Web 3.0 - how it might work

If two different people each perform an Internet search with the same keywords using the same service, they receive different results determined by their individual profiles.

How come? This feature is one of plenty other ideas behind Web 3.0. The browser will turn into your personal assistant. It knows what you like and what you dislike and based on that it will do the searches, individual to any person.

All the predictions made about how Web 3.0 could become the next generation of the 'www'. I guess the predictions were made since Tim O'Reilly introduced the term 'Web 2.0' in 2004. The following terms appear all in relation to Web 3.0:

• Web3D - the virtual world, SecondLife - like, Avatar
• Semantic Network
• Artificial Intelligence
• Software Agent
• new internet infrastructure
• distributed computing
• web as the main media delivery system
• advanced collaboration tools
  

Every single feature is worth a single blog entry (so come back soon!). However, most of the articles I've found today were created at least 2 years ago, though 2007. There were many attempts to set up an appropriate Wikipedia article about Web 3.0 .. but to date .. none available. (web 3.0 wikipedia link)

Air cooling system in the Data Centre [Credit: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute]

We see distributed computing already happening in the so called 'cloud computing' area, ranging from Google Docs to DropBox. I am quite an advocate of cloud computing, as I don't like carrying around plenty of binders. But distributed computing is so much more. It allows the web to become a giant brain capable of analyzing data and extrapolating new ideas.

For enterprises, Web 3.0 will be the change from a website to a webservice. The interaction between customer and business will be much more intense. The customer service will be much more systematized and automatized, but at the same time the business can focus more on the customer and provide more service and support.

Fasten Your Seatbells .. FAST ... it is Warp Drive

Warp drive is a FTL (faster-than-light) propulsion system used in many science fiction works. Fiction? No way, there is real science done with it. The physicist Jia Liu at New York University just proposed his idea for a spacecraft powered by dark matter in August this year. Spaceships as they are right now can't go very far, because they need fuel to actually come back, and this is quite limited in a spaceship's tank. Liu gives an example of an engine that uses the products of a dark matter annihilation.

The acceleration is proportional to the velocity, which makes the velocity increase exponentially with time in non-relativistic region. - Liu et al.

In a central black hole in the galactic center the density of dark matter can be that big enough to speed up a spaceship close to the speed of light.

Traveling the universe on the back of black holes (Image:George Marks/Kauko Helavuo/Stone/Getty)

If dark matter can move starships that would also be a great opportunity to finally have another source of alternative energy. Louis Crane published his ideas how to use an artificial black hole as a power source. Applying quantum gravity effects and things are not impossible anymore.

Very exciting times ahead. Just think about that dark matter is obviously abundant throughout the universe.

"A dark matter rocket would pick up its fuel en route," says Liu.

Again, nothing is impossible. We can reach the stars, because we have the physics to do it.

How to become more social?

In the view of Karl Marx human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social beings who - beyond being "gregarious creatures" - cannot survive and meet their needs other than through social co-operation and association. (taken from wikipedia)

Interesting. Would Mark Zuckerberg (founder of facebook)  agree do that statement? I don't know.

Personally I am not a person who is looking for the crowd of people. I am happy on my own or maybe up to 4-5 people. But that's it. Communication happens on several levels and with the internet the opportunities grow almost monthly. Face to face talk is not my strength and I am working on it. However, I don't hesitate to post or tweet my current status to thousands of people or to publish my profile. Does that mean now I am getting more social?

Photo Courtesy by Markus Brosch

Phrases containing the word 'social' are becoming buzz phrases.
Let's take social entrepreneur. My understanding of it is not more business talk. It is more giving back to community.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. - wikipedia

 So, what does social marketing means then? It is also known as social media marketing which then makes already more sense.

... a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. - wikipedia

Let's be a social entrepreneur and do more social media marketing. When we can make a social change by using facebook, twitter and blog ... nothing can stop us. Look at the number. Just use it wisely and in a smart way.

I achieved my goal for 2009 ... I am not antisocial anymore ... I have almost 2000 friends in facebook :o)

Meeting like minded people - Fusioneon

Photo courtesy by Markus Brosch 

What a day again! Half of the day I spent at Uni to work on my introduction chapter for the thesis. It is not the most fun, but it has to be done. I already got very helpful feedback .. actually all 26 pages have at least one comment or mark on them ;) Thanks Andrea! So I think I am on a pretty good trip right now. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope it is not only a train :D

It was also a day where I had to remind myself that it is not worth it to compare yourself with others. I tend to do this quite often and it is not really helpful if you want to achieve something and you actually want to enjoy the journey and the result. We are all on our own journey in life and you can't compare apples with pears ... completely different history.

