To be honest, being a French is a mixed feeling. I am proud of my country; I like our landscapes, food and everything. I believe from a professional point-of-view our education system is quite effective and that we have a good way to analyze, solve problems and drive business.

BUT, there is a big BUT and today is one of them.

The French tend to complain a lot, defending their rights they took for granted fiercely instead of realizing how spoiled we might be sometimes. Strikes are regularly disrupting the economy and it is the top fear of any tourist visiting our lovely country.

The last thing : Stress. There are serious studies in France about how stressed the work environment could be, how difficult it is for us to survive under the pressure of a new management.

I agree, we all are stressed! But the key difference here in the rest of the world is that we cope with it!

Yes, it is true that we are more stressed, trying to cope with multitasking, emerging countries, more financial pressure, more competitors, more connectivity….and the list is long…. Technology does not help and remind us every second just how fast the world is turning.

After the 35 hours of work, are we going to see a new law to fight stress ?

I know the solution. Let me get the remote control – I will stop the world from spinning.

Have you ever calculated in how many ways you can watch a single movie?

First and foremost – you can watch it on the television. You can then record it to your VCR (if you still have one) or even download it to your computer.

It is then followed by the VCD or DVD or Blu Ray / HD-DVD disc. They all use a digital recording technology, use the same format (a disc) but the quality varies a lot between each format. VCD is mainly still used in Asia; DVD is the new standard while HDDVD and BRD are still fighting to take the lead on the high definition market.

This market does not take off because consumers are lost between those two formats and do not want to make the wrong decision. No decision being better than wrong decision, thus the sales do not increase. The second reason is the extreme complexity of this technology for the mass market which is lost between Full HD, HD, HD Ready, 1080p, 720p, 1080i etc. In addition to that, there are very few channels broadcasting in High Definition at this moment. Last but not least, the quality is not as good as it is supposed to be.

Anyway, let’s go back to my point. We have already evaluated how you could watch a movie using traditional methods. If you add the new technologies and new format, this is becoming ridiculous. Do you want to watch it on your iPod, on your UMD with PSP, on your Mac, on your PC, on your Archos; is it MP4, WMV, high definition or not, do you want to carry a portable DVD player? STOP IT!

There are a lot of advertisements to promote the legal download of movies. YES, but if people download movies illegally it is because it is easier for them.

If you are a good sheep, and buy your movies, then this is becoming a joke. You want to watch High Definition, you buy HD DVD or Blu Ray. You want to watch on a portable DVD player or at home movies that do not exist on High Definition, you have to get it on DVD.

If now, you want to watch it on your iPod and if you want to be legal, you have to get another version.

So what is the solution?

Mister Media companies, ONCE for ALL and ONE for ALL, this is the solution.

Consumers who are buying or renting movies are not interested in the technology. They want to watch a movie. So make sure when a new movie is released, all previous formats are included inside.

HD DVD is including a DVD version, this is a good start. But what about the MP4 or WMV files? Why should I buy a movie on High Definition, another version on UMD for the PSP or a digital file for my iPod?

Please, make sure you include the standard version with the High Definition as well with the digital versions. Consumers will be happier, will buy more DVDs and will get movies through illegal means lesser.

Do not repeat the failure of the Mini-Disc: listen to your target audience and their needs.

(c) Apple Computer. click here

OK, forgive me for this cheesy analogy with the famous John Paul Young hit from the 80s, feel free to watch the clip on Youtube… .
There is a chance that I will not be the only one using it over the next few days and you will know the reason why.
Apple has just introduced a new laptop: the MacBook Air.

I will not go into a detailed review of the product. My colleagues, fellow bloggers, IT reviewers will do a detailed review of it sooner or later. Some early reviews can be found at Macworld.com . Gizmodo You will find some great pictures on the site.

In summary, this is a piece of beauty, ultra light, thin laptop, with a 13″ screen, 80GB hard disk storage (or 64MB flash), USB , mini DVI, Airport N, Bluetooth, lighted keyboard and new touchpad features. It weighs only 1.36kg and has a thickness of only 1.94cm.
Of course, it is extremely sexy and well designed. Price starts from $1799 USD.

