Klaas Bals' Blog

I have no clue how scientific this app is, but Sleep Cycle allows you to get an overview of the amount of sleep you got during a night ranging from 'awake' over 'dream' to 'deep sleep'. It measures your sleep by using the accelerometer (or movement-sensor), so you just need to place your iPhone at the corner of your mattress, and the app does the rest.

Here is the result of the last two nights, being a father of a 2 week old baby. And this actually matches my sleeping behaviour (or non-sleeping behaviour to be more precise) so it seems to work.

Sleep statistics for 06 - 07 Feb (Sun)

Went to bed / woke up: 01:59 / 07:02
Total time: 5h 03m

Sleep statistics for 07 - 08 Feb (Mon)

Went to bed / woke up: 20:47 / 07:10
Total time: 10h 22m

So now you should understand why I drink a RedBull. So if I'm a bit brief and in a bad mood, please don't be angry...

Hier enkele foto's van onze pasgeboren spruit...

Van Linus Geboorte Publiek

Linus Bals is geboren! Mama, papa en Anders zijn allemaal heel fier. Moeder en kind (en ook de papa) stellen het prima.

Ik ben een tijd tevreden klant geweest van Dommel. De snelheid ging echter meer en meer achteruit.
In plaats van de aangekondigde 800KBit uplink bijvoorbeeld, haalde ik effectief maar 200KBit als ik langer dan 1 minuut uploadde.

Daarom ben ik dus overgeschakeld naar Telenet, en daar een 'zwaar' abonnement genomen (Turbonet XL in een Shake).

Theoretisch zou ik 25 MBit downlink en 1,25 MBit uplink moeten hebben. En uiteraard haal ik dat niet volledig, maar ik zit er toch dicht bij. Ik ben een tevreden Telenet klant, hoewel mijn 10 jaar oude tshirt met het opschrift 'Will work for bandwidth'nog steeds blijft gelden. Het is namelijk duurder dan Dommel, en een internetverbinding is trouwens nooit snel genoeg.

Inventive Designers recently held a press conference in cooperation with CIPAL and the city of Mechelen regarding IntelliStamp.
We recently discussed IntelliStamp, hence this update to inform you of our progress.

Press conference: unique hybrid signature finally makes e-government 100% digital
Mechelen, ranked 10th in the largest cities of Belgium, will be the first city that can digitally send documents and certificates to its citizens with complete legal compliance. A hybrid signature guarantees authenticity of the digital document, even after it is printed. The Belgian company Inventive Designers created the security and authentication software. CIPAL will be responsible for the implementation. Unique is the capability to secure any digital document even after it is printed. This was not possible until now.

We got a lot of positive attention from the press. You can find the results below.

• article
• radio interview (Dutch - translation coming soon)
• television interview (Dutch - translation coming soon)

To see IntelliStamp in action, have a look at the webcasts.

Next to e-portals, IntelliStamp can also be deployed as a solution for e-archiving. Not only government, but also the private sector has shown a keen interest. Examples include insurance providers offering policies and contracts online, or utility companies sending out digital invoices.
Should you require more information, I am more than happy to show you how we helped Mechelen.

At Inventive Designers, we're actively looking for skilled technical profiles. We mainly use Java and Eclipse technology, combined with a large array of Open Standard technologies. If you're interested in a new challenge, don't hesitate to contact me. If you know people who may be interested, I certainly appreciate your help to get me in contact with them. Thanks!

Some more details about the person we're looking for:

Agile Product Developer (Java)

Main challenges:

Together with your development teammates, you will be responsible for the development of the product Scriptura. This product is developed following the Agile principles. You'll need to be able to work both independently and in a team to determine the future of the product.

You will be responsible for:

Development of new features.
Maintaining existing code.
Helping the support department.
Sharing your knowledge about the product and technology in general

Profile:

At least a graduate diploma or a comparable level.
You can work accurately and have a great eye for detail.
You take initiative when needed and have a great sense of responsibility.
You are a team player with an innovative mind.
Required technical knowledge: Java, CVS, XML, ...
Optional knowledge:
XSL-FO, AFP, PCL, PDF, PostScript, SVG, TTF Fonts, SWT, ...
Eclipse Plugin Development, GUI Design, XForms, JUnit, ...

Offer:

We offer a very dynamic company that belongs to the top of its market; a pleasant work environment; a competitive salary package in line with your experience and qualifications; extra benefits; flexible hours and clear chances to grow.

Mijn zusje heeft een website/blog gemaakt waar ze op kleine schaal zelfgemaakte spulletjes verkoopt. Allemaal unieke stukken, en meestal op kinderen afgestemd. Van meubeltjes tot kleertjes en bavetjes. Allen daarheen.

Als je een Electronische Identiteitskaart hebt, en een kaartlezer, dan moet je eens naar http://my.belgium.be surfen. Een nieuwe portaalsite waar je een verzameling van e-government sites kan vinden.

Ik vind dit een prachtig initiatief. Ik heb er een tijdje op rondgeneusd, en toch een aantal zaken gevonden die ik nog niet kende.

Uiteraard is er altijd ruimte voor verbetering, en een aantal applicaties zijn duidelijk aan een usability verbetering toe, maar de verzameling op zich is prima.

Recently Inventive Designers announced IntelliStamp, a solution that allows to protect the authenticity of digital and paper documents using 'Hybrid Signatures'. We've been working on this technology for quite a while and it's great to be able to talk about it for a greater audience. The IntelliStamp website doesn't offer too much details yet, but we'll be gradually adding more detailed content.

Let me know if you're interested and I can show you all the details.

With IntelliStamp in mind, I'm very happy to see that the next generation iPhone 3GS will have a macro-lens to take close-up pictures. Finally I will be able to properly photograph parts of a document, including the IntelliStamp, using 2D Barcode technology (mostly QR barcodes). This is important as a verification interface for IntelliStamp, as you'll then should be able to properly use an iPhone to verify the authenticity of a document. So for me, right now, that is the main drive to get a iPhone 3GS as soon as possible. In the US it should be available starting June 19th, but I'm not sure about Belgium... Update: The Apple WWDC Keynote mentions it should be available in Belgium on June 26th.

An inspiring movie about entrepreneurship.

I'm still evolving slowly to being an entrepreneur, in many aspects guided by my father in law, in my view a real entrepreneur. Not sure whether I'll ever be one... It ain't always easy, but let's try to make this place a better world, while having fun doing what we do.

Hat tip: Geert Noels, my hero ;-)