Alcides Fonseca

Batteries Included

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:37 GMT

OK… this one looked funnier in my head at 3 in the morning.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:55:41 GMT

I’m still not completely sure what I think of the sit-com The Big Bang Theory. For those who don’t know this TV series, it’s about two nerdy, geeky housemates and the pretty but slightly dumb blonde who moves in across the hall from them. On one side it’s aiming very much to the geek crowd, with insider jokes only geeks will understand. On the other side though it features stereotypical geeks and makes fun of them.

All that aside, in this week’s episode Sheldon explains the rules to Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, a variation of the known game Rock, Paper, Scissors:

Apparently it’s been around for some time already (invented by Sam Kass), and has been floating around as a internet meme. Here are the rules one more time:

It can be even more elaborate though; check this version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gun, Dynamite, Nuke, Lightning, Devil, Dragon, Alien, Water, Bowl, Air, Moon, Sponge, Wolf, Cockroach, Tree, Man, Woman, Monkey, Snake, Axe, Fire, Sun.

A Democracia segue dentro de 6 meses!

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:15:44 GMT

Viva Democracia! (ups)

Posted in Culture, Politics, Portugal Tagged: Democracy, Ferreira Leite, Politicians, PSD, TV

Web Meets World: Privacy and the Future of the Cloud

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:42:23 GMT

Yesterday I gave a talk to the Privacy Forum in Auckland, New Zealand, titled Web Meets World: Privacy and the Future of the Cloud. The talk was intended as a scene setter for a discussion with the audience, about 70 lawyers, technologists, consultants, and public policy wonks. They responded well to the challenge, and we talked about the nature of privacy, how expectations change over time, trust.salesforce.com, and more. The presentation is embedded below, and can be downloaded (CC-Attribution-ShareAlike) from Slideshare (I recommend expanding the preso to full-screen so you can read the notes, which contain the text of the talk).

Web Meets World: Privacy and the Future of the Cloud

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ubicomp cloud)

Ruby Isn't Fun Anymore

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:44:19 GMT

Ruby Beanstalkd distributed worker intermediate lessons - The Devver Blog

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:24:02 GMT

All You Zombies

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:21:04 GMT

Shared by Alcides Fonseca
Imagine me reading this strip in the middle of the class, raising my macbook upside down so I could read the bottom ones.

Then I glanced at the ring on my finger.
The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail, Forever and Ever.
I know where I came from—but where did all you zombies come from?
I felt a headache coming on, but a headache powder is one thing I do not take.
I did once—and you all went away.
So I crawled into bed and whistled out the light.
You aren’t really there at all. There isn’t anybody but me—Jane—
here alone in the dark.
I miss you dreadfully!

–All You Zombies, Robert A. Heinlein

Peripheral Extinction

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:11:04 GMT

The computer mouse may someday become an endangered species. Instead of rolling a mouse around to move a cursor around on the screen, more and more users will gesture with their fingers on touch screens and multi-touch trackpads, analysts say.

Reads an article published today on PhysOrg. The article also states that in the next 5 years we may stop using a computer mouse, and that some may have already abandoned theirs, it mentions Microsoft Surface, Apple iPhone, HP TouchSmart and a couple of other devices, but in my opinion it doesn’t nail it.

trackpad

Something happened when I got my 15″ Early 2008 Macbook Pro in April ‘08, something that also happened to a couple of friends of mine, and my girlfriend, they’re all mac (laptop) users, as I am, and we’ve stopped using a mouse, there’s no need for it.

I’m a mac user for a week now and apart from gaming never felt the need of using a mouse, I think it’s the gestures; 3 finder swipe, 2 finger scroll, rotate and size of the trackpad.

Not an actual quote, more like a sum of what he told me on a couple of sentences, but I think that’s it, that’s what makes the trackpad replace the mouse: size and gestures. Also interesting is the fact that he, as a desktop user, and my girlfriend used to use a mouse at all times, my gf still does at work on her desktop so it’s an even bigger contrast.