I spent lunch time with a group of women. I am not that social, but I am getting there. Thanks to Cat Matson, who organised that, there is now a group of around 15 business women having an awesome time. The fusion event is a lot of fun and good food. I am always impressed about all the different business ideas coming up. The passion that some people have is amazing. When they talk about their business their eyes are sparkling. They love what they do! That is so important for me as well. This is also one goal for me ... to be excited to get up every morning and do the whole day what you love. That sounds like paradise to me.

So yes, I met really interesting people and I am looking forward to create really good working relationships. It is all quite a steep learning curve for me ... but I am enjoy it.

MITs for Sunday done

Very efficient Sunday. I actually spend almost 4 hours on my thesis chapter. After I've learned that I 'germanize' the English, I started to doubt about my english skills. Anyway, no time to start some self-doubts. Things have to be done, espacially when you don't like them. Step by step. I reached the state that I will print this chapter tomorrow and do some offline reading. Maybe I'll find a victim who can proofread it for me.

The rest of the day I spent with some daily stuff I do, but also did some work on a website. Although I thought I am not such a design guru, I spend most of the time with Gimp ... amazing tool. (open source version of Photoshop) I guess Photoshop has similar features and power, but currently I am much quicker on Gimp, especially with a Mac ;o)

Working with websites you can't ignore css - cascading style sheets. I don't think I work with them in the most efficient way, but so far not too bad. I love the Add-on in Firefox, called Firebug (surprise, surprise). It allows you to see immediately the changes when you tweek on your css file. Yes, on live websites as well. That includes a big learning curve ... loving it.

The website I am working on is not online yet, so no link, sorry. However, exciting projects ahead and they won't have to do all with websites.

Why am I on a 1500cal diet?

You can call it whatever you want ... I am in the progress to eat healthy the way I have chosen. Currently I am following the 1500cal plan from Lite'n'Easy. This sounds really not a lot, but I was surprised. When you really "spread" your input through the whole day, let's say you eat something every 2 hours, you are not starving. And you don't feel stuffed either, which I think is an awful feeling as well. 

Another thing I have noticed already after 2 weeks, I am not tired anymore in the early afternoon. Before that, I was deadly tired and I didn't get anything done between 1 and 3pm. And it is not easy to find something to lay down in an office, hehe.

What this diet also allows me to do is having some kind of gratification once or twice a month. The pictures below show what I mean. I can eat that without feeling guilty afterward. Yes, I felt stuffed and it just reminded me that I don't need so much food. But I loved it.

I really enjoyed this desert in the Belgium Beer Cafe after a full pot of mussels.

And no, I haven't lost weight yet, but I am sure over time it will come. The next weeks I will be away from home and can't really follow the plan, but then I will be back on it again.

One thing I might change with the plan of Lite'n'Easy is that I swap lunch with dinner. I still have my believe that you should eat the smallest meal in the evening, and with Lite'n'Easy you get the main meal for dinner. When I can, I will swap, depending if I am home or not.

In general I am very happy with Lite'n'Easy. The delivery and the meal are just convenient for me as a person too busy (and lazy) to cook.

P.S. I am not an affiliate of Lite'n'Easy, so I don't get paid to publish this here. All this is my own personal opinion.

research in real

Being a research PhD student could be lot of fun. But research has a quite boring part as well. (I am not talking about the whole administration stuff here) Doing the research itself is lot of fun and I like the time puzzling around with some application and writing my own scripts, Perl, PHP , SQL etc.

But then there are these seminars you have to go to, although they are not in your field of interest. Yes, I do respect other researchers and I let them do what they like to do ... but why do I have to listen to it? I do respect the Beatles, but I don't have to listen to them.Yes, they could introduce new techniques you haven't thought about, but if it is really out of your field it won't be really relevant.

 

Photo courtesy by Markus Brosch

I am somehow permanently in such a situation, as I ended up in a group full of labrats, oops I mean cell biology scientists. And here I am, sitting 24/7 in front of a computer in my world of applications, code and visualisation.
Just imagine, having a group meeting with these guys ... plenty of fancy pictures on the wall, live imaging of cells, fluorescent tagged proteins  ... is amazing stuff. I am loving it. Then my presentation ... charts, tables and numbers and everyone starts to yawn.  Not that I didn't yawn at their presentation ;o) They are coming out with their ideas and how to improve the assays etc. It is not helping my work. But how can u get around it?

• chose the right research group straight at the beginning
• make clear with your supervisor what info you need and which seminars you really have to go to
• don't change the environment too often (I did move offices several times, with no real benefit at the end)
• have a goal and stick to it
• finish your PhD thesis as soon as possible
• avoid any procrastination ... it is just getting more painful

I am in the final stage of my PhD, so I won't change things anymore. But I learned a lot, no doubt about it. Maybe more about me instead of biology ;o)

So let's get this paper published and then we start the final part, a quick analysis.

