Microsoft Office labs vision 2019

In 2019, there will be tactile screens everywhere. The only gardens will be on rooftops and we will all live in Hong Kong. Don't believe me? See for yourself:



Thank you to El Blogador for sending me this story. Read post from Long Zheng.

IAB develops new guidelines for behavioural advertising

Self-regulatory and signed by AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!... The guidelines can be summarized as:

• Notice

Each Member shall provide clear and unambiguous notice to users that it collects data for the purposes of OBA. This notice shall include information about what types of data are collected, how these data are being used and how users can decline OBA with respect to that Member.

• User choice
  

Each Member shall provide an approved means for consumers to decline OBA from that Member and information on how to do it.

• User Education

Each Member shall make information available to educate users about OBA and ensure that this information is easily accessible.

And of course, "No Member shall create OBA segments intended for the sole purpose of targeting children under the age of 13 years".

Full guidelines on IAB site.
First read on the BBC.

"Lunatic bloggers can keep the blogosphere"

Guardian article about Ryanair v. Jason Roe, a freelance developer/blogger. I don't condone the tone of Ryanair's response but the short of it is that Ryanair can get away with that. Most of those commenting and swearing they will never fly Ryanair will quickly change their mind when asked to pay £100 more for the same journey with another airline. If they don't mind paying more, they are not Ryanair's customer target anyway.

Theo Paphitis' top business tips

Some very sound advice on BBC. I am taking note.

London Business School ranked #1 in the world

FT 2009 global rankings.
I certainly did not contribute to up the salary increase criteria :-)

Facebook U-turn again

For the time being, your pictures belong to you. Guardian. Funny how the Facebook team still hasn't figured out a way to connect with their users before implementing such policies.

Military’s killer robots must learn warrior code

" Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands" According to a report from the Ethics and Emerging Technology group. Article in the Times with a priceless comment from Dave E., Laos: "Marvelous – puts the recession into perspective though doesn’t it. Who needs to worry about losing their jobs when in fact the real danger is killer robots without conscience stalking the earth….".

Global recession - where did all the money go?

Frightening. The Guardian.

Look around you: Maths

The World's best complaint letter

To Richard Branson from a Virgin airline customer on the Mumbai to Heathrow flight last December. Hilarious.
On the Telegraph.

Obama's inauguration speech as a tag cloud

From Wordle.net

Affordable glasses turn your computer screen in 3D

"NVIDIA has created a kit that turns computer screen images 3D provided machines have GeForce graphics processors and one of the new-generation of high-resolution monitors launched at CES by Samsung, ViewSonic, or Mitsubishi. (...) Because the technology works with monitors, 2D computer games can be replayed in three dimensions". AFP article.

I want one! and loads of Panadol.

50 Reasons Why More People Aren't Using Your Website

Written by Scott Heiferman. The top 3 are the most common issues:

1. Because they don't want to generate content, they want better life
2. Because it solves a problem they don't have
3. Because it won't help them with their problem

ESTATE AGENTS NOW SHOWING HOUSES TO OTHER ESTATE AGENTS

"BRITAIN'S estate agents are showing houses to each other in a bid to combat loneliness and prevent their traditional skills from dying out." Another classic from the Daily Mash.

Atheist advertising campaign goes global, thousand more buses to burn in Hell!

800 buses in the UK, a thousand tube cards, 2 LCD screens opposite Bond Street tube station, buses in Barcelona, Italy, the U.S. (Washington only)...

If only more were heeding this message from the American Humanist Association: "Just be good for goodness' sake".

Guardian article.

A floating city to welcome future global warming escapists?

Floating eco-city concept by French architect Vincent Callebaut. The city generates more energy than it consumes through a combination of wave power and solar energy. It can host 50,000 people. No price tag yet but it is safe to assume that it will be used as a luxury development rather than a viable solution for the expected millions of people displaced from their homeland by the rising seas. It looks beautiful though... Article in French in Le Monde.

Happy New Year!

Best Wishes to all my readers.

The Guardian's top 100 sites for 2009

Full list here.

Google fall out of 20 Most Trusted Companies list, Facebook creeps in.

In 2007, Google featured in the top 10. In 2008, it doesn't make the top 20. As seen on Andy Beal who includes a top 10 comparison with 2007. Truste reckons that influential factors this year were:

• Importance of privacy continues to rise.
  
• Consumers feel they are losing control of personal information.
  
• Identity theft is top of mind.

This is a US survey, not global.

2008 Ranking

1 American Express (remained number one)

2 eBay (+6)

3 IBM (no change)

4 Amazon (+1)

5 Johnson & Johnson (+1)

6 Hewlett Packard (+10)

6 U.S. Postal Service (+1)

7 Procter & Gamble (+2)

8 Apple (new to the top 20)

9 Nationwide (remained the same)

10 Charles Schwab (-8)

11 USAA (+4)

12 Intuit (+7)

13 WebMD (-1)

14 Yahoo! (new to the top 20)

15 Facebook (new to the top 20)

16 Disney (-1)

16 AOL (-12)

17 Verizon (new to the top 20)

18 FedEx (new to the top 20)

19 US Bank (-2)

20 Dell (-7)

20 eLoan (-9)

Happiness is contagious, research finds

Happy friends make you happy. LA Times.