2 May 2008
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Every summer has it’s soundtrack. Last year I listened to Room Eleven while enjoying the parks of Amsterdam, the summer before that, the Beach Boys and the Arctic Monkeys (always a good combination) entertained me during a surf vacation with Peter Evers and in 2005 Gabriel Rios sparked up my trip to Italy. This summer I’ll stroll the Italian beaches while listening to Devendra Banhart.
Devendra Banhart was born May 30, 1981, in Houston, Texas, U.S. but was raised in Caracas, Venezuela from 2 to 13 years old. He is a folk rock singer-songwriter and musician. Banhart’s music has been classified as indie folk, psych folk, Naturalismo, and New Weird America; his lyrics are often surreal and naturalistic. (wiki)
I love the mysterious and somehow optimistic songs of this long-haired guy and so it was a true pleasure to create a playlist for you. Without a doubt, it will give those evenings on your balcony or veranda another dimension. Continue reading →
1 May 2008
The LSD discoverer, Swiss professor Albert Hoffman, has died at the honorable age of 102. From 1938 he had been developing lysergic acid diethylamide – also known as lsd-25, acid, blotter acid, window pane, dots, tickets and mellow yellow – in his lab. During the fifties, outlaws like Timothy Leary picked it up and promoted it to a hugely popular drug in the infamous Sixties.
So why do I report about this? Because I witnessed the victims of this drug myself last week in San Francisco? Because I love to romanticize stuff, including drugs? Not really. I write this post because I think Internet is the new LSD. It’s a theory I came up with when I visited the exhibition Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era in The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York last June. Read “My inspiration: Internet is the new LSD” for an explanation, which you probably eager to hear by this point ;-). Continue reading →
24 April 2008
A few minutes ago, I met with Khris Loux at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. Khris is the energetic and supercool founder of Js-kit, a service that offers rich and interactive services for web sites. We know each other from the Next Web Conference, where he gave a keynote speech about widgets and open standards.
He showed me some of the features, of which in my opinion Score stands out. It allows visitors to give a thumbs up or down. Simple, effective and in combination with the Navigator a great way to show the most popular articles on a blog.
Yet I’d like to use for something else. I want to know what YOU would like to read. Although this is a personal blog, I feel like the whole publication process makes more sense when I share what my visitors – that also means you – wish for. Would you like to read more about music, or would you like to read more of my thoughts on blogging? As soon as I figure out what the majority of the readers like the most, I can start working on the perfect foundation for good conversations by writing posts that match the general interest. Continue reading →
23 April 2008
Generally, I hate tourist traps. I don’t care for the Eiffel tower, Big Ben or the San Marco square, I prefer to hang out with locals and discover shops, museums and bars I won’t find in Amsterdam. But to be honest with you, sometimes I actually do enjoy the typically tourist stuff. Perfect example, American diners who try to revive the fabulous fifties.
When Boris and me sat down in Lori’s diner for a quick break of all the Web 2.0 Expo chaos, I discovered an old-fashioned jukebox. So I robbed Boris, ended up with six quarters and enjoyed my jukebox moment. See a visual- (via microblogging service Twitter) and music (via Mixwit) representation.
After posting some pics on Flickr, I discovered I’m not the only Dutch fun of Lori’s cooking skills. Jeroen Mirck has also visited the place a couple of times and made some nice photographs.
22 April 2008
When you’re a tech blogger, you can’t afford to miss the infamous pre-conference meet-ups. Those are the ideal places to meet start-ups and influentials who can tell you the latest about developments in the web industry. Moreover, if your blog isn’t all too famous yet, meet-ups are perfect for getting the word out. So how can you make the most of these events?
Boris and me are in San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Expo and are visiting a lot of these meet-ups, here’s what I’ve learned so far. Continue reading →
21 April 2008
Life is hard… but not in San Francisco! We arrived yesterday, had a burger in a rooftop restaurant at Union Square, took a swim (see above) and had dinner at Scott Rafer’s house with my favorite British blogger TechCrunch UK’s Mike Butcher and the ambitious guys from Zemanta. Today we’re live reporting from the altsearchengines’ meeting.
Keep an eye on Boris’ photoset, The Next Web Blog and this one to see what we land into in San Francisco.
20 April 2008
I’m sitting in a typical airport diner, waiting for the gate to open. That gives me time to tell you I bought a white suit last week. For those of you who don’t know why, I’m glad to tell that it’s one of the most infamous clothings in the Valley. Ask the San Jose Mercury News, ask Micheal Arrington, ask Wired. They’re all familiar with the meaning of the suits: entrepreneurial trouble from Amsterdam. And now they’re coming back, with me on their team.
Boris and me want to put our European Web 2.0 blog under your attention and discuss the European start-up scene and its influence on the technology industry.
It’s 00:50 there right now, so I guess we’ll act like it’s night in the airplane and throw a small party. I hope the flight attendants have cold beer available. In the meantime, consider reading this post by Boris about our promotion plans in the Valley.
If you’d excuse me now, I have a plane to catch. Continue reading →
18 April 2008
Last week I participated in the Don’t-do-it-yourself-days. That might sound kind of awkward, so please allow me to explain this awesome concept:
- Invite 30 professionals from the creative industry;
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Put them in an industrial room with good food, drinks, web connection and four tables;
- Ask those professionals what their area of expertise is;
- Ask them what they want to get done;
- Get a speed date process going so that people who can something for each other will connect;
- Let them do great things for each other.
So why is this a great idea? Firstly, in less than two hours I’ve met some really interesting and inspiring folks – like Rolf Coppens from Grrr and Odilo Girod. Secondly, most cash-jobs suck. But when people meet to help each other out for free, creativity flourishes.
Photo by Frank Schuil