I for one had a Tablet before my current Macbook Pro, it was a cool experience in the first months, but then it got old, it was a convertible and as a convertible I missed the physical keyboard a lot, and when in tablet mode using the stylus on the screen wasn’t a good experience, screen needed to be more steady, and the os/applications didn’t have a good pen input support (some, as in lots, didn’t even display the input that brings up the virtual keyboard/Hand Writting Recognition), it’s far more easy to scroll using the 2 finger gesture than touching the scrollbar with your finger or stylus for example, dragging on the other hand was nicer to do using a stylus.

Anyways, nowadays laptop sales surpass desktop sales so we’re having more and more laptop users, more and more trackpads, most of those laptops are running windows (despite mac laptop sales being on fire, +28% since latest refresh compared to the same period of ‘07), and pc laptop designers seem to have not noticed the increasing size of Apple’s laptop trackpads, so, even for models released today, like HP’s TouchSmart TX2Z, feature a tiny trackpad:

above: 13" Late '08 Macbook, below: HP TouchSmart TX2Z

I picked that one because it was released today, but I never saw a windows laptop with a large trackpad, it may exist but it isn’t common at all. Besides size and gestures, there’s something else that’s important for trackpad usability: the dreaded bevel, I don’t know who though it was a good idea to put a bevel around the screen of mobile phones, windows mobile devices, trackpads, lucky us the mobile phone lost it many years ago, the iPhone made the windows mobile manufacturers remove it from their devices( apparently it makes it easier to use your fingers instd. of stylus, who would’ve guessed! btw I know it was introduced to protect the screen from scratches but that was a long time ago ), and now, what will it take for pc laptop designers to remove all those bevelled trackpads, left and right mouse buttons from their designs.

So, having read this, do you also think the mouse will be extinct on the next 5 years? I think not, 5 years it’s a long time span, much can happen, both on the PC side and its many manufacturers plus Microsoft with their MultiTouch-friendly Windows 7 and Apple, I doubt this established standard will be extinguished.

Oh, and one more thing, those of you who believe a Minority Report interface would be cool for everyday use should have a little chat with the Starfire actors, apparently waving your arms all day isn’t something you want to do, and that is also true when it comes to regular touchscreens, same it is to say that direct manipulation devices are destined to fail for everyday use, unless the screen switches place with your keyboard and that would create a whole new batch of problems.

Oh Oh Oh(no it’s not Santa), and one more thing.. aww I forgot while writing that silly ho ho ho joke, heh nevermind =]

Edit: ah! I remembered, it’s another quote from that article:

The demise will be hastened by the move toward 3D environments

Re-he-he-heally?

When generated JavaScript goes wild; JavaScript WTF in SharePoint

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:00:02 GMT

The JavaScript below was pointed out by Aaron Newton, and it comes from SharePoint. Jim Wilson said about it: "and we wonder why windows has 40 million lines of code."

PLAIN TEXT

JAVASCRIPT:

function DeferCall() {
if (arguments.length == 0) {
return null;
}
var args = arguments;
var fn = null;
if (browseris.ie5up || browseris.nav6up) {
eval("if (typeof(" + args[0] + ")=='function') { fn=" + args[0] + "; }");
}
if (fn == null) { return null; }
if (args.length == 1) {
return fn();
} else if (args.length == 2) {
return fn(args[1]);
} else if (args.length == 3) {
return fn(args[1], args[2]);
} else if (args.length == 4) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3]);
} else if (args.length == 5) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4]);
} else if (args.length == 6) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4], args[5]);
} else if (args.length == 7) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4], args[5], args[6]);
} else if (args.length == 8) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4], args[5], args[6], args[7]);
} else if (args.length == 9) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4], args[5], args[6], args[7], args[8]);
} else if (args.length == 10) {
return fn(args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4], args[5], args[6], args[7], args[8], args[9]);
} else {
var L_TooManyDefers_Text = "Too many arguments passed to DeferCall"
alert(L_TooManyDefers_Text);
}
return null;
}

Is Typing A Necessity For Programming?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:06:02 GMT

Jeff Atwood stresses on the importance of typing for programming. Though I whole heartedly agree for myself, this issue can be as personal as religion.

