FiberGeneration

[The Changing The World Edition] Muslima.com

Looking for some info to get the most out of FriendFeed, I found this post by Digital Inspiration.
Although a pretty interesting article with lots of useful tips, an ad banner catch my eyes : " Muslima.com, the International Muslim Matrimonial Site." That was kind of a surprise to me, since I always thought Islam religion would forbid such of dating services.
Says the About page :

" Muslima.com is a specialist Muslim dating and matchmaking website that assists Muslim ladies to find their perfect match anywhere in the world. We offer friendly service combined with sophisticated search and messaging facilities that will make your search for true love fun and enjoyable. "

The website is available in 4 languages : English, Dutch, French, and German. No Arabic, at least on the .com domain. Does that mean that the target audience is not the one claimed above ?...
Anyway, dear Muslim readers, shall you be looking for a friend or a husband/wife, you can go here.

The Blackberry Tale Of The Day

In the aircraft bringing me back home last friday, I was sitting next to a Finance guy. You know, the kind of big-head/stripped-suit/heavy-smoker/VIP trader.

To give you an idea, the guy was still on the phone whilst we were ready for take off, discussing about a client of his willing to leverage on the fiscal package that Sarkozy offered to the richest French citizens on Day One of his Presidency.

Why post on that poor little anecdote ? This : during the flight, I've watched Al Gore' speech at the recent TED conference, on my iPhone. When the guy saw me, he took his Blackberry out of a pocket, and started to... play some kid's brick game.

Definitely, we are not on the same planet ;-)

Just this from a cybercafé @ 4,800 feet

Dear FiberGeneration Readers : this quick note to confirm that I'm not dead yet, although skiing on icy snow is quite a journey sometimes.
After a tremendous week in the US, it's nice to take a break and think out of the box.
I tell you : the more I think out of the box, the more I think Google is the next big thing in the Telecoms space at large. I keep thinking on Metcalfe' s speech : Google already "owns" the top 2 layers of his 4-layers model (that is : Ethernet > Internet > Web > Google), and Google is already on the bottom one with its switches.
I bet Google will re-invent the Ethernet, hence the Internet as we know it as of today.

Now, time to go for diner. A wonderful tasty "raclette" ;-)

Just This

Her name is Uma. She was a beautiful smart gentle Bernese shepherd. Cancer got her, at the age of 5. She died last night. R.I.P., my lovely companion.

Season' s Greetings, Take One

Dear FiberGeneration Readers :
To all of you who do celebrate Christmas, I wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday.
To everyone else *, enjoy the day and the night.
To all : enjoy the time with your loved ones.
Peace Out, and Carpe Diem.

* especially to You, Dear (Un)known Reader from Ankara, Turkey.

En Route To A New Adventure

Now I can tell you. I'm happy - er, I'm delighted to announce you that I'll be working at the french city of Pau for the next year. Together with fellow entrepreneur Jean-Hughes Lauret (link in french), I will be heading the business development team of Pau Broadband Country (link in french). As my new boss Jean-Pierre Jambes (link in french) says, our mission is to attract researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and users to invent the lifestyle that comes with ultra-broadband.

When I started my career almost 25 years ago (6th of January, 1983) at the French Railways, the very first thing I've heard about Fiber Optics was : "FIber To The Home is tomorrow". Today, I'm pleased to say : "The Future is now".

post-scriptum : I'll come back later on the whole story, however I'd like to highlight the following point : I've got this absolutely once-in-a-lifetime type of job thanks to... blogging. More precisely, by reading and commenting Mr. Jean-Michel Billaut's blog. Quite an interesting experience to me, provided that I've got my other job (this training & consulting firm I'm creating for a french group) thru traditional networking. Lesson : there is no absolute rule in today's business. Maybe just this one : be yourself, and stand for it. And maybe this one too : One For All, All For One.

Change The World

Over the last few days, I've been dealing with people who should learn the true meaning of "teamworking". For those guys, "sharing" and "collaboration" are obscur concepts promoted by some psychologists. Don't talk about the Web 2.0, whilst they even don't use email to communicate with their so-called team mates.

