Film business... remake or makeover?

Ever since I worked in the more digital parts of the music business, I have become increasingly astonished over how slow the film business evolves. I still have my Lovefilm (Amazon.com) subscription active, since it is the most reliable and convenient way of watching film in Sweden.

Legally, that is.

The Economist writes about the need for a remake.

Handelsbanken: Maybe the worst online banking login solution ever

I am speechless.

A couple of days ago, I got a large and heavy envelope in the mail. I opened it today.

Inside, I found a USB card reader, a 2 meter long USB cable, and a card. This... is Handelsbanken's new login solution.

The stuff weighs in at 102 grams - that's the equivalent of a normal mobile phone! What were they thinking? Up until today, I've been using their online banking service pretty much everywhere. At home, on the bus, in the office... pretty much everywhere. So now they think I'll add the equivalent of a third mobile phone to my bag just to have the opportunity to use their service? Forget it.

Since I've been working with online banking, I've had the opportunity and tried most solutions on the Swedish market. Since 1995. And this must be the worst solution ever. In 2010.

But that 2 m long USB cable is my favorite. What were they thinking? If you know that you have the most clumsy security system for online banking in the history of mankind, ever, you might want to think about ways to at least take away a bit of that burden? Instead, Handelsbanken now gives you the opportunity to carry your card reader with you between rooms, wherever you want to go in your house. While the reader is still plugged into your computer, that is.

PS. I've called Handelsbanken and asked if there are alternatives for using their Internet banking service. There aren't any.

On my wall

I have this ad on my wall in my office. I love it so much. The new dimension of meaning that it was given from last fall's media circus around Tiger is just... great.

Another Stockholm Marathon

I haven't had the time to write anything at all here for quite some time now. But one day...

Anyway, one of the main training goals for this year was last weekend's Stockholm Marathon, and we were blessed with perfect weather this time. The knee gods were on my side this year too, and I managed to beat last year's time and score a new personal best with 3.48.

I really miss having a running club here in Vaxholm. If I wouldn't be kind of occupied with working for our local society already, I would start one tomorrow.

iPad and Flash

I finally got my own iPad this week, and I must admit that I'm pretty happy with it. But not overwhelmed. There is one thing that really sucks, though: the lack of Adobe Flash support. In my "everyday life" - while following links from Google Reader and Twitter - I end up not being able to view content like 33% of the time just because the iPad doesn't support Flash. The same as with the iPhone, that is. But somehow I have a hard time accepting that on a device as physically large as the iPad.

The result? Already today I was eating lunch with my MacBook Pro instead of using my brand new iPad.

Proactively answering my then unasked question, Steve Jobs published "Thoughts on Flash" today. And his reality distortion field is strong - I agree with Steve after reading it. Hopefully Apple's decision means that most video content on the web will work with the iPhone and iPad pretty soon (because the video feeds from most of the companies that Steve is mentioning are NOT working seamlessly from Safari in iPhone OS).

But here's a thought: Meanwhile, couldn't I secretly get access to a beta version of Flash for the iPad? Please? I will accept the downside it will have on my battery life, and I won't tell anyone. I promise.

Go Google books

There have been a few discussions in Swedish media over the past few days about Google books, where most of those discussions have focused on the risks with a "private monopoly" of books online.

I am not scared at all. I think it is wonderful that a private company is spending huge amounts of money on making the world's literary heritage available and searchable online. A few years ago, things were significantly different. If you didn't know which specific book you were looking for, you could get help to search on a few keywords - at best - and then possibly get your hands on a book within a few days or weeks. With Google books, you can search on all the text, and have the digital version of the book in your hands a second later.

The Economist wrote two pieces on Google books last week that is good. And all the nay-sayers who would rather see that Google stopped the project have one huge problem to solve: what is the realistic alternative other than a privately owned solution, if you want to make most of the books in the world available in 179 countries?

And from this perspective, I'm very happy with the Swedish government who have chosen not to file a formal complaint in the same way that some of our neighbors have.

The Google books initiative, more than anything that I've seen to date, will be the start of a new era in consumption of older books and texts. Tomorrow's networked e-readers will match and outperform Ender's tablet computer.

This year's Stockholm Marathon

I had the pleasure of finishing this year's Stockholm Marathon the other day. I was really happy about it, since last year's run ended in disaster thanks to my left knee. I've tried to run fewer kilometers this season, and done my best to come out a bit more regularly instead. I gotta admit I was really nervous about the knee all the way, but less kilometers in combination with a kind of "pose method" light seems to have paid off. The knee is still OK a few days after the race...

Up until last year, I didn't think much about either stretching or that it really mattered how you put in your kilometers during pre-season. Now I know better :)

I hope anyone who are thinking about the Marathon signs up for next year in Stockholm. The registration typically closes already early in the fall.

And if you know about a good race, let me know. I've signed up for the NYC Marathon ballot, but I really don't expect to get lucky just yet. But if you participate in the ballot for four years in a row, you seem to be guaranteed a start the fourth year.