How to open a bottle of beer the Scandinavian way

While SuperBock is trying to redesign it’s packaging opening

someone is getting famous, not for his most noble goals but by featuring in a video showing how to open a bottle of beer the Scandinavian way.

June 30, 2006 | Tags: beer, day to day, open, superbock | 2 Comments

Barcamp Portugal 2006

Fred Oliveira is organizing the first Barcamp in Portugal.

So what is a BarCamp? BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.

It’s very nice to see all these interesting events (like Reboot and LIFT) taking place in Portugal. SHiFT is happening in September and and so we can expect a lot of people sharing ideas and having conversations in Portugal. Taking advantage of the sunny weather and good wine that we have to offer. Welcome!

update: Business 2.0 has a nice article on BarCamp.

June 30, 2006 | | Leave a Comment

Last night’s dinner

I had an excelent dinner last night. The food and wine were wonderful. For a start we had a nice Vinho Verde from the Adega de Monção. It was a 2004 Muralhas de Monção. Very light and nice. Then we had a 2004 Quinta de Cabriz from Dão, which did go very well with the meat I was having.

The restaurant was Brisa do Rio in the Expo area near the Vasco da Gama bridge (see map). Thanks you Susana for the very friendly service.

I had this dinner together with some very good friends and for me that’s the best way to enjoy good wine.

June 30, 2006 | Tags: brisa+do+rio, day to day, muralhas+de+moncao, quinta+cabriz, vinho+verde, wine | 2 Comments

extortr: online blackmail for the masses

With all the buzz surrounding video sites like Daily Motion, YouTube, Metacafe or VideoEgg (there are many more) there’s something funny about extortr.

June 26, 2006 | Tags: daily+motion, extortr, fake, tech, videoegg, youtube | 1 Comment

Miau, I’m Maria and I’m only 3 weeks old!

Miau, I’m Maria (the cat). I’m only 3 weeks old and I’m looking for a home!
Would you like to take me home and take care of me?
Please email me (acrib@sapo.pt) and ask for Maria (the cat)

Maria was found 2 days ago abandoned. She’s has been taken to the vet and she’s in fine condition. Email me (acrib@sapo.pt) if you’re interested in taking care of Maria.

Update: seems like we have a very kind person that has decided to give Maria a place to live. Miauuuuuuuuuuu!

Update 2: Maria is a video star now. I’m so happy.

June 21, 2006 | Tags: abandoned, cat, day to day, request | 1 Comment

The Social Cost of Failure in Europe

In a discussion with Bruno Giussani, Clay Sharky talks about the social costs of failure:

For example, in the debate about entrepreneurship in Europe the argument is constantly put forth that the social cost of failing as an entrepreneur in Europe is significantly higher than in the US. Following Clay’s argument, European governments would achieve better results fighting this ingrained social stigma (reducing the cost of failure) rather than encouraging entrepreneurship through other means.

I think that in general European entrepreneurs consider the social pressure (by family and friends) to which they are exposed the biggest risk in being an entrepreneur. Much more riskier then losing money, losing their job or not being successful at a venture. It’s a very interesting idea to lower the cost of failure along side promoting the benefits of success.

June 16, 2006 | Tags: entrepreneurship | 1 Comment

reboot8 - 3 People, 3 Companies and 3 Ideas

On the day after reboot8 I had a very enjoyable evening. First a dinner with Thomas Madsen-Mygdal (and his lovely wife and son) and a few other people that were at the event.

I spent a few hours among other things, discussing some photo sharing stuff with Steffen and Guan (both 23 team). Talking about content management with Lars Pind and his very interesting approach to web content management at PublicQuare (see it live at Boxes and Arrows) and exchanging ideas with Stowe Boyd and Thomas.

On the way back the hotel Stowe asked the taxi driver to stop half way there and we decided to walk & talk our way back.

I changed emails with Stowe a couple of months ago and finally had the chance to meet him (in person) at reboot. It was a pleasant surprise as his love for Portugal and his openess for a good conversation showed his friendly attitude.

Among other subjects Stowe asked me what were my 3 threes (his are here) from reboot8 - 3 People, 3 Companies and 3 Ideas. At the time I hadn’t really thought about them so a nice conversation evolved from there. Here’s the result:

3 People

Jesse James Garrett
Using Amazon as an example, JJG explained how user interfaces are going to be much more adapted to the way we navigate by using user generated information to dynamically design the user interface and information architecture. Good example: Why predefine an information architecture? Let each user create his own using tags.

Stowe Boyd
His presentation on why The Revolution Will Be Socialized: Social Architecture and The Future Of Online Markets was the first time many of the reboot attendees heard about the concept. So I think it was key a moment in spreading the idea. As I’ve said before (here and here) I strongly believe in Social Shopping and I follow Stowe’s ideas and comments on the future of online markets.

Euen Semple
Very enlightening reboot closing session. Providing context to reboot while being clear in presenting the idea that There’s something going on here that is bigger than any of us. It makes me feel happy that I’m part of a generation (age-less) that has the ability and the tools to make some changes in the way we live. For the better.

3 Companies

OpenStreetMap
Steve Coast did an excelent presentation of the project showing it’s strong points, where is it now and where it wants to go. The project is based on idea that geographical data should be open and free. To build the maps, OpenStreetMap is using crowdsourcing (my words) concepts. I think it’s a really interesting idea although it’ss still to be seen how they are going to solve some of user generated wikipedia problems. Nevertheless the project wiki shows the amount of work that has been done so far. They even got an article on Guardian.

