New Thoughts On Not So Random Things…

New company

I’m involved in the start up of a new company, that is going to help consultants and other independent ‘workers’ find new assignments, without having to pay the ridiculous fees requested by the agencies they work with now.
It’s all in Dutch because we focus on The Netherlands initially, but check the announcement in the 3rd edition of our Consultants United newsletter if you are interested: http://www.consultants-united.nl

Frauduleuze praktijken van WM Produkties

Vandaag ben ik voor de tweede of derde keer benaderd door WM Produkties, over de tekst voor een advertentie die ik hen zou hebben toegezegd voor de Kinder RecreaGids, een uitgave voor langdurig zieke kinderen.
Ik heb hen bij de vorige gelegenheid ook al te kennen gegeven dat ik niets heb toegezegd en geen zaken doe met mensen die mij dingen in de mond proberen te leggen.
Bij het telefoontje van vandaag werd opgehangen nadat ik drie keer herhaalde dat mijn advertentie niet in deze gids staat.

Enig zoekwerk op Google leverde al snel resultaat op – zowel op een weblog als op het forum van Tros Radar zijn vergelijkbare situaties gemeld. Een bedrijf dat zich wel inzet voor langdurig zieke kinderen maakt ook melding van deze praktijken.

Wat hier achter zit is duidelijk: iemand probeert misbruik te maken van de goedheid van (waarschijnlijk) met name kleine ondernemers, over de rug van onschuldige kinderen.

Ik heb naar aanleiding van het telefoontje van vanochtend de redactie van Tros Radar rechtstreeks aangeschreven. Mocht WM-Produkties mij opnieuw benaderen, dan doe ik aangifte van herhaalde poging tot oplichting.

Fiber to the home…

About 12 years ago, I worked at Philips Research Laboratories. We worked on interactive and data broadcast services, based on MPEG-2, and also made the first steps towards IP Based Services (early Voice-over-IP and beyond). At the time, our critics told us that we would never deliver any useful product, simply because the required bandwidth and bi-directional channels were never going to reach the domestic environment.

Some of those were the people who thought IEEE1394 FireWire was going to be the future for personal-area-networks, rather than BlueTooth of WiFi. Others were of the idea that putting a fiber-to-the-home or even fiber-to-the-curb solution would never become available, because it was simply too costly to put the cables and infrastructure in place, not to mention (local) government interference.

All of this came to mind last week, while I talked to one of my former collegues from Philips Research, because this week my fiber-to-the-home connection was installed. I have one fiber and one modem now, that allows me to watch television, go on the internet and (once my subscription has been transferred from my old provider) make phone calls world wide. All of this is cheaper than my old phone, internet and TV subscription – I have unlimited landline calls nation wide for a fixed monthly fee of 12 euros. Maybe we weren’t that much off 12 years ago – let’s see if we can get these interactive service into the home. The internet provides much of the infrastructure on all levels to enable it, and we have IP-TV as well. Let’s go for it….

I’m on my own – or almost

Well, well, september 1st is drawing near. and on that day, I will start my new life as an independent consultant. Or rather, as can be seen on my new web site an independent software- and systemsarchitect, trainer and coach. Quite exciting, I have to admit, and nothing is certain so far, except for two the following.

• I will be presenting on DSM at a conference again – Bits & Chips Embedded Systems 2008 this time
• My columns in Dutch magazine Bits & Chips will continue
• I will continue teaching software architecture and system design in the OOTI program at Eindhoven Technical University
• My network will continue expanding at an increasing rate

With my apologies that three out of four links above point to sites that have Dutch as their main or only language, but that’s what you get when being based in The Netherlands.