I was pretty much a two-finger typist when I started my professional programming career. Productivity through typing was a non-issue. However, it did become a pain when I had to work on a Unisys A Series machine programming in Algol. What was the difference? Not the platform or the language, it was the tools. The IDEs provide features like intellisense that compensate for lack of typing skills. Or so I thought!

After learning touch typing, I realized that smooth typing only helped me program smoother. I have also started to remember more, and rely lesser and lesser on intellisense. I was faster with touch typing than with tools which helped me type. I now like my good old vim, as a clutter-free and fast environment on multiple platforms, to program. As Jeff says, I now spend lesser time in expressing my thoughts into code.

However, I have met those who use their IDEs and such tools so efficiently that typing is not necessary for them. I do not know if they will be more productive with touch typing. Afterall it is not that helpful when you type two alphabets, wait for a second and then use tab to type the word. And then again, typing a programming language is a lot different than typing a natural language, which is where the touch typing is geared at. And you guessed right, unlike Jeff or me, they do not think there is much common in programming and writing.

Though I think touch typing helps me program better, I cannot say the same for you. It will depend on your personal inclination as a programmer. The point is about speed and productivity.

Zé Milho

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:28:53 GMT

… Ao contrário do “Zé Milho”, o Vítor diz que chega a ser introvertido e até calmo, então no amor não tem nada a ver! O Vítor não é do género que colecciona conquistas, mas sim do que prefere de longe ter uma ida pacata ao lado da pessoa que ama…

na Wikipedia.

Como achei a informação de pouca confiança coloquei uma tag {{citation needed}} no final do parágrafo.

Eu já contribuí para a Wikipedia, e tu?

Human animal hybrid

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:30:17 GMT

This strange, half-human creatures could be your cousins. No really; it is a sculpture by Patricia Piccinini entitled The Young Family, which, in turn, is part of a larger installation called We Are Family. Piccinini’s sculptures are an daunting example of the fusing between the ‘made’ and the ‘born’.

Anthropomorphobia, Designed by Evolution, Fake nature, Hypernature, Manufactured animals, Manufactured Bodies

Versions 1.0

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:27:57 GMT

Shared by Alcides Fonseca
Made in PT

€39 Subversion client from Pico and Sofa, featuring a slick UI that is intended to make version control usable for developers and non-developers alike. Has been in public beta since June.

★

agdlr: Silverlight + DLR + Open Source

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:23:00 GMT

The "Silverlight Dynamic Languages SDK" Codeplex project has existed since March 2008, with signed binary releases and source code drops every month or so. Though it's a good ship vehicle for the Silverlight+DLR integration, it's not really an open source project -- mainly as it lacks a public source repository. That changes today.

AgDLR Source Repository

This repository will contain the sources to Microsoft.Scripting.Silverlight.dll and Chiron.exe, as well as Ruby/Python libraries for writing Silverlight applications. Any "feature" work on those pieces of code will be committed to the public repository first, and eventually make its way into MIcrosoft's internal source control so the DLR/Iron* languages don't break it. This repository takes a binary dependency on the Iron* languages as well as the DLR, since this isn't the place to change that code. The source code for IronRuby, IronPython, and the DLR are available elsewhere, but releases on the Codeplex page for this project will still contain source drops of everything.

The repository is hosted on http://github.com, which is a collaborative development site based around git, a "fast, efficient, distributed version control system ideal for the collaborative development of software". You can browse the sources on the website, look at commits, fork your own version of the repository, or just download a snapshot. If you're new to git, just install it (for windows, see here, and here). If you'd like to learn more about Github, or Git, Github guides is a good place to start.

If you'd like to contribute to AgDLR, fork your own version of the repository, commit your changes to your version, and send me a pull request on github. We'll take it from there.

I've already started to work on a new feature which I talked about at Seattle CodeCamp, but that's the next post.

Tech » Why Windows is not a good server OS.

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:33:26 GMT

kup program locking data (and running programs) while a backup is running.

Caching Tutorial for Web Authors and Webmasters

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:30:49 GMT

Covers the how's and why's of Web caching for people who publish on the Web. With FAQs.

