Ok, so finally back to Stavanger and the hot chocolate with amazing homemade marshmallows, the colorful wooden buildings, and the fjord tour. Norway is known for its fjords, so of course, we had to see some!

It was just a bit cold and a little windy on the boat! = )

The boat pulled up to a waterfall and they filled a bucket full of "fresh Norwegian waterfall water" that  was then dispensed into plastic cups. Because it was cold and the cups were slightly wet, I didn’t want to pick up the cup and get my gloves wet—but I overcame—I mean when else do you get to drink waterfall water? So, we happily drank!

On the first part of our boat ride, we stopped for an "important member of the community" to board. Turns out he was a farmer and had left his goats on the hillside (the fjordside?) over the summer and wanted to bring them back. This was not his first attempt, and certainly would not be his last because after trying for about 30 minutes, they gave up and the goats won!

This little white goat was the trouble maker! The bigger grey goat came on board, lured by a loaf of bread and then lassoed on with a rope. Most of the passengers pressed up against the windows with their cameras, watching as the farmer and two of the boat men tried to get the goats—scrambling up the hillside, attempting to jump on them, cooing at them—all to no avail! It was quite amusing.

We got back to Stavanger and wandered around for a bit until our ferry back to Haugesund. We came across this interesting hair place:

Inne i byen så vi knapt fjorden, selv om den var nok så nær. Nå derimot er den synlig fra alle vinduer og jeg er forelsket i den. Har tatt utallige bilder av den, uansett vær, vinter som vår. Her er en liten samling – så langt… Det blir garantert fler

Fjordutsikt:

Foto @Hip Spaces

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Случайно получилось так, что в отпуск в нынешнем (2009-м) году мы могли поехать только в Норвегию. И в этот раз с нами поехала наша пятимесячная дочка. Мы решили, что хотим посмотреть места, где мы еще не были – поэтому выбрали маршрут на юг страны, причем маршрут короткий, чтобы малышку недолго держать в машине.

Юг Норвегии совершенно не похож на остальные части страны – все не так:  белые домики (вместо традиционных красных), теплое море (вместо традиционного холодного, северного, бурного), постоянное солнце (вместо традиционного фьордного тумана). Отсутствие фьордов и скал делает южное побережье Норвегии похожим на Финляндию, только с большим количеством свежей рыбы, сосиками-пёлсе на заправках (я не люблю хот-доги, но пёлсе остались в моем сердце еще с нашей первой поездки в Норвегию – и вкусом, и ценой, так как это самое дешевое, что можно съесть в стране) и ценами в норвежских кронах.

Первая часть прошла стандартно. Утром выехали из дома, перебрались в Торфяновке через границу, в Хельсинки сели на паром (на этот раз, правда, на Silja Line). Кстати, приятно удивила одинаковая цена на паромы, что на Силья Лайн, что на Викинг, в петербургском Паромном Центре и на сайте самих паромных компаний. Мы в итоге купи ли билеты через шведский сайт Silja Line, но только потому что жили в то время за городом и не хотелось ехать в город специально покупать билеты.

Воскресным утром мы выехали с парома в Стокгольме, почти сразу же встали на трассу E18  и помчались в Норвегию. Ехали мы до города Мосса стандартные 6 часов (стандартные – потому что предыдущие два года столько же времени у нас занимала дорога от/до Стокгольма до/от окрестностей Осло).

В Моссе мы планировали сесть на паром в Хортен. Паромы ходят каждые полчаса, плывут 30 минут. На удивление было много народ, и мы смогли попасть только на третий по счету паром.

Перебравшись в Хортен, мы поехали на юг и в километрах 15 от Хортена остановились в Furustrand Camping. Мы его заранее присмотрели, так как в районе Хортена не так много кемпингов, а этот привлек нас необычной архитектурой домиков. Стоит кемпинг на море, в нем кроме обычных домиков есть забавного вида хатки, стилизованные под укрепления (1080 NOK). Веранды этих хаток выходят прямо на море. На территории есть ресторан, ларек с минимальным набором еды, пляж, приспособления для игры в петанк. Мы побродили по территории, поели и легли спать.

Вид из нашего окна в Furustrand Camping

Утром нас приветствовала стая канадских гусей, которые паслись на поле около кемпинга. Гусей была целая туча, и они то взлетали, то садились на поле и что-то активно там ели.

Канадские гуси около Тенсберга

Мы помахали им в ответ и помчались в сторону провинции Телемарк. Нашей целью был городок Улефосс, в котором мы хотели сесть на теплоход, который возит туристов по Телемарковскому каналу. Канал был прорыт в 19 веке и до сих пор является местной достопримечательностью.

Рабочие девушки на Телемарк-канале

Канал длинный, и путешествие от Скиена до Далена – то есть по всей протяженности канала – занимает 8 часов.

Шлюзы Телемарк-канала

Но так долго теплоходы ходят только в сезон, то есть с конца июня по середину августа. А с середины августа до середины сентября есть укороченный маршрут от Скиена до Лунде, причем самая красивая и интересная часть – со шлюзами – между Улефоссом и Лунде.

В Улефосс мы приехали за 10 минут до прибытия теплохода Victoria. Билеты продавали прямо на теплоходе, и, что порадовало, брали к оплате карточки (300 NOK). Путешествие от Улефосса до Лунде в основном проходит по шлюзам, то есть чистого плавание в двухчасовом путешествии минут 30 от силы – остальное проход по шлюзам. Забавно налажена работа по открытию и закрытию шлюзов. Ими управляли две девушки лет по 20. Они вручную открывали шлюз, потом закрывали, затем садились в машину и ехали до следующего шлюза поджидать теплоход.

В Лунде мы погуляли около 20 минут, пока не пришел автобус, который отвозит всех обратно в Улефосс или Скиен (60 NOK). В Улефоссе мы вскочили в машину и помчались к побережью в поисках рыбы и ночлега.

Посмотрели на Крагерё, нашли рядом кемпинг, но домик нам не понравился, и мы решили ехать дальше. Крагерё – первый в целом цепочке на норвежском побережье городок с белыми домиками, магазином свежей рыбы, маленькой пешеходной улицой и непонятным притяжением..

Мы доехали до Рисёра, нашли симпатичный кемпинг Sorlandet Feriesenter (650 NOK за ночь) и остались в нем на две ночи.

Типичный домик в кемпинге около Рисера

Кемпинг расположен на берегу через фьорд от Рисёра, все домики стоят в зарослях ежевики, брусники, вереска и зверобоя. С причалов все ловят рыбу, рядом есть песчаный пляж. Так как я впервые в жизни видела настоящую ежевика, то первое, что я сделала утром, это пошла набрать ягод на завтрак. Очень рекомендую – норвежская ежевика и овсяные хлопья “Ясно Солнышко” созданы друг для друга.

На следующий день мы съездили в Рисёр, который из всех приморских городков понравился нам больше всего.

Типичный южнонорвежский городок

Весь в белых домиках, с симпатичной горкой над городом, откуда открывается вид на весь город.

Персики на улицах Рисера

И там мы впервые мы зашли в рыбный магазинчик. С этого дня наши ужины были предрешены, и все остальные дни – первое, что мы делали, когда приезжали в новый город, это искали такой рыбный магазинчик. Рыба там изумительная, свежепойманная. И кто бы мог подумать, что обычная сайда – это великолепного вкуса блюдо…

В тот же день мы поездили по окрестностям Рисёра – Тведерстранд оказался скучнейшим городком. Его пытаются рекламировать как одного из «книжных” городов Норвегии (второй есть на Согнефьорде около Балестранда), то есть городок, в котором полно букинистических магазинов. Возможно, для норвежцев это и интересно, так как все книги практически на норвежском языке. Нас же, иностранцев, такие магазины не особенно интересовали, а больше делать в Твердестранде нечего.

Вечером мы съездили и сходили посмотреть на котлованы, которые море вымыло в прибрежных скалах От парковки идти совсем не 15 минут (как написано на указатели на парковке), а минут 30. А если учесть, что у нас в “кенгуру” сидел пятимесячный малыш, то скакать по скалам в какой-то момент стало просто опасно. А на обратном пути мы чуть не заблудились. В общем, ездить туда не советую.

На следующий день мы продолжили путь на юг и посетили Арендаль и Гримстад. Оба достойные маленькие городки, в Арендале можно даже устроить приличный шопинг, но больше пары часов делать в них нечего. В итоге остановились в Tingsaker Camping (900 NOK), в Лиллесанде. Муж остался ловить рыбу, а мы с дочкой пошли в Лиллесанд – благо до центра городка от кемпинга 1 км. Лиллесанд, пожалуй, самый мелкий из всех южных городков, в нем приятная гавань, большая церковь и абсолютно нечего делать.

Наутро мы решили съездить в зоопарк Dyreparken под Кристиансандом и, если будет время или желание, заехать в сам Кристиансанд. Зоопарк нам понравился, его правильнее назвать зоосадом, так как животные живут практически на свободе, ограниченные просто загородками, а посетители ходят по узким проходам между территориями разных животных. Особенно хорошо смотрятся на фоне берез и черничных зарослей южные животные и птицы.