In the meantime, I also discussed with those team mates. I realized one thing : give people a smile, and they'll give you the World. It works both ways : when I play the Pierre Cardin salesman at this menswear store, I always welcome the visitors (not yet customers, see the difference ;-) with a large smile and big "hello, how are you today ?" kind of greeting. Outcome : 80% of those visitors become customers, most of them loyal. When I go shopping myself, the same large smile on my face will bring me a better service 80% of the time.

Conclusion : smile, and you'll make the World a better place.

Just Be-Cause

" Nearly 9,000 Africans die from [AIDS] everyday, leaving millions of children orphaned. By the time you have finished watching the short, yet powerful film below, around 30 people will have died from AIDS." Watch the video on Tom Stoddart's blog here.
Download the video here.

Always Look Ahead, Buddy !

Vive Le Tour !

Hiçbir Zaman, Habibi

Just a wink for you, dear Gülper.

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photo credit : FlyKonstantin on Flickr

Doğum günün kutlu olsun!, FiberGeneration !

This one if for You, dear reader from Ankara.

   

Peggy Sue Got Married

Just for you, dear Gülper ;-)

Ed. note to all others : you can buy the DVD here.

Tesekkur Ederim, 2d Edition

Photo Credit : Jon Sullivan.   

Baby 2.0

Robert Scobble uses the recent birth of his new kid to demonstrate some Web 2.0 apps. Here in France, newborns come to life with a huge debt do pay. In the US, their first cry goes on Twitter. I wonder if I don't prefer the first option...

9/11, six years later

On the 11th of September 2001, the sun was shinning over Böblingen, Germany.
We at the Product Marketing team of the Agilent' Optical Network Test Division were working on the forthcoming introduction of a breakthrough product.
This Check-Point meeting was as usual : hard work, brainstorming, productive.
We left the meeting room somewhere around 3:00PM, after six hours of discussion in a closed environment, to head to our respective work places, at the other side of the building.
We immediately felt something was wrong : the floor was quiet, too quiet. A weird, awful silence.
I don't remember how we got the message - was it a colleague stepping by us when we came back or a Post-It note on our telephone - but I do remember how the three of us, Robert, Dieter, and myself, looked at each other, puzzled. " A plane crashed in the WTC, NYC ".
Then, we jumped on our computers, to read the news. I launched my favorite radio station. We got the first images, then the videos, on the online news websites that were still accessible.
As almost everyone on the Planet, we couldn't believe what we saw. It had to be a farce. It had to be for a movie or a television show.
Suddenly, the reality struck us. All the energy we got from our brainstorming session went out, instantly, to be replaced by a sad sad feeling. Kind of sickness. We were entering a new World.
I remember what I said to my buddy Dieter the same moment : " the World will never be the same, never ever. "

Back To Real Life

   
No Telecoms, Fiber Optics, or Web 2.0 today. I've just started the grape harvest campaign here in Champagne. For the next week or so,I'm going to stay the feet on the ground, the hands on the nature of things, and the head in the real life.

However, as I love selling Pierre Cardin' suits 10 week-ends a year because it helps me keep learning on sales tips & tricks, I take this experience as a great opportunity to keep learning on teamwork and people management...

It's Time To Deliver, Buddy !

Wow ! FiberGeneration got 350+ unique visitors yesterday. The all-time record, for the time being. I wish Skype to be down more often ;-)
Seriously speaking, now that this blog has been exposed to more potential readers than ever, I've got to deliver a better content to keep some of them on board and from there let the snow ball effect do his job...

 

Just This (22.07) *

* The photography of the day is the ranking of this blog on Technorati, after 10+ months of existence. Goal : reach a 5-digits rank within the next 12 months.

Just This (20.07)

Ed. note : this photo just because the very first time I saw this house, back in 1991, I had the strange feeling that she and me have something to do together. 16 years after later, it should be time do really do something about it ;-)

post-scriptum : I then was visiting the wonderful Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito, California.

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Breaking News : All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Officials confirm that all online data has been lost after the Internet crashed and was forced to restart.

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Ed. note : I stopped downloading the latest iTunes playlist while watching '24' online with some BitTorrent stuff in the background and Twitter open ;-)

It's about the employment situation in France

To date, no French astronaut went on the Moon. The reason : recruiters are asking for a 5-years experience.

