Da Boy is Fabien

According to the Ubran dictionary, the expression “da boy is fabien” means “he is weird”.

New Economy Depression Syndrome

Tim Sanders, Yahoo’s Chief Solutions Officer introduced the acronyme NEDS for New Economy Depression Syndrome. NEDS is a mental state that a result of a combination of information overload and frequent interruption resulting in and erosion of personal close relationships. The symptoms are anxiety, fatigue, stress and lower productivity and irritability in a team environment.

Cartographic Anamorphosis

Took me some time and the help of nico until I could find maps based on travel time instead of distance. The keywords are “Anamorphosis Maps” or “Cartographic Anamorphosis”. Anamorphosis “deals with visual presentation based on deformation theories that create unusual spatial reference”. Resources that introduce the technics:
- Cartographic Anamorphosis
- Cartographie en anamorphose

Biology Instruments Learning Lab

The first version of Biology Instruments Learning Lab (BILL), a project-based learning application in the field of biology is now in production mode. Developed by the CRAFT, BILL will be used by freshmen cellular theory students of the EPFL and UNIL. The goals of BILL are to:

- solidify and expend theoretical knowledge (via online content or book references) of instruments used in cellular biology
- familiarize the learner to strategically solve problems by using the appropriate combinations of instruments (outputs of each instruments are simulated)

BILL is based on a community portal which can allow learners to communicate and collaborate. Courses (series of questions with their instruments, resources and outputs) are formalized in XML for easy editing and to improve reusability.

A demo login is available at http://craftsrv1.epfl.ch/bill/

Invoking Exported Functions in a Native DLL Using C#

Web pages that helped me learn how to write DLLs and how to invoke them on a Windows CE device with C#

Developping Native DLLs
Micorost Knowledge Base’s “What Is a DLL?”
Creating a Pocket PC DLL Using C++
Using dllimport and dllexport in C++ Classes

Invoking them using C#
C# Tutorial For Beginners (with use of DLLs)
Writing Unmanaged Functions for Microsoft .NET Compact Framework-based Applications
Invoking a native DLL export using C#

collectif_fact

The Grütli (the building across the plaza from my appartment) hosts collectif_fact. A group of 3 talented 3D visualization artists.

Shrinking Switzerland

Jamais le projet Rail2000 n’aura porté aussi bien son nom. Le projet d’horraire 2005 va réduire les distances en temps et augmenter les cadences entre les centres urbrains. L’OFT utilise le web pour mettre en consultation le projet d’horraire. Les réponses seront transmises aux services cantonaux compétents qui examineront les possibilités d’intégrer les propositions du public et des milieux concernés.

Il serait intéressant de voir evoluer la carte de la Suisse des distances en temps après la mise en place de l’horraire.

Most Unwired Cities Survey

Intel’s 2nd annual “Most Unwired Cities” survey ranks the top 100 U.S. cities and regions for the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. Without surprise the SF Bay Area tops first.

Suppression de DirectNet Java

Le Credit Suisse a annoncé la suppression de DirectNet Java pour la deuxième moitée de l’année 2004 et son remplacement par l’application HTML. La qualité et les fonctionnalités de l’application web ont atteint celles du client Java de là à le mettre au placard (parce que plus compliqué à mettre à jour). Les clients légérs ont gagné la guerre dans le monde du online banking. Tout le monde a accepté le trade-off simplicity for security.

Valley Still the Center of Tech Innovation

Via The Mercury News, Valley still the center of tech innovation

Social Sqeeze

“Silicon Valley is rapidly becoming to technology what Manhattan is to banking, finance, publishing and advertising: a head office, employing only the highest-paid professionals. Production and back-office administration are done elsewhere. [...] Manhattan’s population is either very rich or very poor, with a middle class that commutes into the city. [...] Silicon Valley is in the middle of a similar squeeze.”

The Emergence of the Creative Class

“The new jobs instead come from start-ups, a few at a time. Because it’s so expensive to do business here, the start-ups only put the chief executive, researchers and top marketing executive in Silicon Valley. Everyone else is hired in Sacramento, Tel Aviv or Shenzen.”

“Despite the economic problems the San Francisco and Bay Area region has suffered in recent times, it has more than held its own as a leading knowledge economy when compared with its counterparts.”

What this means to me, at the risk of sounding harsh: Outsourcing is a good thing. If software can be written more cost-effectively in Hyderabad, then software-writing jobs should move there.

The vacant cubicles in Silicon Valley will soon be filled by workers performing tasks that are more important — and more economically valuable — than what came before.

Related: The 2003 Siliicon Valley 150