Павлины в зарослях черники

Мы провели больше двух часов в зоопарке, и поэтому решили, что у нас полно времени для Кристиансанда.

Здание McDonalds в Кристиансанде

В Кристиансанде мы запарковались около рыбного рынка (Fiskebrygge), так как после прогулки собирались купить там рыбы.

Рыночная площадь в Кристиансанде

Прошлись по главной пешеходной улице  с кучей магазинов, поели около рыбного рынка (в ресторане Pieder Ro) и отправились обратно в Лиллесанд.

Собор Кристиансанда

Кстати должна отметить, что в чем плох юг Норвегии – так это в том, что там нет больших книжных магазинов. Ни в Ставангере, ни в Кристиансанде, ни тем более в более мелких городках мы не смогли найти достойного для зависания в нем образца.

Рынок в Кристиансанде

Вечером после теплого дня в 23 градуса случилась гроза, которую было очень интересно наблюдать из широких окон нашего домика.

Остатки крепости Кристиансанда

На следующий день догуляли по старой части Кристиансанда (Posebyen) и по остаткам крепости и отправились в Мандаль. Кемпинг в Мандале Sjosanden Camping (900 NOK) стоит прямо на знаменитом длинном песчаном пляже, от центр города километра 2-3. Мы погуляли по центру, купили рыбы и вечером после ужина скакали по скалам и пляжу.

Утром светило солнце, и мы быстро преодолели 40 километров до самой южной точки Норвегии – мыса Линдеснес, где стоит маяк.

Маяк на мысе Линдеснес

Место действительно очень красивое, а в кафе при маяке пекут кексы с начинкой из ревеня, который тут же растет.

Расстояние от самой южной до самой северной точки Норвегии

Мы продолжили путь на запад, но тут вмешались обстоятельства. Сломалась наша машина. Но видимо сила нашего волшебства смягчила удар, и машина, закряхтев и сильно сбросив мощность, дотащилась (о чудо!) до городка Лингдаль и в городке до автостанции Пежо (!) и только там заглохла намертво. Если бы не суббота, возможно, мы уже в тот же день продолжили наш путь. Но, увы, как во всей Скандинавии, жизнь в субботу в стране замирает и оживает только в понедельник. Мы поймали какого-то механика, который хоть и не специализировался в Пежо, но на машину грустно посмотрел и посоветовал приходить в понедельник в 7:30, ибо сейчас уже все отдыхают.

Нам повезло, что в этом городке был кемпинг (Kvavik Camping, 750 NOK за первую ночь, 550 NOK за следующую), и что до центра, где можно было вызвать такси, идти было всего километра полтора. Мы нашли магазин, накупили продуктов, нашли такси и даже таксиста, вернулись с ним к машине, нагрузили в такси вещей и подгузников и поехали в кемпинг. Повезло, что в кемпинге была свободная хатка, которую мы сняли на две ночи, надеясь, что в понедельник машину нам починят.

Собственно, следующие полтора дня прошли по-норвежски. Мы ходили в центр пешком (2 км от кемпинга), ходили в соседний городок (тоже 2 км от кемпинга), ловили рыбу на лодке (лодка и весла входили в стоимость домика), смотрели телевизор, кормили уток и ели.

Утром в понедельник в 7:40 муж уже стоял в сервис-центре, а в 9 утра уже приехал на отремонтированной машине за мной и дочкой. И мы тут же помчались в сторону Ставангера.

Собор Ставангера

На пляже в 15 км от города в селении Olbor мы нашли кемпинг без названия, но с домиками и квартирками. Собственно сняли мы даже не домик, так как в домиках туалет с душем находились рядом с домиком, и приходилось бы проносить ребенка через улицу. Сняли мы двух этажную квартиру в этом же кемпинге (1100 NOK). Можно было снять такую же и в один этаж, но уж больно вид с балкона был хорош. Мы не пожалели, так как закаты над океаном с балкона смотрелись чудесные.

Гавань Ставангера

Поехали мы смотреть на Ставангер. Так же как и в Кристиансанде несколько разочаровала нас старая часть города.

Старый Ставангер

Да, действительно, белые домики, и правда в них живут люди. Но в виду отсутствия магазинчиков и кафе в этой части города, район кажется несколько “мертвым”.

Домики в гавани Ставангера

Нам больше понравился района на другой стороны гавани, в котором также небольшие деревянные дома, но в них кипит жизнь.

Пешеходные улицы Ставангера

Мы прогулялись и там, поднялись на самую высокую точку города с башней, посмотрели на гавань. Посетили и небольшой готический собор рядом с рыночной площадью. Вечером гуляли по крошечной гавани в Олберге, где находился наш кемпинг, и познакомились с симпатичной выдрой. Кстати в этой самой крохотной гавани обнаружился восьмиугольный домик, в котором во время второй мировой войны жили советские военнопленные – об этом поведала нам табличка на этом сарайчике.

Типичный южнонорвежский пляж

Утром уже в 10 утра мы стояли в центре Ставангера и ожидали очереди на паром, который проходит по всему Люсефьорду (от Ставангера до Люсеботна).

Вид на скалу Прекестулен снизу

Особой очереди не было, так то можно было заранее не приезжать. Паром проходит из гавани Ставангера, делает еще две остановки и дальше без остановок плывет по фьорду. По пути видны скалы Preikestolen и Kjerag, а также ровно как и написано в буклете, который раздается на пароме – в месте под названием «Тюлень” действительно лежат тюлени.

Вид на Люсефьорд

Поначалу была великолепная погода, но как только мы доплыли до середины фьорда, сразу наползли тучи и пошел противный мелкий дождь. Выгрузившись в Люсеботне в 13:30, на края фьорда мы поднялись на гору, посмотрели на фьорд сверху и поехали 100 км обратно в наш кемпинг. Между Санднесом и Ставангером заехали в большой торговый центре Kvadrat, побродили там и поехали в наш кемпинг.

Памятник объединению Норвегии

Последний день в районе Ставангера мы посвятили небольшому шопингу в Ставангере – надо отметить, что на юге очень плохо с норвежскими сувенирами. К примеру, в центре Ставангера всего один магазин, который ими торгует. Затем доехали до монастыря Utstein Kloster – местность вокруг монастыря нам понравилась больше, чем сама церковь, которая от монастыря осталась.

Пейзаж около Утстейн Клостера

После монастыря мы начали путь в сторону родины. В этот день мы без остановок доехали до Егерзунда по так называемой дороге Северного моря, то есть не по трассе, а вдоль моря. Моря видно было немного, но пейзаж действительно очень красивый, сначала дюны, а ближе к границе областей Рогаланд и Сёрландет – большие валуны.

В Егерзунде мы остановились в кемпинге Steinsnes Camping (650 NOK), который хоть и расположен в 2 км от центра города (то есть до города не дойти), но находится на берегу реки с порогами. Спалось очень хорошо под аккомпанемент воды. Мы немного половили рыбу и пофотографировали пороги…

Пороги в Егерзунде

Утром проехав через старую часть Егерзунда и выяснив, что мы пропустили главное в городе – местную пивоварню, мы без остановок проехали до Кристиансанда. Опять погуляли по нему и нашли кемпинг Skudevik Feriesenter в Hovag. Кемпинг был полон немецких детей и, как это неудивительно, дайверов. Что еще более удивительно, так это то, что в море, на берегу которого кемпинг стоит, мы видели разноцветных рыбок, таких, какие водятся обычно в Красном море. Так мы и не поняли, что это были за рыбы и откуда они в северных морях.

Следующий день прошел в езде – от Кристиансанда до Хортена, за исключением утреннего шопинга в Sorlandet Parken, большом комплексе магазинов под Кристиансандом.

В Хортене мы заселились в кемпинг Lovoya Camping (900 NOK), решив не переплывать в Мосс, так как стояла большая очередь из машин (пятница, все норвежцы решили переплыть Осло-фьорд). Погуляли, посмотрели сквозь французские окна на дождь и последний раз поужинали рыбой.

В 6 утра мы уже были на ногах, и в 6:45 паром уже вез нас на другой берег Осло-фьорда в Мосс. В 7:15 мы выехали из Мосса и помчались в Стокгольм. Традиционно потратив 6 часов, с двумя коротенькими остановками мы добрались до шведской столицы.

В 17 часов погрузились на Силья Лайн и поплыли домой, то есть в Финляндию. Дальше просто – выгрузились в Хельсинки с паром и домой, теперь в Петербург.

В этот раз мы проехали по Норвегии меньше всего – 1968 км…

I know I haven’t posted in a while—I’ve been having trouble with Live Writer and inserting pictures, so I just didn’t bother for a few days…weeks.

So back to Norway:

After our Fjord cruise, which I haven’t written about yet, we wandered around Stavanger until it was time to take the high speed ferry back to Haugesund. Stavanger has a central shopping bit with cobbled streets and quirky shops. We turned up one street that was all bright colors (made me feel like I was at home since I grew up in a house that is turquoise, pink, purple, and white on the outside!). It was cold, and we needed some warming up—and it just so happened to come in the form of hot chocolate!

If you are ever in Stavanger, find this colorful street and this chocolate shop/cafe called Sjokoladepiken.

You will be glad you did! 