So, let’s get away from the traditional ultra positive fan-oriented, Apple-geek- in-love review and be rational for a while (at least let’s try).

So, who is it for?

As usual, Mac and Apple fans are the core target audience. You can expect lots of pre orders (2-3 weeks in advance) from this core audience, who are dying to get their hands on the latest piece of Apple’s technology. Being lighter and thinner, it will cater to anyone who needs to travel and carry data around.

However, be aware of a couple of things.

Ultra portability always comes as a compromise. There is always a catch. Evaluate your needs and decide afterwards whether the MacBook Air is suitable to you.

Here are the limitations:
- Up to 1.8Ghz speed. Current models run at 2.16Ghz. You can expect a downgrade in performance if you are an heavy user.
- External drive. Not a big deal, no one really needs to use a drive for 24 hours per day. Just get (extra charges) the new external drive or use the new software to link it to your old Mac.
- USB to Ethernet/modem port. This means you might suffer from speed transfer loss , especially over the ethernet connection

What do I love :
- Design
I did not get the chance to look at it myself, however, the pictures and first shots look gorgeous.
- Weight and size
Extremely light and thin. Finally you can bring it with you all day long with ease. 1.36kg and less than 2cm thick is almost the thickness of your iPod!
- Illuminated keyboard
This is a must have for all those who want to work in dark places / planes / meetings etc.
- Touch Pad gesture control
Imagine you can do exactly the same control with your touch pad like your iPod Touch screen. Rotate, zoom in, and zoom out. Easy and time saving.
- SDD memory
You can decide to get the SSD memory version of the Mac Book Air instead of the internal memory version. Save some time and energy but there is the lost of capacity and huge cost increase!

Too bad for :
- Screen size:
This is a personal choice, but should I go for a thin and light laptop, I would have preferred to have a 10″ screen or 11″ screen to save space. In any cases, you connect it to your Flat Panel display when you go home, so you do not really need such a wide screen.
- Storage capacity:
This is always the catch. 80GB is large enough for students and workers. Should you decide to store all your life inside (photos, music etc) then you might run into a problem. How do I sync my 160GB iPod with a 80GB only laptop HDD?
The multi libraries or content sharing between different hard discs is currently very painful. This is one of the drawbacks of the convergence.
- SDD memory
Great, but I would have loved to see both – flash memory for fast boot up AND the HDD to store all the data.

From a specification point of view, evaluate what kind of work you are doing. If you are a heavy user of Parallel Desktop, or Photoshop, videos, pictures etc, be aware that the MacBook light will be “light” in performance. But this is not what is requested out of it is it? Chances are you might have to go for MacBook Pro in that case.

Back in the time when I used to work with Apple, I remember we used to always explain that there is only “One Pie” available when you buy a laptop. This is the overall performance one. Then it is up to you to balance it: ultra portable and powerful, or portable and more powerful, or transportable and ultra powerful.

There is one for everybody, make your choice. The Mac Book Air is definitively in the first category.

Mine is done: I will get them all..

I recently wrote about how some business people are trying to run their business on a 24h/24h day basis. With the help of the technology, it has become easy to stay connected through mobile phones, emails, push mails, internet, wireless, WiFi , 3G and so on.
This mobility definitively helps to drive the business. A dollar is a dollar and saving a minute can save your business. Attending DigiGen08, speakers will tell you this is about multitasking and it is part of the Digital Generation genes.

However, I am wondering if this is really efficient in a long run.

The world is definitively ’spinning faster’ and one should catch up if you want to keep your head above the water. To avoid drowning, you have to swim faster and harder than before.
The problem now is that when you swim, you are swimming to survive, not to plan.
There comes a risk that your actions are always based on a last minute emergency and you have less time to plan in advance your next step in order to stay ahead of the competition.

As such, there is a chance that you react instead of staying ahead.