Things Caches Do

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:41:24 GMT

Mac Pro Ultra Mini made out of broken MacBook and aluminum enclosure

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:03:25 GMT

By cramming the still functioning guts of a waterlogged MacBook into an aluminum external hard drive closure and melting a whole lot of solder, the guys over at WolphBite managed to create their own Mac Pro Ultra Mini. It looks great: I want one.

My New Mac Pro Ultra Mini [Wolph Bite]

Scaling Ruby - The Informative, 40 Minute Screencast

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:03:15 GMT

Shared by dscape
download the presentation for free on his website.

Earlier this month, Rails Envy's Gregg Pollack gave a talk at RubyConf08 called Scaling Ruby (without the Rails). He answered questions like "How do existing Ruby applications use Threads/Processes to scale?", "How do we implement an Event Driven application using Ruby EventMachine?", "What are the current bottlenecks with speeding up Ruby and how can they be fixed?", and "What does Ruby 1.9 bring to the table to speed things up?" From what I hear, it was a very well received and informative session.

Not all of us could be at RubyConf08, however, so Gregg has taken the whole Ruby scalability topic and put together a solid 40 minute screencast called Scaling Ruby. It costs $9 (cheaper than RubyConf, of course) but it's a very solid primer on Ruby scaling issues. Almost every topic is illustrated through Gregg's unique diagrams, and he goes into depth on topics as diverse as event-based applications, threads, Rinda, process messaging, and even "dropping in to C" to write high performance sections of code.

I've been very impressed with the quality of the EnvyCasts I've seen so far, and this is no exception. Lots of practical knowledge delivered in a memorable way. $9 will still seem too rich to many - especially those who think all forms of documentation and instruction should be free (as in speech and beer) - but if it takes Gregg and Jason's fine commercial attempts to encourage others to produce higher quality, free documentation, I'm all for it! They also have screencasts covering Rails 2.2 (see the Rails Inside review) and ActiveRecord.

(Disclaimer: I've received free, promotional copies of the EnvyCasts for review. I have no other relationship - financial or otherwise - with the Rails Envy guys, other than being one of the first to promote them back in the day - doesn't time fly!)

Projectos vencedores 2008

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:29:12 GMT

Estes são os projectos que venceram a edição deste ano do Codebits:

1º

AccelMoko (1º lugar público)

Valério Valério

2º

StalkerBits (3º público)

Diogo Ferreira

3º

Nagalhães (5º público)

Sérgio Freire

4º

Who's In

Pedro Eugénio

André Luis

5º

Play With Photos

Carlos Santos

6º

Million Dollar (6º público)

Nelson Correia

Nuno Jesus

7º

Sapo Explorer

Marco Gonçalves

Vasco Costa

8º

Low Power Arduino

Tiago Pinto

9º

Social Landscape

Rui Ramos

Guilherme Morais

10º

Bubble News

Paula Valença

Os vídeos estão a ser editados e ficarão online assim que possível, mais rápido do que em 2007, prometemos.

Outro ponto de situação hoje, com um resumo. Até já.

Pedro Almeida: Lançamento do Carne P´ra Canhão

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:14:52 GMT

A série de ficção para Novos Media (web e terminais móveis), Carne P’ra Canhão, foi lançada este fim de semana no SAPO - Codebits que decorreu no Lx Factory em Lisboa. Com origem no Mestrado em Comunicação Multimédia da Univ. de Aveiro e contando com o apoio do SAPO esta série retracta as aventuras de um agente da resistência contra o gangue do tráfico de bacalhau. Tudo se passa na cidade de Obscurém. A não perder…

O episódio 0, durante o codebits já está disponível. E contou com um convidado muito especial. Em breve sairá o episódio 1 já com o novo agente, Alheiras

Adicionar a:

super OS X menubar items

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:32:31 GMT

Codebits 2008

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:42:57 GMT

Passei estes últimos três dias pela LXFactory, em Lisboa, a participar no Sapo Cobits 2008. Para uma visão geral, poderão ver a reportagem da sic.