We certainly didn’t expect this when we ordered hot chocolate: really thick, rich hot chocolate with a SLAB of homemade amazing marshmallow on top!

It was so chocolate-y, that I actually just ate mostly melted marshmallow. Tim helpfully finished the rest of mine!

This picture makes me look kind of pregnant?

Well I am Not! I think my coat is open, but my coat is huge anyway. I love my long arms, but sleeves don’t like covering them all the way, which makes it necessary to buy XL coats, and thus look slightly pregnant and give my mother false hope of more grandchildren! = )

We got up early and had a two hour bus ride to Stavanger, complete with a ferry ride all before 10:30am. I slept most of the way on the bus. Tim woke me up after an hour—I didn’t realize we were on a ferry! Tim captured my amazement in this charming photograph below.

Obviously it was a bit cold and windy on the top deck of the ferry—we didn’t stay outside very long.

No one was around when we arrived into Stavanger, so we strolled along the harbour and found out where our ferry was leaving and where our boat tour was leaving. We got some lunch at Godt Brot—a tasty cafe/bakery that we highly recommend!

Here are some pictures from Stavanger:

We’ve found lots of interesting graffiti around Norway. Here’s one from Stavanger:

This has been the nicest Godt Brod we’ve found, in terms of seating and choice of sandwich fillings. They actually had tables to sit at, while all the ones in Bergen mainly have counter tops with stools. It’s still tasty though, and they have good whole wheat baguette sandwiches for 80 NK. This one is in the shopping district next to the harbour.

Tim told me to “stand here” and when I looked down, noticed this cool cover. They have them in Bergen as well, so I’m guessing we’ll have an Oslo picture like this, too!

Here’s our boat that we took for our Lysefjord cruise to see Pulpit Rock. There are too many pictures and goats from that trip (yes goats!), so l’ll do a post on part 2 of Stavanger soon!

BIG UPDATE: AS CLOCKS WENT

BACK I FORGOT ITS AT 12:00 PST

Club Penguin Halloween Cheats Below!

Hello Guys,

Me & Woffbuffet Have Decided To Have a Halloween Party!Awesome Right?This Will Happen Before Halloween & Before The Halloween Party Starts So Its Like a Pre Halloween Party!Heres The Invite:

Can’t Read:
Mrkrabs987’s & Woffbuffets Halloween Party
Server: Fjord
Place: The Plaza
Time: 11:00 am PST, 7:00 pm English Time
When: Monday 26th October
Please Come

Tell Your Friends,  Your Parents Your Auntie Tell Everyone & Please Come!

Comment If You Can Come!

~ Mrkrabs987 ~ & ~ Woffbuffet 8)~ Main Owners

Hej, da bin ich wieder…

Eine Woche ist zwar sehr kurz aber dafür hat sie dem Kopf ausreichend Entspannung geboten.

Sæl(l),

Es war an der Zeit, für eine Reise durchs Hinterland. Das haben mein Bruder und ich gestern beschlossen. Lange genug haben uns Schneestürme und Windböen in RVK festgehalten oder genauer genommen weggeweht. Das Wetter hatte sich deutlich gebessert. Von Schneesturm keine Spur. Zur Sicherheit haben wir vor der Abfahrt erneut den Wetterbericht gecheckt. Sonne, kein Wind und klarer Himmel: schöne Aussichten.

Ab in den Westen!

Erste Station war Akranes. Von dieser “Stadt” hatte ich bereits viel gehört. Was es zu sehen gab, ist allerdings in einem Wort schnell zusammengefasst: Nichts! Einverstanden, das ist etw as übertrieben, aber viel mehr war es tatsächlich nicht. Etwa zehn Häuser, ein Leuchtturm und eine Kirche – Ende. Ja, wir waren da: Beweisfotos haben wir zwischen verrosteten Fischereiutensilien und Containern gemacht. Das spannendste war aber tatächlich noch der Weg von RVK nach Akranes. Dieser führte nämlich unter einem Fjord durch. Sechs Kilometer unter dem Wasser – steil hinab und auf der anderen Seite wieder steil hinauf. Der Spass war geringer als bei einer Achterbahnfahrt, der Preis etwa der selbe: 800 ISK (4,20€). Borganess war Versuch Nummer zwei, auf dem Weg zu einer schönen kleinen Stadt im Westen Islands. Und dieser war schon erfolgreicher. Einige Häuser, die auf einem Felsen direkt an einen Fjord gebaut waren waren das, was wir zuerst erblickten, als wir über einen Damm und eine Brücke auf die Stadt zufuhren. Eine kleine Rundfahrt war es uns denn Wert. Vom höchsten Punkt der Stadt, der Kirche, liess sich das Panorama der umliegenden schneebedeckten Berge einfangen.

Unsere nächste Entscheidung war folgenreich: nicht zurück wollten wir, sondern weiter Richtung Nordosten zunächst war das kein Problem. Auf einer gut geteerten Strasse fuhren wir Richtung Landesinneres. Strasse Nummer 50. Dazu muss man wissen, dass die Strassen in Island alle durchnummeriert sind, was nicht weiter ungewöhnlich ist. Allerdings werden sie, je nach Stellenanzahl rapide schlechter in Qualität und Zustand. Die Einstelligen sind super, teilweise vierspurige “Highways”. Bei den Zweistelligen kommt es hingegen stark auf die Laune der Strassenbauer an. Manchmal sind sie einwandfrei, wie Nummer 50, manchmal allerdings alles andere als ihres Namens würdig. Aber dazu später mehr. Nummer 50 wurde zu Nummer 51 und schon war es vorbei mit dem Asphalt. Als wir anschliessend auf die Nummer 518 einbogen, nahm die Häufigkeit der Schlaglöcher beinahe minütlich zu. Zudem führte der Weg nun steil bergan. Links sahen wir einen Gletscher auf uns zukommen und die Flüsse waren nun auch immer wieder teilweise von Eis bedeckt. Kalt war es aber nicht. Im Freien liess es sich prima aushalten: Die Fotosafari lässt grüssen!

On a highway to glaciers

Spätestens als wir auf 823 NN angelangt waren, liess der Schnee nicht mehr mit sich reden, rechtzeitig vor uns wegzutauen. Er lag da und das vermutlich schon sehr, sehr lange. Hart, dreckig und für einen VW Polo unbezwingbar. Nicht mit uns, wir sind aus dem Allgäu, Schnee ist uns kein Fremdwort. Also weiter. Einige unserer Vorgänger hatten aber ganz offensichtlich die besseren (?) Autos gehabt und teilweise tiefe Rinnen in den Schnee gefahren. Zu dumm, dass es der Radstand eines Polos nicht mit dem eines Geländewagens aufnehmen kann: viel zu breit! Die einzige Chance bestand darin, direkt am Rand, nahe der Steinbrocken an der Rinne vorbei zu fahren. Allerdings spielten uns als nächstes unsere Reifen einen Streich; die meinten, sie müssten dort nicht hindurchfahren, sie wollten an Ort und Stelle bleiben und drehten munter durch. Festgefahren. Auf einen Abschleppwagen warten. Nein, aussichtslos: In der vergangenen Stunde war uns keine Menschenseele begegnet. Also schieben! Gesagt, getan. Aber auch ein Polo wiegt einige Kilogramm; ohne Gegendruck – im Schnee rutschte jeder Schritt sofort wieder ab – liess sich das Auto keinen Meter bewegen. Es blieb der Rückwärtsgang und der erwies sich als zuverlässig! Nach dem Wenden fuhren wir einige Kilometer in die Richtung, aus der wir gekommen waren. Der Umweg hielt sich dennoch in Grenzen.

Mittlerweile hatten wir im Handschuhfach zudem eine Elvis Presley CD gefunden und er sang abwechselnd “Suspicious Minds” und “Always on my mind” – die anderen Lieder auf der CD gefielen uns nicht! Als es schon dunkel wurde und wir ausser vielen tollen unbekannten Naturschauspielen noch immer keine der Haupttouristenattraktionen gesehen hatten, beschlossen wir wenigstens noch Geysir und Strokkur einen Besuch abzustatten. Zweiterer freute sich darüber offensichtlich sehr. Denn: Er spritzte eine Fontäne nach der anderen. Die Minuten dazwischen erwiesen sich bei der inzwischen einsetzenden Kälte allerdings als sehr unangenehm. Der Fotoapparat wollte insbesondere wegen der Dunkelheit nicht mehr mitspielen.

Nordlicht wo leuchtest du?

Apropos Dunkelheit: Genau auf diese hatten wir gewartet. Immerhin hatte der Wetterbericht auch versprochen, dass heute die Bedingungen für das Sichten von Polarlichtern (gleichbedeutend mit Nordlichtern oder Aurora Borealis) ideal seien. Zu dumm, dass dieses Mal die Wolken etwas dagegen hatten und uns keine Sicht freigaben. Alles, was wir zu entdecken vermeinten, erwies sich schon bald als Scheinwerfer eines Bauernhofs oder als Peace Tower. Zweiterer, der sich auf der Insel Viðey gegenüber Reykjavíks befindet, zeigte allerdings eine immense Leuchtkraft und war aus 50 Kilometern auszumachen. Ein heller Fleck am Himmel. Der Strahl selbst, der vom Boden ausgeht, wurde erst später sichtbar. Gewidmet ist der Friedensturm übrigens John Lennon und wurde zwei Tage zuvor (an Lennons Geburtstag) von Yoko Ono feierlich eingeschaltet. Ein Konzert gehörte ebenfalls dazu, bei dem eine Reihe bekannter Isländer Hits der Beatles und von John Lennon sangen.