To My Friend Robert (of Germany ;-)

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publikenthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vordskontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl

FYI

Dear Readers :

I do apologize not being more productive on this blog over the last couple of weeks. Reworking on Testing 2.0, selling menswear suits - I've got to write more on this, because it's a so cool way to a) keep up with the salesman tips & tricks, and b) do networking ;-), finishing some kick-ass consulting missions with painful people... And preparing my next move to the only thing that matters today: Green Tech.

post-scriptum : I'll be playing the Pierre Cardin' luxury menswear salesman again this week-end. Shall I have an iPhone, I would twitter the best stories. Selling a 300 euros suit to a Chinese businessman is way more difficult than closing a $1M deal with an Egyptian telco !

To My Friend Abubakr

An Arab in an airport:

- Name?

- Abdul al-Rhazib.

- Sex?

- Three to five times a week.

- No, no. I mean male or female?

- Male, female, sometimes camel.

- Holy cow!

- Yes, cow, sheep, animals in general.

- But isn't that hostile?

- Horse style, doggy style, any style!

- Oh dear!

- No, no! Deer run too fast.

Just This (17.07)

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Linked-In 100

I've reached the One-Hundred connections level on Linkedin today. Among those 100 persons, there are only a handful who I never met face to face or discussed or worked with. Quite impressive, when you think about seriously.   

Just This (16.07)

   

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Always be nice with your former employer

My dear friend Ralf Stolte is an happy man today. His company, Adaptif Photonics GmbH, will be acquired by Agilent Technologies. Press release here.
The funny thing : Ralf has spent most of his career at HP/Agilent Technologies, before leaving during the downturn back in 2001. He's now back home, going to work with the very same people at the  Agilent' Photonic and Network Test Division in Böblingen, Germany, than 6 years ago.
Never say never again.

Shrinking Time on Skype

Last week, I've spent 30 minutes discussing through Skype with a French guy living in Ottawa, Canada.
" Okay, so what ? ", that's probably what you think now. Well, the fact is that we just got re-connected after... 30 years or so. He and I went to the same high school, somewhere in Paris, back in the mid 70's. Since 1979, no more contact, until last week. The strange thing here is that since then, he and I can call on each other by just clicking on a simple button. Even better, he and I can almost see when we're at our computer or not.
I knew Skype helps avoiding distances, I didn't know until last week it also helps shrinking time ;-)

Virtual Round The World

Analyzing FiberGeneration' visitors stats is always a delight to me. On top of the normal *readership feedback gathering* stuff, I travel the World On The Seven Seas in the blink of an eye, for free.

Here are the Sitemeter stats as of this afternoon 1:30PM CET, for the last 20 visitors. I have to admit that I do prefer the table version rather than the graphic (i.e. the map) one : discovering new cities, new countries, by reading the names is just a wonderful feeling. How about you ?

Just This (15.07)

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Just This (14.07)

   

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Just This (13.07)

 

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Just This (12.07)

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Fly Me To The Moon

The European Space Agency launched a competition, seeking the ideal playlist for astronauts flying around the Earth in the International Space Station. The good news ? The Automated Transfer Vehicle ATV will sport an iPod dock, like a Volvo, a Volkswagen or a Mercedes. Shall the Nautilus offer iPod-connectivity and Obiwan wear a Suffle in his shuttle, Apple will soon expand its reach toward the Whole Universe ;-)

As I'm not under 18, I can't compete. However, here's my Top-Ten Tunes For  Astronauts (that's the beauty of the Internet : I never thought I would be thinking about such a playlist before reading MacDailyNews last night...):

#10 Earth Song (Michaël Jackson)
# 9 Rhapsody In Blue (George Gerswhin)
# 8 Night Fever (Bee Gees)
# 7 Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
powered by ODEO
#6 Walking On The Moon (The Police)
# 5 Men In Black (Will Smith)
# 4 I Say A Little Prayer (Aretha Franklin)
#3 All Night Long (Lionel Richie)
# 2 Come Fly With Me (Frank Sinatra)
#1 Fly Me To The Moon (Frank Sinatra)
powered by ODEO


Here is the official ESA press release :

Send your playlist to space with ATV!
25 April 2007

If you think you can come up with the ideal playlist for astronauts flying around the Earth in the International Space Station , ESA wants to hear from you.
Which songs do you play if you want to feel happy? What about if you’re feeling lonely or sad?