Gostaria também de agradecer ao departamento onde estudo que patrocinou a minha ida e a de mais 4 colegas ao evento.¹

Apresentações/Workshops

A primeira tarde e a primeira manhã estavam cheias de apresentações interessantes, mas eu só consegui ver duas:

Serverside Javascript: Hope and Opportunity

O Mário Valente apresentou a sua ideia para uma framework de desenvolvimento web totalmente em javascript chamada Starbucks. Mas o mais importante foram os motivos que o levaram a optar por server-side javascript:

linguagem de scripting mais deployed (todos os browsers desktop e mobile).
quem desenvolve para a web, seja programador ou designer, já tem algumas bases por onde começar²
é uma linguagem funcional, e parece que essas estão para ficar
implementa o Universal Design Pattern
Tem diversas máquinas virtuais (TraceMonkey, V8, SquirrelFish) que batem em diversas situações Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, etc…

Eu levantei dois problemas que vejo na solução apresentada por ele:

Javascript puro pode não ser a solução mais mainstream, porque o corporate world pode facilmente adoptar Rhino (ou JScript) e usar todas as 1001 bibliotecas já desenvolvidas em java (ou C#).
Eu valorizo a pluralidade de linguagens possíveis para o server-side. Perl tem as suas vantagens relativamente a Python, que em alguns casos é melhor que Ruby e que também tem situações onde ganha ao Perl. Ou podemos simplesmente falar de gostos. Penso que a solução poderá passar por ter mais máquinas virtuais no cliente, para álem da de JavaScript. Mas vou escrever mais sobre isto brevemente.

Mão na Coisa

O Pedro Melo deu uma excelente apresentação sobre XMPP, mas totalmente prática. Como nem todos podem ser perfeitos, o código estava em Perl, mas deu para perceber perfeitamente. Exemplos desde um Bot controlado por HTTP, como o uso de chatrooms para soluções de sincronização, quer seja controlar servidores remotos à lá vertebra, quer mesmo para transferir informação entre pcs (think Open LiveMesh/MobileMe XMPP based).

O uso disto é ilimitado (até porque o protocolo pode ser extensível) e deu ideias para vários projectos do codebits, do qual saliento o ComputerBot.

Os projectos

CloudStream

Ao contrário do que tinha previsto, acabei por ficar com a malta que veio comigo de Coimbra, e dedicamo-nos a uma ideia que tinha nascido na viagem para a Shift: Criar um serviço que faça o streaming de música alojada em serviços AlojamentoInTheCloud. Nos próximos anos, vamos estar a mover a computação, storage e software para a nuvem³. Ora eu não vou querer estar a sacar a música uma a uma para a ouvir. Vou querer apenas um endereço de streaming, e de um controlo remoto do servidor. Especialmente no meu telemóvel. E poder sair de casa e continuar a ouvir no caminho a mesma música onde parou.

E este modelo é diferente do Last.fm. Aqui a música é vossa, simplesmente não está alojada na vossa máquina, mas num servidor vosso, ou em serviços como o box.net (usado na demo), s3, dropbox, ou outro. No Last.fm simplesmente alugam a música.

TechStuff: Java for streaming server, PHP for the web interface, VLC for transcoding (Obrigado Sérgio!), VLC ActiveX component for web-streaming ( the audio tag didn’t work) and TCP MP in Windows Mobile.

Onde está o Alcides?

Sempre que era preciso trabalhar, parece que eu nunca estava disponível, e isto foi o mote para o resto do grupo desenvolver uma aplicação que dissesse onde andava eu escondido (Ou qualquer outra pessoa que não tenha escondido o RFID) sem ter de tocar no teclado ou olhar para o monitor, graças à apresentação do Pedro Santos do MLDC.

As actividades

Outro dos pontos chave do evento foram as duas actividades durante a directa. O Mário Valente conduziu o concurso de RockBand, que eu adoraria se conseguisse tocar música, mas que deu para me divertir um bocadinho a desafinar e a meter a tocar Tokio Hotel no PalcoPrincipal.