Thinglink
Thinglink is a project developed by Ulla-Maaria Mutanen and
Jyri Engeström. The idea is to create an open database where crafters, artists, designers, producers, and other makers can register their work for free and create labels for their products. It’s like a unique code for each object that anyone creates. I like Thinklink because it is one of the projects that is supporting the edges where people are creating, knitting, crafting, etc. Is does things by providing tools for people to market, show, document and sell their work. On our way to the venue (co-taxing - sharing a taxi) I suggested to Ulla and Jyri that they approached Etsy (a project I really like) about using Thinglink. I think that it would be good value to both projects (and their users) if they could cook something together.

Plazes
Felix Petersen (Where is Felix?) presented Plazes publicly last year at reboot7. Since then the team was able to get venture capital, improve the website and are now moving towards mobile. If they get it working on many different mobile platforms (not working with my Sony Ericsson w800i) I think were are going to take many valuable location aware services based on Plazes.

3 Ideas

Technology at the edges helping society
Nicolas Nova and Julian Bleecker presention of Networked objects and the new ecology of things made me think that if objects could really become collaborators (see presentation) then we would probably be able to more easily take advantage of all the information that is located in objects at the edges where people use them. First a self benefit each person, then a community value added benefit. Always thtough technology.

European Startups
Demos and talks of some of the people behind European companies was one of the interesting topics on this year’s reboot. Some are just that, ideas with great potential. Others are startup companies taking their projects to the market. At reboot8 there were a few companies either sponsoring (openBC, mabber and plazes) or demoing (urbanseeder, thinglink, underskog, CoComment, Imity, PublicSquare). These are only a very tiny part of the overall startup panorama in Europe.

Europe is still a place that makes it difficult to create a startup (socialy, financially, etc) but now the situation is better than it ever was. Lot’s of opportunities, new companies and conferences like reboot that provide these companies an opportunity to present themselves.

(Real World) Social Network
Last year’s reboot was great. I met a lot of people. People that I kept contact with. People with whom I share experiences, knowledge, websites, ideas, posts, comments, links, photos, stories, wine tastings, business models and a bunch of other stuff that are the buiding blocks or our daily lives. This year I met a few more people. These are people that are part of my social world and from whom I get inspiration, insight and the motivation to work for the things I work for: Bruno Giussani, Dannie Jost (uncondition | the next), Hugh Macleod (I really didn’t like his attitude when I was trying to explain something to him but I strongly support his ideas on the Global Microbrand), Rany and Claudia (really enjoyed talking to both of you again), Alex de Carvalho (thanks for the support), Laurent Haug (you’re are right, Portuguese water tastes better), Nicole Simon (want another caffè latte?), Stowe Boyd (it’s Esporão, I know), Paul Farnell, Alper Çuğun, Benjamin Voigt and, of course, last but definitely not least, Thomas Madsen-Mygdal that made all the above connections possible.

June 16, 2006 | | Leave a Comment

I like Cargo Containers

There’s something beautiful in cargo containers.

I like ports and dry-docks (like Lisbon, Brest or Hamburg).
I like cargo containers.
I like the way cargo containers are stack up like Lego bricks.
I like cargo containers multi-colored arrangements.
I like cargo containers type on the side.

(I like this photo from the Alkantara Festival poster)

June 15, 2006 | Tags: alkantara+festival, cargo, containers, day to day | 1 Comment

SHiFT - Lisbon, September 2006

I’ve returned from LIFT and Reboot with a feeling that the Internet is helping build something much more interesting and relevant from what it was anticipated a few years ago. Thanks for Euan Semple for having clarified it.

In this new world where we are all connected, conferences like LIFT and Reboot have a major role in raising our awareness (as humans) about the Internet and the way it is chaging our daily life. It’s helps us understand and interact with the world around us.

A few months ago, while talking to Pedro and Hugo at the LIFT lounge we all agreed that Portugal needed to raise this kind of awareness about the Internet. That there is a very big gap between people’s lifes and the Internet, as is still seen only as a technology.

To bridge that gap we’ve decided to organize a conference in Portugal and thus SHiFT was born. SHiFT stands for Social and Human Ideas For Technology and will be organized in Lisbon in September 2006 (final dates to come).

SHiFT is a conference about emerging technologies and their role and implications in our society. A conference build from people, to people and about people. SHiFT will be about user centered services, social movements that create new social relations and technologies that can improve everyday life. SHiFT is about rethinking the present and planning the future. It’s going to be all about sharing ideas and helping to SHiFT minds.

Contrary to my initial thought, I won’t be organizing SHiFT. Pedro and Hugo are the organizers of SHiFT. I’m involved in a lot of different projects and could not contribute with all the time that SHiFT demands from an organizer. I’ll be helping from time to time, checking the mailing list and supporting them in getting their project out there.

A special thanks to Thomas Mygdal (Reboot) and Laurent Haug (LIFT) for being such a helpful inspiration in making Europe a better place to work and live in the Internet Era.

June 12, 2006 | Tags: Lisboa, lisbon, portugal, shift | Leave a Comment

Mon premier Bordeaux

Beatriz spent a few days in France with family. One of our family members sent me a very fine bottle of Bordeaux wine. A Chateau Peyrebon 2003. It’s my first Bordeaux and it goes directly into my adega.

Thank you!

June 12, 2006 | Tags: 2003, bordeaux, chateau-peyrebon, family, wine | Leave a Comment

about

My name is André Ribeirinho, I'm an entrepreneur who lives in Portugal
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Adegga is a social wine discovery service. The idea is to take the complexity out of wine and allow people to discover wines based other people's choices.

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