Bei uns im Auto sang inzwischen ebenfalls ein Isländer. Die zweite CD beinhaltete nämlich Gedichte, die deren Autor selbst singenderweise vortrug. Für die Polarlichter muss ich jetzt allerdings eine Suchmeldung rausgeben, sie blieben verschwunden…

]]> http://polarfieldservice.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/the-glacier-sea-dance/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:39:48 +0000 polarfieldservice http://polarfieldservice.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/the-glacier-sea-dance/

Glacier – Fjord Dynamics in Greenland

Score one for the seals. In addition to using high-tech equipment and sophisticated research techniques, researcher Gordon Hamilton (University of Maine, Orono) will also get a hand (fin?) from the ocean-dwelling creatures for his new NSF-funded collaborative study. Hamilton and a team of glaciologists and oceanographers will spend the next three years studying glacier-fjord interactions at Helheim Glacier in east Greenland to better understand how warm ocean waters are affecting the dynamics of outlet glaciers draining the ice sheet. The seals, tagged with small sensors that record position, depth and temperature, will collect data about what goes on beneath the ocean’s surface.

Gordon Hamilton (PI from University of Maine) recovers a GPS instrument from Helheim Glacier during summer 2009 field work. Photo: Leigh Stearns

Above water, the team will investigate the mutual relationship between the glacier and the ocean through field season surveys and year-round data collection in order to better understand how ocean currents and heat affect the ice sheet. The research team will use these and other data to map the circulation and properties of the fjord and adjacent offshore waters, and how these characteristics change with time.

The research comes as scientists modeling the impact of global warming and melting sea ice are challenged to estimate the rate of ice sheet mass loss caused by dynamic thinning. (For more information, see “Extensive dynamic thinning on the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets,” Pritchard et al.)

We talked to Professor Hamilton about his upcoming research.

Sermilik, Greenland, where Hamilton has also done research. Photo: Gordon Hamilton

PFS: Given your new NSF grant to explore ice sheet / ocean interactions and their influence on glacier motion, what did you think of the Pritchard article in Nature this week, suggesting “the most profound changes in the ice sheets currently result from glacier dynamics at ocean margins?”

Gordon Hamilton: It’s a nice paper because, for the first time, it takes a quantitative look at the entire coastlines of Greenland and Antarctica and shows that near-coastal changes are happening everywhere, not just in a few places. It really points to the importance of ice–ocean interactions in playing a major role in the health of the ice sheets.

PFS: The Pritchard article also mentions that “accelerated melt” is another relatively unknown area of glaciology. Can you explain what that is, and how your study may shed light on it?

Gordon Hamilton: In this case, they are referring to “submarine melting” which occurs wherever glacier ice comes into contact with the ocean (outlet glaciers and ice shelves, for example). Basically, any time you have ocean temperatures above the local freezing point (i.e., the freezing point adjusted for salinity and density), you have excess heat available to melt glacier ice. Because the ocean can carry so much more heat than the atmosphere, submarine melting can be much more effective than surface melting but it is very difficult to observe because of the obvious challenges in accessing the underwater portions of glaciers. Our work will help quantify the submarine melting component because we will be making direct measurements of ocean heat content, and the rate at which it is replenished, in the waters adjacent to a large outlet glacier.

PFS: The lack of knowledge about glacier/ocean interactions represents a large gap when it comes to modeling the impacts of melting ice sheets. How will your research improve modeling, and what specifically will you be looking for to develop a better understanding of these mechanisms?

Gordon Hamilton: Very true. There are just a couple of measurements of heat content and circulation in Greenlandic fjords, and most of these measurements have been isolated samples. We deployed some moored instruments as part of our pilot project, so we are just beginning to get a handle on how one-off measurements compare with a full year’s worth of data on fjord behavior. Seasonal and interannual variability is likely to be quite large, so we really need to quantify it so we can understand how much heat gets transported to these glacier fronts, when it gets transported, and if the rate of heat transport is changing with time. We will link these changes to observations of how the glacier behaves. For example, does the glacier calve more icebergs when the ocean is warmer, and does that cause the glacier to flow faster? These are basic things to know if we want to model how future ocean changes might affect the ice sheet.

PFS: Why did you choose Helheim Glacier?

Gordon Hamilton: Helheim is important because it drains about 5% of the entire ice sheet, it recently doubled its rate of mass loss, and because it discharges freshwater (in liquid and solid iceberg form) to a sensitive part of the North Atlantic Ocean where global ocean currents are formed.

PFS: Do the Pritchard et al findings potentially alter your research plan?

No, not really, but they do provide extra motivation in case anyone doubted the role of the ocean in potentially controlling the fate of the ice sheet.

PFS: On a lighter note, you have Greenlandic colleagues who will outfit seals with sensors to collect information on ocean temperature and depth. Can you tell us more about the logistics of this? What do you expect to learn from the seals? Any chance you can outfit them with cameras, as well, so we can get seal-cam pix of the fjord or ocean?

Gordon Hamilton: This is something new for us, but it’s a fairly standard technique for marine biologists who want to understand how and where seals dive for food. The tags will measure depth and water temperature. Seals are much more effective at making these kinds of measurements than scientists because they live there year-round and are continually diving for food, whereas we only visit the area for short field seasons. We use them as oceanographic platforms to build up a really long and detailed record of oceanic conditions. Each tag should last for a few months, so it will allow us to look at seasonal patterns in heat content of the offshore waters adjacent to the Greenland Ice Sheet. Plus it makes a great collaboration for glaciologists and oceanographers and marine biologists to be working together. I’m not sure about the practicalities of installing seal-cams, but we do plan to install cameras at a few key points overlooking the glacier and fjord. The cameras will have telemetry capability, so we should be able to monitor fjord conditions in near real-time.

OFS: As part of your outreach program, you’re planning to present a non-technical report to the Greenlandic community. How might the report benefit them?

Gordon Hamilton: In southeast Greenland, where we are working, the way of life for a huge percentage of the population is dependent on hunting and fishing in the coastal and fjord waters. These waters are starting to change character, so different species of fish (warmer-water species) are moving in and other types are disappearing. Local fisherman have to adapt to these conditions. Also, the warming waters are probably playing a role in the recent speed-up of the many of the ice sheet’s outlet glaciers, meaning there are more icebergs in the fjord year-round. Icebergs are a real hazard to safe travel for these hunters, so they will be very interested in our predictions for future conditions.

The front of Helheim Glacier. Photo:Gordon Hamilton

PFS: You’ve done extensive glaciology in Antarctica. How does working in Greenland compare to your antarctic research? Are you doing glacier/fjord studies on the southern continent as well?

Gordon Hamilton: This project just deals with Greenland, but some colleagues have recently started looking at similar processes in the Amundsen Sea of West Antarctica. And we are thinking about starting related work beneath the Ross Ice Shelf, close to where several large outlet glaciers enter from East Antarctica.

Working in Greenland is quite different from Antarctica. For one, real populations of people live in villages around Greenland’s coast; Antarctica only has scientific research stations. So the local population provides an interesting cultural perspective. Plus it is just a few hours from the east coast of the US, meaning it is a lot easier and quicker to conduct fieldwork there than in Antarctica.

We are leaving Leikanger now en route to Flåm. Yesterday was probably the most different Joanne you’ve ever seen. I knew this Norway trip is gonna be an outdoor one but I still went along anyway. We kayaked 4km in the huge lake across the fjords. The view was amazing. Seeing the glacier getting nearer motivated me even more to kayak faster despite all the blisters and aching of the arms. This is what I called the real kayaking. During SMU’s orientation, we were just kayaking near the coast without any equipment. Here, we have the shoes, gloves for the oars etc, just like a pro.

The hot chocolate after hours of kayaking was probably the highlight of the trip. There’s nothing a hot chocolate can’t solve in the cold (it was 2 degrees). It took away cold and hungry from sad and lonely.

I dreaded the glacier hiking initially ‘cos the guide wasn’t very nice to me. I was one of the minorities in the group, the guide was a spanish speaker so were more than half of the group. Spanish boy beside me asked the same question and didn’t get screamed at but I did. And I couldn’t seem to get anything right, from wearing the spikes to the harness. Grr. He even made me go infront next to him ‘for my safety’. Felt like primary kid but whatever. When the hiking started, he was much nicer and all negative thoughts were forgotten. The view on the glacier was breathtaking. I really felt like I was on top of the world. How many people you know actually went hiking on a glacier? Joanne, the most indoor girl you’ve ever known who can’t cycle, swim or blade, went hiking on a glacier! I’m so proud of me! Everyone asked if I’m going shopping though. I’m the only one in the group without waterproof jacket and a backpack. Imagine me, looking fashionable in a wool coat and tote bag on the glacier. LOL. It is so me, and it looks so wrong. I’ll post the photos once I find them on facebook!