Gostaria de dar também os parabéns ao João Pedro do Sapo pelo Quiz. Não só pela parte técnica, que envolveu luzes, controlos do buzz e quase fritar o portátil, mas também pela imaginação nas perguntas que realmente proporcionou um momento bastante divertido.

Os outros projectos

Pessoalmente não concordei com a classificação final. Só para dar como exemplo, o primeiro vencedor de usar o OpenMoko como rato, já tinha sido feito com o Wiimote, e sinceramente não é muito dificil, visto que fiz uma coisa parecida em meia hora. Não é mau perder, até porque nem acreditava que nenhum dos nossos projectos ganhasse, tendo em conta outros que vi.

O meu top seria:

Cena dos Recibos Verdes do Pedro Sousa
Cena do last.fm -> músicas interessantes -> trackers “legais” -> RSS do Pedro Freitas
# JS de Elite (controlar o helicópetro por JS) do Cláudio Gamboa

Assim que os videos estiverem up, recomendo que vejam especialmente estas. Ficam também a sugestão para a organização de tentar criar algumas categorias. Eu percebo que não as tenham feito de propósito, para não impedir a criatividade, mas tendo em conta os tipos de projectos apresentados, poderiam fazer do género: Hardware, Jogos, Produtividade, Mashups, RFID/Meo, Libraries/Middleware, Categoria Especial 1, 2, 3 e 4. Assim haveria sempre uma folga para meter aqueles mesmo originais e bons, e também dar algum crédito a quem fizer coisas que não são produto final, mas possam facilitar o trabalho dos developers.

Overview

O evento foi exceptional, parabéns ao Sapo, por fazer a malta corporate da PT confiar neles para lhes deixar investir tanto dinheiro na malta jovem e inovadora, com um óptimo formato.

Foi bom reencontrar a malta “Hoo-hoo”⁴ e conhecer pessoas que já seguia como a Paula Valença ou o Jack Moffitt.

Em 2009 estou lá coladinho! E agora nos tempos mortos até aos próximos eventos, não vejo a malta do Porto organizar nada ;-)

¹ O DEI paga a viagem ao Codebits, o Sapo paga a entrada na Shift, a Microsoft leva-me ao Techdays e Teched. Como sou concorrido, começo a aceitar propostas para mais eventos :)

² E os quarentões não têm de aprender uma nova linguagem

³ E depois vamos voltar a querer tudo no nosso equipamento e iremos estar sempre nesse ciclo, right?

⁴ Expressão do Alex, se a transcrição estiver errada, avisa ;)

Gobby

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:12:46 GMT

Coding Day » Blog Archive » Power of Functional Programming, its Features and its Future

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:44:52 GMT

Can Erten \'s Weblog. Information about programming, program design, development with new technologies, samples, encountered debugs, useful information, some technical news. ASP.NET, Windows Forms, Windows Vista, web, experiences usually .net world

JS_THREADSAFE - MDC

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:40:52 GMT

FreeBSD and Mac OS X: a happy combination at Rui Paulo’s blog

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:49:29 GMT

So, how did this work? Check the directory “/usr/local/etc/avahi/services” on your FreeBSD system. It contains several XML files describing the service. The XML files themselves are very easy to write, just look at ssh.service.

Top 5 artists this week

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT

AutoZone, the Objective-C Garbage Collector

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:21:40 GMT

Shared by Alcides Fonseca
E ainda dizem que a Apple é fechada :P

Apple has released AutoZone, the Objective-C garbage collector, as open source under the Apache license.

★

A revolta das mulheres…

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:50:04 GMT

… contra a homossexualidade masculina.

(Thanks André pela imagem)

Modern Shoe Hospital | Ação de marketing nas calçadas

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:55:57 GMT

Há mais de 60 anos, o Modern Shoe Hospital devolve a vida aos sapatos estragados.

Para manter seu posicionamento na mente dos clientes e atrair demais fregueses, a empresa espalhou adesivos camuflados, do tipo curativos, nas calçadas em frente de suas lojas.

Os ‘curativos’ ficam presos nas solas dos pedestres, informando-os sobre o lugar certo para levar seus sapatos ‘doentes’.