The other risk is that you are not allowing your mind to get sufficient rest, which could lead to you getting blurred and confused.

In this fast paced world, my advice would be to take some time to think. This is why I love travelling so much. I am always amazed to see all my business colleagues working 10 hours in a row on a flight. Don’t get me wrong, this happens to me as well when I am in a rush, in need of closing a file or delivering a contract, project etc.

However, the benefit of working on a flight is it forces you to be disconnected.

It forces your mind to rest and suddenly everything become clearer.
Same goes with your new mobile phone with the push mail function. Before you got it, you could easily not check your emails over night. I can bet that now, you check it as soon as you have 5minutes free.

This syndrome has been named as an addiction by doctors. Like any drugs, they are dangerous.

Life is not a 100m sprint but rather is a marathon and we need to prepare and pace ourselves accordingly.
Learn how to disconnect. Lear to unplug and get the bigger picture into perspective.
Your family, your friends, your business and even yourself will be more than happy on the long run.

P.S : I am going back to my PC to check my emails (no one said it is easy to resist… =) )

I apologize in advance for the following rant, but I think this is frustrating or funny enough to be mentioned.

I am pretty sure you have experienced the same issues. You are an happy customer of your favorite brand, but unfortunately, once in a while, there is a problem, an issue, a failure in the delivery and you have to contact the hotline.

Here it goes, even though you trust the company, even though you know it is going to be painful, even though you prepare yourself mentally, you lose your nerves eventually.

This was what happened to me.

You order software from the online store of a famous brand to make sure that you receive it fast. The software arrives damaged and cannot be installed.

The nightmare begins:

1) The Tradition :
‘Sorry for putting your call on hold, your call is important to us, all our customer service officers are engaged at the moment. Please continue to hold, we will attend to you shortly.’
Even if you try to call in the middle of the day, you have to face those cheesy ‘hotel lobby’ music for 40 minutes.
After that, you engage with a technical team who believe you are a newbie and cannot operate software properly. You have to explain to him specifically that you know what a CD is and no, you did not put it upside down (lol!).

Then, you realize the guy you are calling is in Australia (which is pretty far away from Singapore for a product you have purchased in Singapore….). The same guy tells you proudly that if you had bought the product from a ‘ brick and mortar’ store, you will have an immediate exchange for the faulty product. Lol, what a great promotion.

After negotiating, he agrees to ship you another CD that will arrive in 10 days!

2) Follow Up:
Of course, you do not receive a formal reply, so you chase after the team. You then realize that the reply is coming from Europe from a different team. Nobody is answering the emails of course.

3) You Try to Call Up
This is the big mistake – you have 5 people who explain to you how sorry they are, how they understand your frustration and they are doing everything possible to solve your issue. Nice but still, I have yet to receive the CD.

4) The solution
After 1 day of effort, you finally reach somebody who is the decision owner and can arrange for a delivery of that new software. The software is delivered late the same day and the day after 5 people call me to see if the ‘customer issue has been solved’

Conclusion : Why is it so complex when you have a solution to the problem?
In this case, a simple ‘Yes we understand, we are sorry, you will have another CD delivered to you tomorrow’ would have solved immediately the issue.

It is frustrating to realize that you are just treated as a number among all the customer issues and you are just going along with the process flow.

My first intention was to look on a regular basis about the cool websites and share them with you. Forget it. There are just too many sites/blogs/applications popping up day after day on the internet.

The more I surf, the more amazed I am.

However, something caught my attention this week. If you play video games, you will certainly know them. They are small, stupid, white and make lots of noise. I am talking about our favorite “Rabbids”. The first episode, ‘Rayman Against the Rabbid’ is a MUST-play video game especially on Nintendo Wii – it is so fun!

The good news is that they have made a come back. I invite you to have a look at the launch website: and watch some of the funny videos (My favorite is still the Rugby one)

Be careful, this is highly addictive and will provide you a couple of good fun moments.