You know, I’ve never thought that I’m such a city girl until I came Europe. We never had any mountains, waterfalls, fjords of any kind in Singapore. Even Jurong Island is considered a city compared to this place. It’s really great to see the other part of world but this kinda countryside living is probably good for only a couple of days. No booze, partying, shopping or any slightest form of civilisation here. How does one survive? I guess I’m still a city girl at heart.

Dei sei at året på folkehøgskule går kjempefort, dette har eg aldri tvilt på, men eg hadde heller ikkje trudd at eg skulle byrje å merke at tida går fort allereie etter berre tre veker!

No har eg heller ikkje fått oppdatert bloggen min på ei stund. Mest fordi eg ikkje har nett på rommet, men også fordi vi har så mykje å gjere på heile tida. Noko eg ikkje ser på som negativt i det heile tatt! Eg likar godt å ha noko å styre med:)

Ja, denne veka har eg mellom anna hatt valfaget “Teikn til tale” for første gong, våre med på samtalegruppe, vår på paddle(/symje)tur i Modalen, førehandsrøysta, ete ball(/kumle/klubb/raspeball/potetball osb) til middag, vore heime (Ørsta) og spelt konsert i Stryn.

ONSDAG 0909: PADDLETUR I MODALEN

Paddleturen var ganske heftig, då elva var større enn nokon gong. Ronald (ein av lærarane som var med oss), som har paddla i elva i Modalen fleirfoldige gongar, har aldri paddla i elva når ho var så stor som ho var då vi var der. Dette førte til at vi ikkje kunne starte frå toppen av elva, som er det ein vanlegvis gjer, men vi måtte ta til takke med berre aller nederste av elva.

Gira og spente som vi var (det var visst nok grunnen til at Ronald ikkje avlyste heile turen – fordi vi gledde oss så mykje!), kom vi oss ut raskt uti elva. Etter litt paddleteknikktrening byrja vi for alvor nedover elva. Allereie etter første litt vanskelege størket, velta 6/8 kanoar! Mellom anna den eg sat i. I panikken som oppsto i det vi velta, drog vi også med oss kanoen vi hadde velta ved sidan av slik at den òg hamna i vatnet. (Sorry Marie og Marie!)

Eg vil tippe at Ingebjørg og eg tilbrakte ca 15 minutt i kanoen og vel 1 1/2 time (kanksje meir) i elva utan kano. Det er ikkje enkelt å skulle symje med åra i den eine handa og kanoen i den andre…

Vi greidde tilslutt å få kanoen på land, tømt den og setje oss på elva igjen. Marie var også med oss, så vi hadde tre årer, tre personar og ein kano. Det tok kanskje fem minutt før kanoen velta igjen….

På vårt tredje forsøk på å komme oss til enden av elva, hadde også samtlege kanoar velta. Fordi vi låg eit stykke framom dei andre, forsto vi aldri kvar dei vart av, for vi stod lenge på land å vente før vi for uti att. Det var fem kanoar – to av dei var det ikkje folk i, dei måtte vi langt ut på fjorden for å redde (kanoane altså, ikkje folka) -  og ni personar som kom seg til enden av elva ved paddling. Sjølv om det var litt skummelt akkurat i dei verste strøka, når ein låg i elva og flaut og ikkje visste om der var ein stein bak den neste bølga, så var det kjempekjekt! Alle kom frå det heile, med untak av nokre skrubbsår og ein del blåkular. Og vi miste berre éi åre!

STRYN

Eg var i Stryn på laurdag. For å kome meg dit måtte eg gjere følgjande: springe for å nå bussen som gjekk frå Frekhaug til Bergen (kor eg mått bytte buss på Flatøy), frå Bergen gjekk bussen til Nordfjordeid, på Nordfjordeid henta pappa meg og køyrde meg heim til Ørsta kor eg overnatt. Laurdagsmorgon køyrde vi til Stryn. Vi budde og spelte konsert på Hjelle (vel 20 min utanfor Stryn). Søndagsmorgon var det tidleg opp og køyre tilbake til Ørsta, det tek vel 1 1/2, fekk være i Ørsta i ca ein halvtime, før eg tok bussen nedatt til Bergen. Den bussen stoppa ganske ofte, så det tok over 8 timar. I Bergen kom ikkje den bussen som skulle ta meg utatt til Frekhaug, så vi (eg møtte på seks andre som også skulle tilbake til skulen) blei ståande over ein time på Flatøy, for der kom sjølvsagt ingen buss… Vi kunne ha gått, men det var fleire som hadde mykje bagasje med seg. Vi blei til slutt henta av Øyvind og kom oss tilbake til skulen då klokka var byrje å nærme seg 22.30…. Og, ja det var kjempefint vêr og sol ute, så det var DRITVARMT å sitte inne i bussen…

Men det var veldig kjekt i Stryn då:)

Hytta (og folka i den):D

During the weekend, there was not much to do as the team went back and we did not really have a plan on where to go. I suppose I could have taken the night train to Bergen, visit Oslo or make my way up to Trondheim, covering at least one more scenic place in Norway, but that was not to be.

On Saturday, I followed colleagues from HQ to send Min off to the airport (she was going to London to celebrate Raya with her brother) and from there, we went grocery shopping, walking down the streets of Sandefjord, taking a peek at the flea market (it is possibly 10% of what is in the Curve on weekends) and finally having lunch at a Chinese take out place.

Impulsively, someone suggested Larvik and we all hopped in the car and made our way down to Larvik and Stavern where the buildings were beautiful and the summer scene is very happening. Unfortunately, we are at the beginning of autumn.

The next day, a Sunday, we embarked on a journey to Sweden instead. Yes, you heard right, Sweden. You see, this little town over the other side called Stromstad is about 2 and a half hours away from Sandefjord by ferry. The only ferry line that operates from here to Stromstad or Larvik to Denmark for that matter, is Color Line.

The tax free shops on board opens 15 minutes after departure and closes 15 minutes before arrival. Apparently, many Norwegians are fans of this town and ride because if you do your groceries in Sweden, it may actually save you up to 20% to 40% of your grocery bill. That is if you happened to be in Sweden for some other reasons other than your grocery shopping.

A return ticket to Stromstad cost NOK70 and a car (driver included, but not passengers) cost NOK175 upwards. The ferry itself has a buffet restaurant, a bar, a cafe and a show lounge. The sides are lined with slot machines and you can change your coins from all the coin changing machines onboard.

The open sundeck is an ideal place to take pictures of the fjord, the open sea and all the buildings who are lucky enough to be at the water front. (Jotun AS is one of them. =))

The town however, was not that big of an attraction. Yes, even at lunch I could feel that it was cheaper already but we came on a Sunday which meant barely anything was open save for the coffeeshops and restaurants.

We ended up landing ourselves at Kokeret, a restaurant with some really cozy settings and a whole lot of locals, watching the Man U – Man City game. NOKs are widely accepted over there, so no worries about changing Swedish Kroners, and if all fails, everywhere accepts credit cards.

The journey back was with a smaller ferry but with virtually all the same things on board. By the time we reached Sandefjord, it was about 7.00pm. A bit of dinner, and I was off to bed. By the way, Norwegian national TV has almost all Norwegian series and shows. It is only at certain times of the day that they show English shows and only on certain channels. =)

GigaOm’s Mobilize is live streaming right now (19,000 viewers), so if you can’t be there, tune in at http://www.livestream.com/gigaomtv.  If you can be there, drop by the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco where close to 1000 industry execs are discussing the future of the mobile web. Great networking with Accenture, Adobe, Adaptive Path, AllThingsD.com, Ars Technica, Benchmark Capital, Business Week, CBS Market Watch, Cisco, CNET, Economist, Engadget, Finanical Times, Flixster, Forbes, Foundation Capital, French Maid TV, frog design, GameFly, GDGT.com, Geek Sugar, GetJar, Gizmodo, Google, Granite Ventures, Handango, HP, InfoWorld, Intel, InterWest Partners, Khosla Ventures,LG Mobile, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mashable, Mayfield Fund, mig33, Mobile Monday, MEF, MobiTV, Moconews, MocoSpace, Motorola, Mozes, NATPE, NYT, Nielsen, Nokia, Opus Capital, Palm, PayPal, PC World, Qualcomm, Samsung, SF Chronicle, SJ Merc, Scobleizer, Sony Ericsson, SVB Capital, Sprint, Sun, TechCrunch, Thom Weisel, T-Mobile, USVP, Ubergizmo,  USA Today, Venrock, Venture Beat, Verizon, WSJ, WF, Wired, Y!, Zannel, ZDNet and others.

Om Malik opened the conference.  His research venture, GigaOM Pro, which provides subscribers research on-demand, reports that the US is on track to produce by end of 2009:  280mm wireless subscribers, $160B in service revenues, $45B of that in data revenues, 2.3T minutes of voice use and 1.7T text messages, translating to $160 per subscriber of data plan spending per year and 829 minutes per user.  A huge opportunity.