Partindo do princípio que os consumidores não vão muito longe em busca de uma loja que oferece esse tipo de serviço, conserto de sapatos, a ação de street marketing próxima aos estabelecimentos é uma excelente forma de divulgar e promover a marca. Intervenções como essa transmitem a mensagem de forma atrativa e interagem da melhor forma com o público. Gostaram?

Nos acompanhe também pelo Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/comunicadores

Control iChat from Python : orestis.gr

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:17:04 GMT

A Simple Puzzle

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:33:06 GMT

hint: Panels 7, 12, and 21 are already in the correct position.

If you get the correct sequence, I can’t offer you a prize or anything
but you will have my undying respect. And I’ll buy you a beer the next
time I’m in your neighborhood.

I’ll post the correct sequence in a few days.

A ministra da educação é como uma tartaruga em cima de um poste

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:29:13 GMT

não sabes como ela foi lá parar...
(in Santa Aliança)

blue monster: the backstory

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:07:07 GMT

["The Blue Monster". First blogged in October, 2007.]

[More thoughts on The Blue Monster.]

In the late 1990’s I was living in New York, working as a mid-level copywriter at a mid-size advertising agency, when for whatever reason I started drawing cartoons exclusively on the back of business cards, just to give me something to do while sitting at the bar. Like I wrote on my blog:

All I had when I first got to Manhattan were 2 suitcases, a couple of cardboard boxes full of stuff, a reservation at the YMCA, and a 10-day freelance copywriting gig at a Midtown advertising agency.

My life for the next couple of weeks was going to work, walking around the city, and staggering back to the YMCA once the bars closed. Lots of alcohol and coffee shops. Lot of weird people. Being hit five times a day by this strange desire to laugh, sing and cry simultaneously. At times like these, there's a lot to be said for an art form that fits easily inside your coat pocket.

The freelance gig turned into a permanent job. I stayed. The first month in New York for a newcomer has this certain amazing magic about it that is indescribable. Incandescent lucidity. However long you stay in New York, you pretty much spend the rest of your time there trying to recapture that feeling. Chasing Manhattan Dragon. I suppose the whole point of the cards initially was to somehow get that buzz onto paper. I started my blog, gapingvoid.com in 2001. I was back living in the United Kingdom, where I grew up and where my mother and sister still lived.

By this time I had accumulated a couple of thousand business-card cartoons, and just started posting them on a semi-daily basis.

Fast Forward to 2006. By this time my blog is pretty well known- one of the largest in Europe-getting over a million unique visitors a month. My cartoons are all over the internet, it seems, especially around the tech blogger scene.

It’s around this time that I meet Steve Clayton, at one of the many “Geek Dinners” that have begun sprouting around the London tech scene.

Steve works for Microsoft, at the time he was running the UK Partner Group [I could tell you what that actually means, but that would take too long. Suffice to say, he’s one very clever and talented chappie].

Steve’s not the first “Microsoftie” I’d met before, but he was the first one I got on really well with. Over the next few months, we start seeing each other around a lot. He’s a really super nice guy, highly intelligent, and fun to hang out with. Good times all round.

Early on, he tells me something that really struck with me: “I could be making a lot more money, and taking a lot less social grief if I worked somewhere else. But I choose not to, simply because at Microsoft, you get to work on some REALLY cool stuff, sooner than anywhere else.”

Why was that so interesting to me? Because I had heard that very same reason cited to me by EVERY single Microsoft employee I had ever met up until that time. Secondly, like every other Microsoft employee I had ever met before, Steve was a really nice, open, fun guy. He did not typify the stereotype “Evil Borg Hive Member” that Microsoftees were often accused of being.

I pondered this for a while. Why did these folk work at Microsoft? It wasn’t the money, it wasn’t the social kudos. Something else was motivating them

So in October, 2006 I posted a cartoon on my blog that tried to express this drive, at least to myself. It went on to be called “The Blue Monster”.