(@) Property of Ben Rubin, San Jose Semaphore, earstudio.com

The Da Vinci Code might sound like pure fiction and some believe that such riddles only exist in Hollywood. Let’s not forget that codes and coded messages have been used have been used for more than a century. Even Julius Cesar used simple ‘key’ coded messages when he sent orders to his troops so that his enemies could decipher it. One of the most famous codes is the Enigma code, developed by the German Nazis in1920s and extensively used during the WWII. These codes were difficult if not impossible to crack.

Well, a new code has been cracked today. I am referring to the San Jose Semaphore from Ben Rubin. For those not familiar with it, you can read on at the earstudio website.Imagine a tall building (Adobe Headquarter in San Jose) with 4 wheels. Each of it can assume four distinct positions: vertical, horizontal, and left and right-leaning diagonal; together, the four wheels have a vocabulary of 256 possible combinations. The San Jose Semaphore transmits its message at a steady rate; its four wheels turn to new positions every 7.2 seconds….Over the past year, several people have tried to decrypt that message unsuccessfully. But now two analyst, Bob Mayo and Mark Snesrud, from Silicon Valley have succeeded. Their conquest which is revealed on their website was essentially a broadcast of the entire text of from Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49”.I think this is awesome.! It is great to see how technologies can be used in Art. Ben Rubin was using digital components, XML code, to express his vision, his ‘Art’ sense. We are maybe entering a new era where artist will mix conventional art with ‘new medias’. We can probably expect to see more of such messages coming up in the future. Previously, the only location where one could see a mix of Art and New Media was in the ‘Modern Art Museum’. I guess we should now call them ‘contemporary’, but in that case, what will be the next phase of the modern art?I am not only amazed but also admire the imagination and determination of the people who can crack such codes. Digital and technologies are new ways to express messages and can be great way to stimulate peoples’ skills / imagination.Finally, I think this is nice to see that movies can be linked to reality. Whilst Da Vinci Code remains as just a great movie, the coding activities and riddles continue to be part of lives indefinitely.

As consumers, there are few things we can accept and others we will not bend over for. When we decide to accept a cheap product, we have to inevitably accept that it may be inferior in quality. Similarly, when we pay for service, we should expect to get a certain level of service.

No matter the scenario, we should never accept being fooled. We must insist getting what we paid for. However, in reality, there are many occasions when this does not happen, especially when we are not in control of the situation.
A very common situation, where many can relate to – car maintenance. Many workshops attempt to take advantage of vulnerable car owners by advising them to change parts that really never needed to be replaced. Many of us have blind faith that “if the mechanic says so…then it should be right”. The question then is – Should we take the risk? Should we be so trusting?

Yet another common experience is internet connectivity. Many service providers proudly claim to offer significantly high internet speeds. We, in turn, get excited with their various promotions offering 30Mpbs or even 100Mbps. I am sure this is prevalent in most countries.

Unfortunately, many fail to realize that these speeds are rarely reached. There are many elements that will effectively bring the internet speed down. On average, you will probably hit speeds of 1-2Mbps. Elements such as distance from your terminal (if you are on wireless), number of simultaneous connections, type of modem and type of wireless device….all have an impact on the internet speed you can attain. Those on ‘shared’ broadband services (such as Starhub), also have to contend with the fact that if there are more subscribers in their area, they may have lower speeds.

In such cases, you have a right to be upset. These elements are usually never explained to you explicitly. We can probably accept if those speeds cannot be attained due to technical limitations. However, when we are not informed of the other elements, we are effectively being fooled!

If you are already concerned about what speeds you are getting, I invite you to check out Speedtest . It’s a fantastic tool to measure your internet speed at different times of the day. Try it and please share your experiences with me.

On my system, based on the time and, I do not know what other parameters (maybe even the weather!), my speed kept fluctuating between 1Mbps to 13Mbps. The same system, the same network, the same measurement tools got me a swing of 13x!!! That is ridiculous.

Imagine driving your car and you realize that your speed varies from 10 mph up to 130 mph…. Of course, traffic congestion influences your speed. It is the same on internet.