MONETIZING MOBILE APPS

Raven Zachary, Small Society
Considering Apple’s event yesterday it seemed fitting to have Raven lead with the first panel who advises companies like ZipCar and Whole Foods on their mobile strategies, and is known well to these parts as one of the pied pipers of iPhoneDevCamp – Seeing more carriers wanting to have their own app store, look at Verizon with VDC, it makes sense, they have the billing relationship with the end user.  Vodafone ramping up too.

Mark Curtis, Flirtomatic
There’s been a dramatic rise in popularity of the freemium model, free monetize with ad network although CPCs and CPMs have come way down in this economy, belive in time mobile ad marketplace will be massive.  See freemium as a walk in the park, every now and then you’ll want an ice cream, it’s nice to have the option.  At Flirtomatic, have had great success selling users greater visibility on site, they’re willing to pay if there profile will be seen by more women, experiencing 4x the CPMs from user-based ads.

Mark Jacobstein, iSkoot
There used to be enormous expenses associated with porting/QA of mobile games.  Focusing just on iPhone makes things easier, and yet for all it does so well (powerful SDK, screen real estate) there is so much that iPhone doesn’t do.  iPhone can’t multitask, apps don’t run in the background.  Few client based apps like time-wasting games.  Not going to make much selling a $2 app, money is in client/server services, free to end user like Skype (big applause from panel). MMS limitations, photos via SMS from a friend are sent with password and link – that’s a huge turnoff.  Mobile increases web engagement, those that access sites via phone are twice as engaged.  Developers now building in social context/gifting of virtual goods into game mechanics to take advantage of in-app commerce.

Dorrian Porter, Mozes
Most marketers not sure what to do with the mobile consumer, have yet to see mobile as a point of inspiration for impulse buy.  Most market with voice and SMS.  (Recently became a huge fan of SMS, now can text kids whenever he wants.) Mozes focuses on the browser-based experience.  There are SMS limitations to web-clipping

Adam Zbar, Zannel
ATT networks are slammed with data.  Will see services becoming more interoperable than islands.  Carriers for the longest time wanted to be entertainment companies and content creators, now some like Comcast are starting to see themselves more as a distribution platform – good for the developer community.

LOCATION:  CONTEXT IS MONEY
4000 LBS apps today, a small % but impressive considering 18 months ago there were only 5 LBS apps in the world.

KEYNOTE:  Innovation on Android – Introducing MotoBlur
Dr. Sanjay Jha, Co-CEO, Motorola
Number of mobile users doubled between 2008-9 from 10.8mm to 22mm devices accessing daily.  20% access web via mobile device.  Going from 1:1 SMS to 1:Many Social collaboration.  Ubiquitous availability of wireless broadband.  Rapid expansion.  Mobilizing the internet is the single biggest opportunity today.  Netbooks, eBooks, gaming devices, smartphones.  Smartphones being the backbone where mobilization will occur. Broadband definition – minimum 500kb data connectivity to mulitple users without regard of location.  What makes a smartphone – larger high-res display, anytime anywhere broadband connectivity, over the air updates (key), rich media, voice quality, coverage, multi-thread, multitasking operating system.  Android gives us a platform to mobilize the internet, enhance consumer experience, mulitple simultaneous transaction, competitive differentiation, Motorola supporting development of Android, have put meaningful resources behind the Android ecosystem, consumers overwhelmed by options.  Half of US mobile traffic is 180mm social networkers, will grow to 800mm (Gartner).   Aggregate media, music, address books, email addresses.  MotoBlur service allows your entire life to exist on a single stream, enables you to focus on being social, syncs contacts, posts, media, photos, FB, Twitter, Myspace, Gmail, Y!, corporate email customized on home screen and integrated deep into corners of device, so consumer can focus on being social not on how its sent.  Have it all one finger swipe away.  Widgets:  Social status, happenings (feeds, tweets, updates), messages, weather, Android marketplace and browser.  Create rich text email.  Easy to navigate streams, syncing push contacts into address book photos, birthdates. Integrates contact info through device, receive a call and caller’s profile info pops onscreen, get turn by turn direction to where they are, and it’s worry free – phone can be found by GPS in case its off on a cab ride without you – remote wipe – wipes device but keeps data in the cloud, set up once, good to go.  Phone as primary computer device, if it doesn’t fit in your pocket, the consumer won’t use it.  price points and memory costs are drivers to computing becoming mobile.  Regarding palm, it’s not a zero sum game, all boats float, with 300mm smartphones, its the biggest technology opportunity there is, MotoBlur will eventually evolve, this is just the starting point, the first step in a long journey.   Motorola is excited to integrate location, social graph and web info in an easily digestible way, Motorola does both sw and hw and can decide how to integrate, solve problems and deliver experience that simplifies life, health, fitness, media, build trust to share info, no rationale for 4G if its not for multimedia.

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile
Watch for Cliq with MotoBlur in time for the holidays, next chapter in Android innovation, open highly customizable platform, inviting 3P innovation to the network, first phone with social skills, always on connection, glance on the go, network can handle the traffic, T-Mobile has invested $9B in last 4y, has 200mm US customers with 3G coverage, T-Mobile customers text more than anyone in the world started with Sidekick, connected socializers 30-somethings like to stay in touch, have lead the smartphone adoption. T-Mobile will have product out in time for holidays with the best value, coverage, must have alwayson devices, Cliq in two colors white and titanium, with google browser, video capture.

(Very cool demo – if only iPhone would push birthday reminders to home screen when turned on, and autoemailed birthday wishes)

Andy Rubin, Google
Smartphone is a communications device first and voice device second, data differentiates the smartphone but still need voice to carry it around with you at all time, interface with mobile internet, as powerful as a desktop PC from 15 years ago, internet is the destination, the window to the world, now cloud computing, network connected devices, we’re all personally participating in the ecosystem, what is good for the internet is good for Google, the bigger the base the better it is for Google’s primary ad business, the modern os brings the webto people’s pockets.  As for Palm and Symbian, let the best OS win.  Regarding which came first Android or iPhone OS – os developers have long history and have worked everywhere, who knows which came first, the important thing is that they came together to develop an open system.  Moving web forward as a platform, modern browsers more capable with HTML 5.

ULTRABAND:  Fast Platform for Innovation
How will we be at 100mbps or 1gbps wireless broadband by 2012.  In 1991 Xerox ParC stated its vision for pervasive computing.  18 years later still discussing what broadband is, what bandwidth is needed to be broadband, always there, omnipresent, delivering compelling user experiences at the speed of thought, a world in which the consumer knows that they desire it and suddenly it’s there.

Phil Asmundson, Deloitte
Exciting time for mobile, phones are our remote control to the world, look out 5-10y, fundamental changes to the marketplace, will find that apps that require ultraband eat up spectrum, as we watch video, primary entertainment devices for the millennials and gen xers, mobile mobile and fixed mobile still dont play with each other, two separate worlds, need to play together, cause of spectrum issues.  (Chetan Sharma:  The term smartphone will be an oxymoron in 5 years)  There is an innovation iceberg, the more broadband you provide, the more they’ll use, sw is driving the market, advances far faster than hw, then there are FCC challenges around spectrum, cells are going to be gone, need something more powerful than finite spectrum.  SW is driving force for mobile, need more partnerships, not one company can do it alone.  carriers rpus will increase, innovation cycle will advance, great new world coming sooner than you think.

Ken Denman, Openwave Systems
An all IP world is slave to consumer experience, beyond phones and smartphones there is a data tsunami coming, all things non-phones, all connected devices including things not mobile, appliances, cars , netbooks, wonderful soup coming up, exciting times, the key enabler is all IP environment, convergence will absolutely happen with mobile as the default.  Ethernet will appear to have more relevance.  There will be tiering of price around bundled services for a particular experience like Kindle.    As market evolves and consumers get snappy apps they may not have a problem with price tiering.  Offloading of multiple networks is key middleware solution, #1 RFP of CXOs.

Abhi Ingle, ATT
Increasing speeds and feeds with wireless broadband, 5y widely deployed LTE 100mbps, 10y fungibility of networks become more transparent switching the networks, evolve beyond cell tower, go way beyond phones to connected devices, internet of things, explosion of innovation, ATT Austin lab, connectivity extend to things never even imagined before, connected 30-somethings used to cloud computing environments, ATT has 38 data centers for cloud computing alone, powerful networks.  You need massive amounts of capital to achieve 1gbps, there is not enough spectrum to achieve those speeds, need capital, spectrum and transformation of network, unimaginable costs ($100B?).  One approach is to blend the networks, make it transparent to end user.

Rick Keith, Motorola
Underlying principle of delivery of apps (Twitter, FB), what is broadband relative to those apps, taking experience already familiar with moving to airwaves, to that thing previously known as cell phone, broadband is a marketing term, we’ve had wimax since 2007, for Pakistan and Brazil its the first connection ever had to home, what is broadband to them is not broadband to us.  Its an issue of latency, needs to be a subsecond from send to receive, must be snappy, cost doesn’t stop at capex, there is enormous operating expense as well. Hybrid networks need be transparent to user, right now if you have Boingo can use ATT wireless at airport, that doesn’t make sense.  Must be a bridge service.

