Party hardy with Improv Everywhere mp3 experiment 8

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You might already be familiar with some of their work, such as the 'no pants subway rides' or the 'frozen grand central'. Their latest project is called 'the mp3 experiment 8', where 3500 people downloaded and pressed play at the same time to participate in a series of synchronized actions using flashlights, camera flashes, glow sticks, and masks.

The Improv Everywhere group do all sorts of pranks in public places, which they call 'missions'. Their goal of these missions is to simply cause scenes of 'chaos and joy'.

So awesome.

Google’s own Facebook: Google+

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A silent watcher. That’s what they call it. As I’m lurking in offline mode, checking out who’s having dinner with whom, in which restaurant, what the lobster soup taste and look like, and how the rain poured down on their way to it, I just can’t help myself thinking why on earth I would want to know any of that.

And yet, I do, and with me 750 million others. That’s when Google decided: “I want Facebook too”, and launched Google+. Currently only available upon invitation, Google+ tries to beat Facebook by making their platform more like the real life, by introducing Circles, Sparks, and Hangouts.

Circles enables a user to share certain things with certain people only who are in their ‘circle’. Sparks picks out interesting content from the web based on your preferences, similar to Stumbleupon. And Hangouts, what Google calls ‘the next best thing apart from teleportation’, attempts to simulate being in a social environment like a party, where you meet friends by chance.

A smart move of Google, to let the users do the work for them by letting them put the right contacts in the right circles. However, it still isn’t perfect. For example when you share content within a circle, everyone else in that circle knows who you’ve shared it with. That's not always preferable, as with CC and BCC in email.

And that’s exactly what the invitation only policy is for, to get feedback and improve it before the Grand Launch. And so the war in social media land gains another giant player. With already over 2 million members in the first two weeks, things looks pretty promising for Google+. Meanwhile, Facebook announced to launch new product improvements, including the recently leaked out iPad Facebook app.

“I liked Google+ when it was still called Facebook” is what you’ll hear more often these days. Which brings us to the question whether there is still room for another social media platform. And also, how much more will Google get to know about our lives, if it doesn’t already know everything that is.

The day my MacBook Air went iPad

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Well, almost. Except for the touchscreen. The responsible? OS X Lion, Apple’s no-brainer operation system upgrade for only €23,99 straight from the App Store.

Rubber-band scrolling, zooming, tapping, pinching, and swiping; directing four fingers at once requires some practice, but the new multi-touch gestures on the trackpad feels extraordinary. The full-screen experience surely makes browsing on Safari more enjoyable (although you could already do it with other browsers) and you just gotta love the Launchpad.

Another neat little functionality is the AirDrop, making file sharing with other Mac users easier and user-friendlier. Now just have to wait until everyone else updates to OS X Lion too. Other new stuff includes Mission Control, App Store, Versions, and Resume; functionalities I personally don’t use all too often.

The new MacBook Air launched the same day; same appearance this time, but faster, more memory, and the return of the backlit keyboard. Looks cool, but honestly? I wonder who works in the dark anyway.

It feels like the Apples become more alike every step of the way. Can’t wait until the launch of the new iOS for my iPhone 4, iCloud, and the expected iPhone 5 in September. It will inevitably draw a heck of a lot more non-Apple-users across the border into the promised Apple-land. And once you go Mac, you’ll never go back.

Playing extra on new NCRV TV series Mixed Up

8:00 a.m. The alarm goes off. Have to be on the set at 9:00 a.m. Today I’ll play the role of an extra on the tenth episode of Mixed Up, starring Georgina Verbaan.

Mixed Up is a drama series about the life at the editorial office of ZIJ (Dutch for ‘she’) magazine and the battle of the sexes. Today we were shooting at the office studio and a few scenes on the streets in Amsterdam.

For me and my fellow extras, it was mostly waiting until you were summoned for some of act-like-you’re-doing-something-interesting-at-the-office on the background. It was fascinating to witness the live recording on the set, as the last-minute lights, make-up, and boobs-taping adjustments were made.

From what I could see, acting is just like any other long-days, hardworking, and not-always-that-exciting job.

The highlights of the day? When Georgina said ‘thanks’ when I held the door open for her and wished us a nice day as we left. Famous, beautiful, yet down-to-earth and nice!

5:00 p.m.; it’s a wrap for the extras. The others continue. I’ve had a blast and marked a new life experience off the list!

Mixed Up will be aired starting October 31, 2011 at channel NCRV.

Roamler: Crowdsourcing at its very best

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Everyone meet Jackie, my brother. Jackie is an early adopter, or what you would call a trendsetter. Above all, I think he is a maven.

A maven is someone who knows disturbingly much about anything and feels the urge to share it with others. Ask him anything from politics, to sports, the weather or the latest Hollywood gossips. He can tell you all about it, just like that.

Jackie has a new addiction; called Roamler. Roamler is an iPhone application through which you can earn money by completing tasks. Based on your location, you receive a task. Every completed tasks earns you experience points and/or money.

Imagine having thousands if not millions of mobile workforce around the globe, ready and waiting to complete your tasks every minute of the day! If that’s not über-cool, I don’t know what is.

Having started just a few days, Jackie is now the top 1 Roamler in Amsterdam and ranks number 11 in Holland. So Jackie, is also kind of a nerd. But here’s the best part: Roamler works on invite only, after earning 1750 experience points. Guess who Jackie will invite first?

The yes’s and no’s of buying Apple products

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I’m an Apple fan, hands down.

Apple’s almighty rumor machine predicts that the OS X Lion will be launched today. More importantly, the new MacBook Air too, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern to be precise.

I bought mine just two months ago. Just like my iPhone 4. Luckily they’re just rumors and there’s still a chance for delay. Yes! There’s hope for having the latest Apples in my possession a little longer!

There are only three disadvantages with buying an Apple I can think of. The first one is this; from the moment you buy your Apple, you’re 100% certain that within a year your ‘precious’ will be replaced by a newer version - that will totally rock your world if you bought it - making it a very expensive hobby. Two, an Apple hardly ever crashes, and three, it looks ten times better than a Windows. Oh wait, did I say disadvantages?

Way to go Steve, we love your products!

The super cool Ray-Ban Wayfarer

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It all started back in 1936 when Bausch & Lomb received a request from the U.S. Air Force to design a sunglass for pilots. The world-famous Ray-Ban Aviator model was born and has claimed the must-have-status ever since.

Inspired by Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent and his glasses, Ray-Ban introduced the iconic black, plastic, thick-framed Wayfarer, also known as the ‘Clarks’. Like it ‘worked’ back then, it nowadays still works as a disguise, like in Hong Kong where you’ll stand out for not wearing one.

Ray-Ban, derived from the English words ‘ray’ (beam of light) and ‘ban’ (to prohibit), literally means to ‘banish rays’. I suppose it works; I have never seen Superman using his laser beam eyes with his Ray-Ban on. Have you?

Being suitable for use at the office yet cool enough for hitting the clubs, the Wayfarer symbolizes the resurrection of the spirit of the era of young and masculine look. For me, it’s the Man of Steel, as I recently caught myself finding a Superman T-Shirt in my very own wardrobe.