Everyone has a list of favourite tunes which they listen to when they want to be lively and noisy, or quiet and peaceful. But what if you were suddenly transported 400 km above the Earth, to a collection of cylinders in the sky known as the International Space Station (ISS)? What music would you take with you for entertainment as you floated around the world 16 times a day?

ESA is launching a competition to find a set of 10 tunes that is out of this world. All you have to do is write down a song selection that you think would be most suitable for the astronauts on the ISS to listen to. Before you decide, try to put yourself in the shoes of the men and women who live on the Station and put together a playlist that would cheer them up, inspire them, etc….

The winner’s playlist will be downloaded onto an iPod and sent to the ISS in ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which will be making its maiden flight later this year. The 20 tonne craft, named ‘Jules Verne’, after the famous French science fiction writer, will be delivering about seven tonnes of cargo to the astronauts living in the International Space Station.

Ten European countries are participating in the ATV programme: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Competition rules
The competition is only open to young people under 18 years of age.
Entries are only accepted from nationals of the following countries which are participating in the ATV programme: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
The deadline for entries is 10 May 2007.
The winners will be announced in June 2007.
Relatives of ESA staff members are not allowed to take part in this competition.
The decision of the judges is final.

Prizes
The Grand Prize for the overall winner will be a trip to see the ATV launch in Kourou, French Guiana (South America) as well as having their playlist sent to space on board the ATV.
One prize for the best entry from each country. Each national winner will win a day trip to the European Astronaut Centre in Germany.

How to enter
Entries can be submitted via the entry form here.

Just This (11.07)

Kimse yok mu ? *

   
This is one of my favorite buildings in San Francisco, on  Bay St at Columbus Ave.

post-scriptum : I love the neighborhood. It's close to everything which makes the life in San Francisco so cool. Nob Hill, Russian Hill, the Marina, Columbus Avenue, North Beach...

* update Apr 12, 2007 5:24PM CET : " Kimse yok mu ? " is a turkish expression used  when one enters a place where he suspects nobody is present. English equivalent : " Hello, anyone ? ". I found it on this page : " A Mini Survey on Whether Soap-Opera-English Has Found Its Way into Turkish ", by Suzan Öniz of the METU Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

See this post's geographical context.

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i, CTO

Since last Friday, I officially work for the Paris-based video & TV production company 2T Productions, as Chief Technical Officer (and shareholder).

Created by Armelle De Thé, an executive woman since 20+ years with the French Medias industry, 2T Productions is aimed at delivering television programs via Internet. Unlike many startups such as Joost or vPod who provide new ways of watching TV and videos on the internet, 2T Productions is providing content specially tailored for the internet.
First TV channel to go live by the end of May - more info within the next two weeks (by then, nobody will be able to launch a competitor, due to the short notice  ;-)

Since 2T is developping its own tools for creating and broadcasting TV shows and videos, e.g. the video player, the video editing app, etc., my role is both technical and marketing (i.e. how to create a new business out of 2T' s tools). Funny enough, when I consider my career until today : I started 20+ years ago deploying fibers, then I've been testing fibers for some time, now I'm going to be among the new kind of optical bandwidth consumers !

What we want to achieve at 2T Productions is simply change the way people watch TV : from passive couch potatoes folks, we want  our customers to become proactive creators, producers, or directors of their own TV channels. Think of 2T' s channels as a Discovery Channel or a E! Entertainment or a MTV providing all the necessary resources to enable its viewers to be also directors : that is  the idea. Of course, 2T Productions' s TVs will offer high-quality, full-screen picture, plus all the  features that make the Web 2.0 so funny (and attractive) : chat, instant messaging, blogs, etc. We've got some secret features too, that I ain't talk about yet (hint : iPhone). Stay tuned.

Stevens Green Bl

I took this photo ten years ago or so, somewhere on Stevens Creek Boulevard, in between Santa Clara and Cupertino.
I wonder how it will look like in ten years from now, with the Automotive industry being forced to run on green energies. 

See this post's geographical context.

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Live Earth Concerts Announced

Live Earth just revealed the US and UK concerts. Here is the press release, with details on ticketing and programs of the New York and London events *.
All information at http://www.liveearth.msn.com/gettix070707

* The Police and Genesis reborn, for Earth Rebirth...

