In Sweden, at SIME

Hastily, as I got an invitation to the blogger's meet-up at SIME - Scandinavian Interactive Media Event, I decided last Saturday to go to Sweden over the week! I'm going to Gothenburg as well for more meetings late Thursday or early Friday, so catch me if you can!

This is awesome, seeing so many cool people and I'm very busy, very sweaty :-)

Non-exhaustive list of the people I've had great meetings while in Stockholm. Please comment if you met me I've left you out!:

• Henrik Ahlen, Alfabravo
  
• Fredrik Evertsson, cousin and business student
  
• Emil Fredriksson, cousin working at Spotify
  
• Anreas Ehn, Spotify
  
• Judith, blogger
  
• Peter Sandberg, MoYuMe
  
• Joi Ito, Creative Commons

Spotify - Love is in the air ...

 


Music is great for reaching the hearts of people, and Spotify is great for music, so let's connect the two in a very simple way - I want your all-time favourite love songs, and you will get the the love songs everyone else are crazy about.

If you have Spotify, simply open and add your best songs to this playlist: spotify:user:unclecj:playlist:5q9rhxy667Tu1qIbhPmpRr . If you don't, just leave your suggestion as a comment here. I have added my coziest songs already, so hope you enjoy them.

I have no idea why I haven't seen anyone do this before. Hope this may contribute to many romantic moments. And please be good too, I am sure Spotify deals harshly with vandalism.

(Update: It's curious, but kind of nice, how adding to the playlist is at least superficially anonymous. Like who added Pontiak Johanzon...)

(Update 2: The playlist is slowly growing, and I think it's pretty nice. The girlfriend just objected "Hold on, is this like your friends having a say in our love-life?", to which I answered "No, it's more like the world having a say in our love-life")

Remember, remember the fifth of November... when you were anonymous and free

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot"

Once upon a time, when there still was an information void and not everyone could be kept under surveillance one man plotted to blow up the British Houses of Parliament. Since then, this "terrorist" has been demonized annually by protestant royalists.

However, in 2006 when the conservative protestants had finished celebrating their victory and total information awareness is finally within reach, the dust was shook of the Guy Fawkes mask and he was instead martyrized in a film by Alan Moore (seriously, download it here, "V for Vendetta" is awesome) as an icon of the true will and action of the man on the street - when he can be Anonymous, that is.

Ok, so as a symbolic action to celebrate this thought I have changed my profile pictures everywhere to the Guy Fawkes mask, and I suggest you do the same, but admittedly, the idea isn't particularly sticky. There are only a reasonably small and non-important things I currently don't feel I can say or do out loud without risking my name, but there are others who are less privileged and in my gut the principle still feels so urgently important. Anonymity is worth protecting, anonymity is for everyone and anonymity is essential for a safe society.


PS. I was reminded by a reader that I seem to misuse the word "integrity", because it in Swedish has a use stemming from "personal integrity" which simply doesn't work in English, instead it's "privacy". Thanks for the reminder, I stand corrected.

PPS. Share this with friends as the simpler address tinyurl.com/remember5november

Daemon by Zeraus - complimentary books and friendly marketing

 

I got a package today! The stamp collection on the envelope was truly impressive, death and misery to Posten, and many thanks and lunch or a couple of beers to my friend Henrik of Internet Video Advisory Group who sent me the book!

The deal was that Henrik had received some complimentary copies of Leinad Zeraus' "Daemon" (do read his story, it's an interesting one about friendly marketing). Since I had already several months ago put the book on my wishlist after reading a very positive review by my idol Joi Ito, I pretty much begged Henrik to send one of his copies to me.

Frankly, I don't know too much about the book yet, but if Joi considers it inspiring, it's usually something cool, considering his extraordinary understanding of social media.

In other news, my girlfriend recently returned from her too long trip to the US (yes, I was lonely), and in her handluggage was a bunch of books for me, and a Canon Speedlite 430EX flash, I'm so excited about that one, finally flash pictures which don't look like crap! The books she got me are:

• "The light of other days" by Arthur C. Clarke
  
• "Light - Science & Magic" as suggested by Erik Starck
  
• "Made to stick" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath as suggested also by Erik and Jonas Hombert