I posted it in high-resolution, the idea being that people at Microsoft who liked the idea, could download it and print it out poster-style, if they wanted. Like I said on my blog:

I just designed this poster for my buddies over at Microsoft [you know who you are]. Feel free to download the high-res version by clicking on the image, and print it out onto - posters, t-shirts etc.

The headline works on a lot of different levels:

Microsoft telling its potential customers to change the world or go home.

Microsoft telling its employees to change the world or go home.

Microsoft employees telling their colleagues to change the world or go home.

Everybody else telling Microsoft to change the world or go home.

Everyone else telling their colleagues to change the world or go home.

And so forth.Microsoft has seventy thousand-odd employees, a huge percentage them very determined to change the world, and often succeeding. And millions of customers with the same idea.

Basically, Microsoft is in the world-changing business. If they ever lose that, they might as well all go home.

I chose the monster image simply because I always thought there is something wonderfully demonic about wanting to change the world. It can be a force for the good, of course, if used wisely. It's certainly a very loaded part of the human condition, but I suppose that's what makes it compelling.What happened next was quite extraordinary. Steve saw the cartoon, and really liked it. He immediately started using the image in his e-mail signature. He stared talking about the cartoon on his blog. Next thing you know, other folk inside Microsoft start doing the same. The “idea-virus” is unleashed.

Today, if you’re ever invited onto the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, if you walk around the offices, chances are you’ll see the Blue Monster poster, hanging on somebody’s wall. Or you might very well see someone with a Blue Monster sticker on their laptop, wearing a Blue Monster t-shirt, or handing you their business card with the Blue Monster on the back. Though the Blue Monster wasn’t created by Microsoft, for many people working there, it seems to articulate EXACTLY why they work there. It’s also been written about in the UK National Media, as well as countless tech blogs.

It's not that everybody inside Microsoft "gets" The Blue Monster. It's never been officially endorsed by them. But the ones who do get ito, REALLY get it. For them, it's a cult object. It represents the conversation they INDIVIDUALLY wish to be having with the world about their company and technology in general, not what the corporate "Brand Police" upstairs want to be having with the world. They may be loyal employees of Microsoft, but they're also individuals. Somehow The Blue Monster allows them to express both roles at the same time, allows them to navigate the blurry lines that separate the two.

I was just playing around with a cartoon idea at the time, not really expecting too much to come from it. I never expected the idea to get as big and well-known as it did. Life is full of surprises.

As the months went by and I started to see The Blue Monster story growing and growing, I had another insight: The Blue Monster wasn’t a one-off. The Blue Monster represented a fundamental shift in how marketing will be conducted in the future.

Hope you like whisky…

Pass the mustard...

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:22:00 GMT

...and sauerkraut

and ketchup

and another beer.

Thanks.

You're right Samantha H. I can't resist this.

recebido por e-mail

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:21:41 GMT

IronPython URLs: The Chemistry Development Kit and IronPython

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:27:13 GMT

Partial Text Feeds and the Economy… Again

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:50:53 GMT

I was just thinking about this issue when I saw the post and cartoon above. I was recently on a plane and going through my feeds (I need something like a plane trip to take the time to go through ALL of them, don’t you?).

I have realized that the feeds that are partial have slowly moved out of my attention zone. Even the great sites that have this tactic end up with me ignoring their great content unless someone really points to them via another mechanism (e.g. FriendFeed / Twitter / Blog).

There is too much good content out there that lets me read it as I want too, so I don’t have time for the content that has any kind of firewall in front of it.

I overhead someone in Coupa Cafe, Palo Alto, mentioning how “we should make our feed partial, add ads, and then we can get through the rough economy”. I sat there with my no-sugar Tiger Spice soy Chai ( heh ) and pondered a world where the majority of my feeds were partial in my reader. I would probably give up my reader at that point and just use social mechanisms to filter for me and call it a day.

This Coupa chap will lose a large percentage of his followers and suddenly those ads will hit a smaller and smaller audience, as that audience moves to other areas to get that content.

Die. Partial. Die. As someone at the Web 2.0 Summit would say “Give users what they want and you will do well.” ;0

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Computer%Guy

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:23:50 GMT

Computer%Guy