THE NETBOOKS & ULTRAPORTABLE BOOM

Mark Spoonauer, LAPTOP Magazine
1 of 5 pcs sold are netbooks, not funny Apple yesterday showing pocket ripping from Dell Inspiron not fitting, netbooks outgrowing notebooks 2:1.  Cheap notebooks have existed before, small, easy to carry, low cost, voting with dollars due to economy, is there a cannibalization threat, netbook integrated broadband 3g attaching $60 fee to go unlimited data makes it not a low cost, carriers need to subsidize netbooks to take off

Noury Al-Khaledy, Intel

Price point needed for internet use, compact, companion, evolving of the mobile web, different form factors and uses, dependent on different devices for different needs, infrastructure to provide bandwidth is key, bill monthly per user or per device, majority shipping are wifi, open econsystem platform, battery life better and better CPU not draining battery, netbooks with 8hrs, sw ecosystem will grow,chrome runs best on pc, better battery life, integration, lower power, new processors handle full flash.

LOCATION, MEDIA & MONEY:  The Next Enablers

Len Lauer, Qualcomm
Qualcomm is starting with Smartbooks moving to broader consumer electronics category.  Problem with netbooks is that they don’t last all day.  Want a Smartbook that lasts all day, always on, email pushed, no need for fan to cool off, very sleek design.   (Three kids (18/16/13) and three netbooks not enough) Right now Smartbooks do not have full support of office environment, Microsoft not porting XP86 yet.  Adding connectivity to everything.  Amazon Kindle makes network connectivity invisible, built into price of book.  Opportunity of machine to machine.  Smart Grid technology, energy companies putting in mobile radio into thermostat in home, intelligence in smart cars where to recharge, digital cameras, navigation devices.  Lots of opportunities.  US/Europe carriers embracing machine to machine arpu higher, Verizon, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile.  Start out with thin file apps without user involvement (not large PPT decks or media files) 4-5% royalty rate on CDMA for 3G (830mm of 4B are 3G, 3.25% royalty rate for 4G when LTE comes out.)  Interconnectivity multimode when not connected on 4G still get 3G, voice will run out on 3G til 2020.  Rate needs to come down from $60 for mass adoption, balance economics, higher cost of bandwidth costs.  Amount of data being consumed going up.  Qualcomm helping operators with network offload, Media FLO sits on its own network.  Data traffic up 400%, half from video streaming.  FLO is 1:Many, can push out top ten YouTube videos over broadcast/datacast network, or P2P if two are within a kilometer to have handsets talk to each other and send info to each other different spectrum band, low power and fast – new radio technology – going point to point via phones.  Longer R&D project.  Can also get it on to cable networks to offload but need to manage interference.  Media Flo $10-15/month subscription – 15 channels of linear feeds – Qualcomm pays for content from ESPN..  (CDN offload)  700mhz auction 10 years to get that spectrum out.  Think about lots of devices in your home being connected should be P2P, better to manage on a licensed spectrum basis.  Where its most populated is where its free – Korea, Japan, China – 45% devices watching tv.  Italy, Germany, US not hitting expectations, Qualcomm doesn’t have nationwide network yet, need to be on more devices, expand next year, platform capability not just restricted to mobile devices, should be on other consumer electronics like MP3, live tv in car (on fridge?).  Launching with AudioVox this month for cars, rear screen videos in cars will go live tv.  Watch for MP3 device with FLO coming out soon.

INNOVATION THROUGH OBSERVATION & DESIGN

Denise Gershbein, frog design
Take products from strategy to market, brand, design, physical, digital.  Augmented reality has a lot to do with context that’s the moment when you move from looking down at a device toward holding up a lens to the world.  Likes Evernote.  Looks to Twitter for creative sources, inspiration, follows interesting people.  Envisioning LTE 4G, look at parallel and analogous paths make meaning out of cultural chaos so you can meet the market.  Arthur C Clark, Childhood’s End – getting into one universal consciusness.  What does it mean that you can be connected and have access to knowledge at the same time.

Jesse James Garrett, Adaptive Path
Observational research can be misused to dictate design and not room for innovation.  Design is a greater differentiator to stand out in crowded marketplace.  Integration of mobile platforms into larger universe as barriers to technologies and networks breakdown will start seeing new opportunities to be exploited for services to work across platforms.  Uncovering patterns in people’s behavior and psych, extend beyond how they interact with your product.  Be inspired by things beyond the technology space.

Crysta Metcalf, Motorola
Team tying different devices to each other, tying mobile device to tv.  Looking at how you would use mobile device in social tv experience.

Prashant Agarwal, Fjord
Noone has cracked mobile marketing yet.  Context is huge.  My phone knows my tweets, contacts..  Best experience is Amazon Kindle, get it, turn it on and there is nothing else to do except buy books.  Last time you bought a phone, just to get voice is not that simple.

Robin Boyar, thinktank research and strategy
Don’t always have a pencil but always have your phone.  Mobile device can monitor your health, use as tool to make life easier, better.  Young kids aren’t using smartphones, using the free feature phones.  Apps need to match 30y+ audience who own the smartphones.  How do you beat Apple at its game – recognize how to make user experience easier and cooler – build the brand experience – with Apple have extended relationship with them via iTunes, the store.  Used to head up research for gaming company, to get holistic view need all stakeholders in the focus group. If 7 year old and 70 year old gets it, you have a great product.

CARRIER PERSPECTIVE ON THE EVOLVING MOBILE ECOSYSTEM

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile
Social communications root of T-Mobile.  Largest per user text base than any other carriers in the world – 600 messages per user per month – more texting than calls.  Update FB status many times a week.  (Om asks if its possible we one day see voice as an add-on)  Android 10,000 apps, average T-Mobile user 40 apps per user in last 11 months.  Abundance use of apps.   Front home screen always on with context and location so info is relevant is very powerful, allows user to act quickly without logging in to web page.  Too many apps, over 60,000 apps, only a few make money.  Google working on how to make apps more discoverable as app store inventory grows.  T-Mobile to use retail footprint, 1700 stores, sales reps can aid discovery.  Paid and new apps, categorizing and merchandising stores need to be improved.  Once they discover an app make it easier to recommend to friends and family, word of mouth is key.  Not setting up T-Mobile app store, working with Android for an open marketplace but playing a role in discovery, and of course improve ways for app developers to leverage carrier billing, make it more frictionless, to pay with one click, next accelerant for app store consumption.  Phone company has to evolve from closed telco mindset to open web-based infrastructures to allow more rapid development to get things to market, allow application innovation.   T-Mobile is a communications company, it’s what occurs on the desktop, internet, devices we haven’t even thought of yet, need to breakdown the way we’ve traditionally gone to market.  Mobile internet 3-5y from today, starts with ubiquitous wireless broadband network $9B investment in 3G married with increasingly open operating systems, open APIs, increases in memory, battery life, processing power.   Front screen access mashed up with location and context, social graph, offer smarter network in the future, won’t have to keep re-entering data.  Likes Android as the first one to live up to expectations – open to carriers, manufacturing partners, developers to innovate.  Give consumers opportunity to personalize and customize, make it their own.  Apple viewpoint – everything is the same.  (Om – PCs guys don’t make that much money, Mac guys makes lots of money on same product) Consumers will have viable choices, different price points.  Customization without fragmentation.  That’s the work the ecosystem needs to do.  (Om – problem with iPhone is ATT network)  T-Mobile network will hold up, existing customers over-consume, set us up for increased capacity to handle increased consumption.  No announced plans for LTE in US, but its a natural migration, T-Mobile International leader in LTE early on. Thoughts on VOIP – not a threat, wireless pricing will continue to evolve, future consumption is moving away from voice, can only talk so much, first carrier to launch voice over wifi, concern so far has been quality, 3G not built for latency needed for VOIP.  Forgone conclusion, matter of timing, T-Mobile has embraced voice apps in Android market.  Front counter for services, thoughts on DRM – makes it easier if there is no DRM, important to share with others (limit time-sharing), leans toward a DRM-free world to allow sharing, subscription models naturally fit that way consumers want to consume media vs. transactional formats.

FACEBOOK PHONE AND SOCIAL MOBILE

Frank Meehan, INQ Mobile
GSM Wolrd Congress winner of best handsets designed around Skype and Facebook.  Carrier developed phone that aloowed you to make Skype calls.  Old voice and text handset manufacturers are stuck  - got to be fast, stay ahead, have to be able to put next FB on your phone quickly.  Brand naming has to be cool and catchy, need great distribution, retail, marketing – Apple does it very well, not many others.  Nokia is a very big company, they’ll fight their way back, what’s going to happen operators are keen to differentiate, each carrier has segmented behind a handset, INQ gives operator great customization.  Sony Ericcson and Nokia nder $200 feature phone market are competitors – boring, dull, most users don’t get data, INQ phones very easy.  INQ is now also moving into Android.  Android phones has struggled to compete on networks that carry iPhone.  User experience has to be better to get that iPhone out of user’s hand.  Need a hit handset every year.  Owner of INQ is investor in Spotify, Meehan sits on board of Spotify, huge in Europe.  (Om: $50 Peek email device, BB for everyone) Location not there yet but coming.  iPhone sells well to 35y+ who buys Macs.  But iPod market is under 35y, sell INQ phones to that market.

