel a temperature above 10 degrees and to smell the spring in the air. Furthermore, it was a great opportunity to test my recently bought GPS device for the bike (Garmin Nuvi 510). When you drive a motorbike, I realy recommend you to buy one yourself it's great since it discovers the greatest roads with the best corners and nice surroundings!

As I am recommending anyway: forget the Ipad2 and purchase the HTC Incredible S phone (or choose it with your new provider). Since my old HTC didn't survive carnaval 2011 edition, I had to look for a new one. The Incredable S is the first phone in the new HTC S series. Take a look at it over here, or read a review.

Well, Actually I planned to write something about the other events i mentioned at the beginning to, but unfortunately my 'blog time slot' is allready used.

So, time to say goodbye!

Here's a nice track for in your Spotify list (which I will include in all my posts from now on):

The Vaccines - Post break-up sex

Musicology

Music and internet. It's like a 100 year old and a teenager, who are inseparable and have a great friendship. All thought this relationship isn't approved by everyone, especially not in the beginning, it has has become a more serious one. Less music is downloaded illegally, and more programs like iTunes and Spotify create profit for musiclabels and artists. They do this by selling songs online (iTunes) or by subscriptions of an online music database (Spotify).

Me, being a music lover (no not a musician, although I do like a good session of karaoke:-)), I subscribed for a Spotify account. So, for only €5,- a month, I can listen to millions of tracks unlimited, without any annoying commercials. I can make different lists that are stored online, so that I can log on any computer in the world to listen to my lists anytime. More than once I've supplied a party with 'my' music.

If you have spotify and you want a list because you don't have inspiration for your own, you can go to spotifylist.com and look for a list of your kind of music. If you like it, you can also share your lists with other users. I've uploaded a house list, lounge list, and my favorite random list (700+ songs).

So, if you like music, you will like Spotify. Give the free version a try! You can listen to all the music, you only get some (quite annoying) commercials and you are limited to 24 hour a week of listening. If you already have Spotify, this is fav song at the moment: This old love - Lior

Greetings,

Koenn87

Facebook and Twitter. A visual comparison.

Bars, lines, circles, points, axis. All words that have to do with charts. Charts like the one in my previous post. If you take in mind that these days a 'normal' chart isn't fancy enough, you have to add a lot of concepts to list of words I mentioned earlier. Words like mindmapping, visualization and brief facts. If you want to impress today, you need to create an infographic. And many info graphics have impressed me. Since I am writing my thesis about visualizations (more specific 'What is the influence of different colours on data processing and data interpretation of the graph'), I am kind of into graphs these days. Meanwhile came across some neat info graphics (this huge one about US tax expenses, for example).

More interesting for this blog however, is a visual about the demographics of Facebook vs. Twitter. By using a 'Polar Area Chart', it is easy to see how Facebook users' demographics are different from Twitter users. Fun to see is that only 12% of Facebook users are updating their daily status, where 51% of Twitter users update it daily. However, the daily Facebook logins are higher then Twitter (41% vs 27%). Thus, Twitter can be seen as the more active social media.

That's all for now. If you feel like viewing more neat Info Graphics about an array of subjects, take a look over here.