Why are we so obsessed about food?

In a previous blog I have written about my attempt to be on 1500 cal daily. However, we know that an average human being should consume up to 2200 cal. This is plenty of energy to have a quite active day, including brain work.

Although I am a scientist, or maybe because I am a scientist, I don't see obesity as a disease. Unfortunately with the help of the media we start to call it like this. But why should it be? Isn't it logical that obese people just consume more energy than they actually need, for whatever reason I don't understand. Why are we so obsessed about food? Is it all about pleasure, addiction or are we just bored?

Just last week I saw a quite obese women with her similar obese daughter. They couldn't sit next to each other, as it would have been quite squeezy. (Yes, I support airlines charging obese people for two seats!) What is this woman doing to her daughter? Taking care of your own child doesn't mean making a child sick for the rest of its life. I don't want to go over all the cost obese people cost us in terms of environmental and health issues. I just don't understand how people can be so irresponsible. When you have a child, you have some duties. And I am sure it doesn't include to poison your own child.

I might sound a bit harsh. But as a human being you have a purpose here on earth. We are so lucky to be alive. The chance to live is smaller than winning in a lottery. The human body has much more to offer than we are actually aware of. Skills we knew thousands of years ago, but got lost because humankind got greedy over time. I just hope 2012 will bring a change and will open the eyes for all of us. Being a bit more grateful for what we have and not taking food for granted.

Photo Courtesy by Markus Brosch

 Just eat healthy and less! We don't need meat every day. Look at gorillas ... quite muscular species .. and vegetarian!

Abstract Thinking

One of the most wonderful skills a human can have is abstract thinking. I think it is a skill you can learn, however, some technical interest can be very helpful.

Having an idea and your brain starts immediately to break down the whole process into small pieces and steps. That can be scary and if you are lucky you will see that you can save a lot of time when you don’t go that way. For me it is cooking. All the steps necessary to get a nice eatable meal on the table, spoil the whole fun and therefore I prefer other sources to get food.

In business, we can have plenty of ideas about how to use email marketing, which emails to send out in which order and to who. I already see the flow of action set up, leading to a flow chart. This process would already include the setting for the Double Optin, the details about the OptOut feature, tags we will apply to customers, and which link we will make trackable. As you can see I don’t really care about the content. One part I have delegated.

One very useful language to express abstract thinking is UML, Unified Modeling Language. It can be very powerful. It helps me to trace every possible occurring case in a software application, let it be a website or just the email marketing followup sequences. Maybe you can even claim it to be the protocol of this application. It helps to understand the what if case.

I also like to see abstract thinking in the world of object oriented programming. This is almost seeing the world through different glasses. You work with classes, instances and getter and setter functions. At least that’s what I have done during my time with Java.

I am not saying that it makes the world easier, but I think it gives you a different (sometimes better) view of the world around you and it put actions and objects in a different relation to eachother. My bike is just another instance of the object bike, nothing more or less. What we human do with it doesn’t matter to world of objects.

I am definitely not the guru in abstract thinking. Just sometimes I discover myself dreaming in an abstract way .. or is it just my way? ;o)

It is all relative.

Your personal project management

The topic "Project Management" is mostly covered for companies and small teams. But what about managing your private project. How do you manage the projects/actions that were assigned and delegated to you. You are in charge of actions set up and you will be responsible for the results.

Studies often point to interpersonal and behavioral problems as root causes of project failure. The art of project management is all about getting work done through other people.

Personally I am following the strategy of GTD - Get Things Done. It might be a bit modified so it suits my circumstances. Everything is set up on paper. I would prefer to have my ToDo list on my computer, but I am switching too often between computers right now. The list of projects can be quite long, depending how detailed you are. I think having a project called "Do website" makes no sense, because this can be a never ending story. I am still struggling with this part ... but I am going there.

Then I have a list of things I want to do one day. Maybe I am bored one day, which I don't believe will happen ;o) Another list is about actions I have delegated and I am waiting for the feedback. I also have some kind of inbox where I put all my ideas, thoughts and other things that come to my mind. It is not a physical inbox. Mostly it contains notes of a meeting.

Photo Courtesy by Markus Brosch

My whole agenda is only A5 and I want to keep it like this. It is a bit more handy that carrying around a A4 binder. It also trains me to keep my notes short but still detailed.

Weekly I review all projects and all the other sections in my agenda. Just to keep things clean. It allows me to remove unwanted actions, plan the coming days and make me aware of the status of every single project. If no action was taken for a little I might consider to put the whole project on hold or even cancel it as it might not be important.

Currently I am not really well on track with that. Just bought a new binder as the old one starts to fall apart. As soon as things become routine I get bored of them ... looks like I need a new strategy soon.