JUST A BROWSER OR FUTURE OF MOBILE OS

Jon von Tetzchner, Opera Software
Browser has potential to be a unifying force to deploy across wide range of mobile devices without having to create a whole bunch of native apps.  80% of phones not running OS, thus web is natural choice for these phones, HTML 5 local storage and drag and drop, deliver rich app experience.  Browser started as a document viewer, then added Java, developers moving faster than that, now running applications.  Scalable vector graphics is coming in the browser.  Microsoft held the browser market back for years.  If doing it web-based, it will run everywhere.  Widget is a web app running in a separate window, can run everywhere, PC, Wii, TVs, media players. Webkit vs Opera mini.  Opera Unite service – there is just one web, see all devices working together.  People haven’t really taken to MMS, hard to get photos over to PC, bluetooth is a hurdle.Opera 10 downloaded 10mm times in the first week.  More than 700ees in 10 countries.  Still focus on the end-user, make peoples lives easier, FF, rewind, speed dial..people expect that, now 40mm active users.  In some countries, #1.  Touch based gestures, mouse gestures very popular.  Take pride on running on 10 year old PCs.  Core of the browser hasn’t changed.  Apps will be web-based, more power to play with.

INVESTMENT OUTLOOK:  THE VC PANEL

Lawrence Aragon, Venture Capital Journal
Panel raised $2B need to invest.  Seed and Series A not looking good for 2009.

Mitch Lasky, Benchmark Capital
Infatuated by iPhone comes out of being burnt.  App store has been great for developers and Apple but not venture, opportunity to aggregate market share hasn’t materialized, will soon be back in multi-platform world, will need to be on more than just iPhone.  Would invest in a company contingent on partnering with carrier.  Did 200,000 store keeping units serving global wireless market.  Now 27,000 games on iPhone, noone can make money.  Don’t mind high-friction environment. ARPU has been flat at $50 for years.  Will see higher RPUs when virtual goods comes to iphone apps.  ATT $18B to built out network to support data consumption.  Network build out is a significant issue.

Dixon Doll, DCM
Portfolio includes mig 33.  Series B in mig33 last mobile investment, in the midst of a Series A not announced.  Can’t justify monetization on advertising – wont get VCs excited.  Must look beyond US, US carriers at best are 3rd best in the world, lots of innovation in China and Japan.  Cynical about business model where carrier determines outcome of business, better to create competitive environment, e.g. MLB.com doing well with its subscription on multiplatforms, competitive dynamic is useful.  Economist talks about innovative mobile apps:  augmented reality.  DC does not understand job creation role of the VCs.  Primitive emerging market nations live off their mobile phones, creating microeconomies, money transfer payments exciting new applications.

Rob Coneybeer, Shasta Ventures
Portfolio includes Eye-Fi.  Prefer companies that don’t require carrier relationship, then can focus on value of partnership instead of imbalance of power.  When both parties have alternatives, its best.  People get hung up on ARPUs, want revenues higher than cost, voice down, data up, wave of growth around the corner, some new business models of advertising and promotion enabled by location and intent, can be explosive, developers can write to a platform without talking to carriers to see if it will go on a deck.  New features (accelerometers, touch screens) to get to a multibillion dollar industry.  Seek to build a portfolio of 25 exciting companies.  Plays Foursquare, gaming + location drives explosive adoption.

Bob Borchers, Opus Capital
(Fmr Apple iPhone exec) Portfolio includes Eye-Fi.  Mobile startups don’t require as much capital as before.  Can easily get fulfillment on your own, may need capital for awareness.  Venture community is so burned by the 500 feature phones they tried, soured on the space.  Many have great proof of concept. iPhone 2+ years old and App Store 1 year old.  Traditional carrier-focused metrics voice RPU, data RPU may be $50, other ecosystems $80 ARPUs on iPhone apps.  All do seed deal, have to have money to add people, need capital to keep company going.

John Balen, Canaan Partners
Last Series A India mobile company.  Series A is down because the whole market is down.  Seeing now an upswing in deals.  Activity level will rise in 2010.  Coming out of recession.  Every web app has to have mobile window because browser is so prevalent.  Not everything is showing up as mobile, might be categorized as web app.  Change is happening.  Need leverage with carrier.  Carriers operate differently abroad.  iPhone best over the top payment system and the outsourcing of cell phone business.  Watch the unbundling of what a cell phone company is.  Disaggregation of cell phones towers.  Win-win for consumer.  Happened in India even with low RPUs.  Augmented reality is next.  New ventures around location, cameras..

Nu börjar det bli kul med livet Jag har nått flera av mina mål. Så jag hoppas det fortsätter på denna väg

Nu har jag nått första delmålet efter att jag gjort min Gastric bypass och då med hjälp av LCHF maten. Jag har tappat 40 kg på 20 månader! och jag mår jätebra!, Nu är det bara den jobbigaste biten kvar – de sista 15 kg till normalvikt. Det går trögt… men det går och jag hoppas nå dit till nästa sommar. Kanske jag ÄNTLIGEN vågar mig fram från vassen och faktiskt tar mig ett dopp tillsammans med barn och man i havet.

Jag har undvikit allt offentligt badande i minst 10 år (bortsett från doppet i poolen hos Wiveca på kräftskivan!) Så det ska bli skoj att kanske kunna köpa mig en baddräkt och faktiskt använda den!

Mitt andra stora mål var att får Sture till Europa Champion innan han kastreras.. och det lyckades vi med i helgen nu som varit, när jag och katterna reste till Drammen i Norge! Stort tack för en jättefin utställning och att Sture lyckades ta sin titel och även få avsluta sin fertila karriär som Bästa Korthårshane! Jag är väldigt stolt! Nu på onsdag kastreras han, så jag kan säga att jag var nervös innan helgen, eftersom när han är kastrerad så måste jag börja om med titlarna och då blir han Premier istället för Champion..

Ett litet trevligt delmål är Kyra som på samma helg tog alla sina tre (3) CAC och därmed blev Champion! Det är ju trevligt att hennes utställningskarriär börjar så bra. Detta var hennes första utställning i vuxenklass.

Stort tack till min vän Anita som så gästvänligt och varmt tog emot mig och katter i sitt hemoch lät dem ha paradiset i Norge, med en jättestor villa att springa runt i. Ett fantastiskt boende och trevligt sällskap och kan inte tänka mig att det bästa hotell i Norge kan bräcka hennes boende och utsikt över Oslo fjorden och hela Oslo som ett panorama fönster ! På kvällstid, glittrade hela Oslo på andra sidan fjorden som det vackraste briljant armband! Jag har fått kombinera trevlig utställning med trevligt sällskap och en lite mini semeter där jag har kunnat vila och ätit gott i lugnet och ron som omgivningen gett mig!

Update: HA!!! I found it! And it wasn’t easy. I e-mailed the Today Show, searched through a billion conservation photos and wished like hell I could speak Norwegian. Finally, wouldn’t you know it…freakin’ YouTube has it. Some smart ass self-appointed media watchdog posted it, so you’ll need to ignore his comment if you don’t want to be annoyed. :sigh:

I’m not one of those fruitcakes who believes that the Virgin Mary appears frequently on potato chips. I’m not. Seriously. That said…

this morning, I was watching the Today Show. There was a brief segment showing a photo of a melting glacier…I think in Norway. Bear in mind that this happened very quickly and it was pre-coffee.

So, in this photo, the ice had melted in such a way as to form what appeared to be a female face. The water from the melting ice (hiya, Mr. Climate Change) was rushing from what seemed to be the right eye. I have searched all over the web for the photo and can’t find it. I hope it’ll be available later today at the show site or someplace.

Now. I don’t want to get too flaky on anybody’s happy ass this early in the day, but I have to tell you…I was awed. And sad. And disgusted. And really, really weirded out in a big way. Again…I’m not out looking for Guadalupe to appear on a pizza, or for the image of Christ to manifest itself in a tree knot, or for Native American buffalo spirits to leave hoof marks across my lawn. But this…this felt like…something.

I do believe in signs. I do believe that certain energies exist on this planet, though I have never been fully able to decide what to let myself believe they are. To me it makes sense to assume that something’s here. To me it feels like something is here. Again…I don’t know what. But there’s energy…all this energy…surely something energizes the energy. Super duper transcendental, man. Yeah, flaking, sorry…

So, I wonder…if this photo (which I will find and post, come hell or high water) was created/sent by something beyond comprehension. Or a fluke, perhaps. Whatever. I’m taking my aluminum cans and plastic bags to the recycling center today, even if it means skipping my afternoon nap.

Today the barber, on finishing my haircut, asked me if I wanted him to do something with my eyebrows. And so now I am an old man. Fine. Somehow I feel I need to get this blog back on the straight and narrow: it’s supposed to be a record of my inner life, isn’t it? But I’ve been feeling so harried lately that I don’t seem to have much time for introspection or careful composition. Maybe that’s just because it’s summertime. Wait until the long cold dreary winter months, my friend. You’ll be composing multi-volume posts. With musical accompaniment.

Things are good, though. (Thanks for asking.) After a weekend of apprehensive contemplation of the amount of tasks on my plate, I got through a day of serious work and managed to get the tigers back in their cages. Quiet competence; that’s my style.