As a consumer, we have the right to know. Mister providers, Singtel, Starhub of this world (for singapore), please be honest and treat your customers with respect.

An interesting read, along similar lines, which I recommend you check out – “The world was our office” from FT. Its about mobility and communication.

It relates about the challenge put forth to two managers from a digital company, Enable. They were supposed to work entirely off their mobile devices for 1 week. I am not going to summarize Matt Connolly and Darius Pocha’s experience but instead extend an invitation for you to share your thoughts with me (so please read the article).

We all claim to be ‘mobile’, connected and reachable anytime whether to a client, your company or even friends. But is being mobile, really the way to effectively run a business? Strangely, similar to what the two faced in their 1 week challenge, the main issues people faced were battery life and preparation time. Have you noticed whenever you go on a holiday or business trip, you spend a considerable amount of time packing cables, batteries and chargers for all your devices. When you forget 1 cable, it can drive you insane! Let’s hope our prayer for a all-in-one charger or cable solution comes along soon.

The second take away for me is the relation between productivity and connectivity. We tend to mistake quality with quantity, urgent with important. Focus on quality not quantity, deliver what is important, not urgent. It’s simple as that!

Is it the same with connectivity? Are we really more productive when we are reachable 24 by 7? During my fight back from Beijing in a plane, I was so glad not have any internet or mobile phone connections. That gave me some precious space and time to think, to plan, to clear my minds on what I wanted to do next.

I think we should start a new campaign called ‘get unwired’. We are fast becoming prisoners of technology and connectivity. Just like drug addicts, we go through withdrawal symptoms without these devices.

Let’s not sacrifice the level of service we deliver to our clients, let’s take the time to think.

Apple is close to proclaiming that an amazing 100,000,000 iPods sold.

That’s why I bring up that question “how many iPods do you own?”. You probably say they are mad….but I know some people with more than 5 iPods..

Well, if you are not a techno freak, chances are you will be contended with one iPod most probably selected on your needs based on form factor and capacity storage.

If you like to watch movies (lucky Americans can even purchase movies through iTunes Music Store) or require large capacity storage for insane amounts of music, you will go for the iPod Video.

Most probably, you own less than 100 CDs , and therefore do not require a large capacity storage. Chances are that you may purchase the sleek iPod Nano should you have fewer songs to keep it mobile.

Finally, if you are looking for a ‘Press and Play’ MP3 player, you will probably go for the iPod Shuffle. Hang it it to your jean, your jacket, shuffle your library randomly, this is the easiest way to tune your life.

Evaluating Consumer needs only give you part of the total picture. It is interesting to understand Consumer’s usage behavior to complete the picture.

Some people like to have music at Home, in different rooms. There are currently several way to do it. The Old School method would be to get multiple HiFi systems in each room. For the advanced users, they might stream from a central location like iTV, or a Mac/Pc using Airport or any other streaming device. Finaly, some other people will plug multiple iPods in multiple rooms to stand alone speaker sets. In such a case, there is an high chance you run for multiple iPods, one especially in the bedroom to wake up to the sweet crisp music from iPod.

Should you have a car and carry your favorite tunes, you can plug and unplug your iPod to dedicated car stereo system or even stream it through radio waves (which I will not recommend unless you do not care about music quality). The easiest would be to have a fixed iPod in the car. This saves the hassles of commuting your iPod back and forth from home and forget it sometimes in one or the other location while you need it in the other one.

Should you jog or go to gym , you can definitively use the iPod Video or Nano.However, you wont probably take the risk to damage the hard disk of the video iPod and avoid to get sweat on the sleek designed Nano. For such a reason, you might be tempted to go for your cute little iPod shuffle and even have a matching colored one carrier to hang it on your tee shirt or short.

Finally, the best companion for a daily usage is still the iPod nano. Take it with you, carry it in your pocket, bring it at work and it will supply you with enough music for the day.

Well, If you are anything like people who focus on usage, yes there is a chance you would carry multiple iPods and at same time contribute to the Apple Stock raise.

Oh, I forgot to add one important point. You need to have an iPhone as well….