USA LIVE EARTH REVEALED

Tickets for the 7/7/07 Concert to Combat Global Warming Go On Sale 4/16

NEW YORK — Organizers today announced eighteen of the headliners who will perform at the U.S. leg of the 7-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concerts on 7/7/07. The concert will be held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Live Earth Founder and Executive Producer Kevin Wall said.
Tickets for the show go on sale Monday, April 16 at 10 a.m. EDT.

“Capping Live Earth with a blockbuster show like this will ensure we meet our challenge of building a mass audience to combat global warming,” Wall said. “Live Earth will be a monumental event both in terms of entertainment and in turning the tide against global warming.”

The global concert on 7/7/07 will begin in Sydney and continue across all 7 continents, concluding with the U.S. show.

“We hope the energy created by Live Earth will jump start a massive public education effort,” Live Earth Co-Chair Vice President Al Gore said. “Live Earth will help us reach a tipping point that’s needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis.”

The U.S. show will feature live on stage:
AFI
AKON
ALICIA KEYS
BON JOVI
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
FALL OUT BOY
JOHN MAYER
KANYE WEST
KELLY CLARKSON
KT TUNSTALL
LUDACRIS
MELISSA ETHERIDGE
RIHANNA
ROGER WATERS
SHERYL CROW
SMASHING PUMPKINS
THE POLICE

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 16 and will be available at livenation.com/liveearth or by calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171. All ticket information is available at LiveEarth.MSN.com. All proceeds will benefit the Alliance for Climate Protection and other international NGOs.

Live Earth is a monumental music event that will bring together more than 2 billion people to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth’s 24 hours of music across 7 continents will deliver a call to action and the solutions needed to answer the call. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by The Alliance for Climate Protection to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action.

Earlier today, Wall announced that the following artists will perform at the London leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium:

BEASTIE BOYS
BLACK EYED PEAS
BLOC PARTY
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
DAMIEN RICE
DAVID GRAY
DURAN DURAN
FOO FIGHTERS
GENESIS
JAMES BLUNT
JOHN LEGEND
KEANE
MADONNA
PAOLO NUTINI
RAZORLIGHT
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
SNOW PATROL

Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. The concerts will be streamed live on 7/7/07 at LiveEarth.MSN.com. MSN’s 39 localized web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users. The concerts will be broadcast on the NBC in the U.S. and on more than 120 networks around the world.

Wall also announced that smart car, Stonyfield Farm and Pepsi have joined Live Earth as corporate partners. In addition to working with Live Earth to create corporate efforts to combat global warming, this growing list of partners will help ensure a mass audience for Live Earth is reached. These efforts will be detailed at a later date.

Wall also announced today that Live Earth will stage concerts at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium; Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach; Johannesburg’s Cradle of Human Kind; Tokyo’s Tokyo Stadium and in Shanghai, TBD.

Live Earth is produced by Control Room, of which Kevin Wall is the CEO. Control Room has produced and distributed more than 60 concerts since its founding in 2005 featuring Beyonce, Madonna, Green Day and the Rolling Stones, among others.

Just This (10.07)

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I don't want a computer anymore

I wish I could watch " The Late Show " every single night. Because Dave Letterman is just the best.

view this video directly on YouTube : here.

April What ?

I think CNET got me on this one...

Just This (09.07)

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Frenchies, it's time to think different

Signez le Pacte écologique! (french readers/voters only)

Chicken Shawarma

Once upon a time in the (South)West of Dubai, I discovered the chicken shawarma. It was during a beautiful night, back in the late 90's, at the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach hotel. Thanks to my friend Abubakr, this place quickly became my " house " when I was travelling in the region for business - at this time, Agilent Technologies' employees were still allowed to stay at five stars hotels ;-)
I've been a frequent guest for 8 years. I'm not sure I will stay there again. Here is why...


Sheraton Jumeirah, 1998.



Sheraton Jumeirah, 2006.

Chicken Shawarma recipe here.

*** update 03.29.07 : added GeoTags, thanks to BlockRocker.com ***

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Top-Ten : follow-up

Today I received a short message from Ms. Laurence Loewy, daugther of Raymond Loewy, regarding my recent post : Top-Ten Quotes by Raymond Loewy. I can't express how I feel : honored, impressed, surprised, all together. Thanks God (or The Force, you name it) for allowing us to live such of moments.

Just This (8.07)

The (short) Story of a (dead) project