One of the outcomes of the project is that there is a significant relation between internet use and happiness; people who have access to internet report more happiness than non-users. Interesting outcome isn’t it? I recommend you watching the video to get an introduction into the project.

“People who use the internet more are happier” is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

I decided to do it at the VU university in Amsterdam. They offer different masters in the field of communication and I decided to do the master “media psychology”. This master offers lectures in:

• Interpersonal communication – We discuss topics as “how do new media influence the way we communicate with each other” and “how do we interact with avater mediated communication?”.
• Persuasive and marketing communication – “how and why are we influenced by advertisements we see?” and “how can you make costumers love your product?”.
• Statistical methos for the social sciences – And of course there are mandatory courses in statistics offered.

I really enjoy my time at the VU and I’m excited what october will bring….

Started Master in Communication Sciences is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

When the 90’s started I just turned 3. But anyway I have some good memories about these years, especially the music. So this blogpost is 100% dedicated to these special years!

Born Slippy – Underworld

Mr Vain – Culture Beat

Have you ever been mellow? – Party Animals

No Limit – 2 Unlimited

Rythem is a dancer – Snap!

I’m not an addict – K’s Choice

Rainbow in the sky – DJ Paul Elstak

All That She Wants – Ace of Base

I’m the Scatman

Captain Jack

Open Your Eyes – Guapno Apes

The Cardigans – My favorite game

Just a Girl – No Doubt

Liquido – Nacotic

Ready to go – Republica

Charley Lownoise & Mental Theo – Wonderfull Days

Dreams – 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor

Be my Lover – La Bouche

Coco Jumbo – Mr Predident

Dr Jones – Aqua

What is love – Haddaway

Blue – Eiffel 65

Freestyler – Bumfunk MC’s

Out of Space – The Prodigy

Flying High – Captain Hollywood Project

Love you more – DJ Paul Elstak

Children of the Night – Nakatomi

Nomade – Yakalelo

Alae – Wes

You’re not alone – Olive

Mysterious Times – Sash

Twitlight Zone – 2 Unlimited

Lila lila – Kim Kay

The Rockafeller Skank – Fatboy Slim

Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve

Hand in hand – Dune

The First, The Last Eternity – Snap

My favorite songs from the 90’s is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

Picture quality

The 5 megapixel camera on the HTC Hero is an huge improvement when coming from a phone with only 2 MP. The quality is quite okay for a phone but not to compare with photos taken with a normal photo camera. During the evening pictures are less sharp and colors are hard to define. The thing I miss is a special visual camera button. When making pictures you have to tap on the “camera” button in your menu.

You are able to geotag your pictures as well making videos with it.

The next 2 photos are taken with the HTC Hero during the day:

Widgets

The homescreen of the HTC Hero is totally customizable. I’ve filled it with shortcuts to my mailclient, calendar, camera, browser, bookmarkts, Google Talk and I’ve got the time-, and weather applications. Besides the mean screen there are 6 other screens to customize with widgets, schortcuts and pictures. Personally I like HTCs own Twitter client/widget “HTC peep” a lot.

Note that widgets which need internet (like the weatherwidget) can make the performance of your Hero a bit slower. I prefer putting those widgets not on the homescreen.

Android Market

This is my first Android based phone and I am amazed by the possibilities in the Android Market. Many of the apps are free, downloading is easy and managing and deleting them as well. Some of my favorite apps I have downloaded over the last week are:

• Layer (GPS and compass based, the Dutch version contains info from ATM machines, Hyves and Funda)
• Translate (Based on Google Translate)
• eBuddy (MSN, Facebook chat en Google talk in just one app)
• Buddyrunner (personal GPS based trainer)
• Locale (not at home nor in the office? The app shuts down the wifi F.E. It’s GPS and time based)
• Shazam (known from the iPhone, easy recognizing songs)

Dutch Apps:

• Het Weer (contains Buienradar and weather expectations)
• 9292OV
• Nu.nl

Pros:

• The easy use of widgets and the way you can customize nearly everything
• Many free (GPS based) apps on the Android Market
• The clearness of the screen, colors are very bright
• The operating system is easy to use, even my dad could handle the phone without reading any instructions
• The few visual buttons and the trackball below the touchscreen. Especially the “home”, “menu” and “search” buttons are great. You can use the searchbutton in every program. F.E. in the Android Market you can always tap on the searchbutton to go searching for an app.
• 3,5 mm jack

Cons:

• Actually I find the design of the phone itself not the most beautiful…
• The standard browser can be a little slow on 3G (will install Opera mini in the future, hope it solves the problem)
• I haven’t figured out yet how to make screenshots..
• When you are not used to type on screen the first days can be hard
• Battery time, I had to charge it nearly every day (but using wifi, 3g and gps a lot)
• The phone itself has only 512 mb internal storage but can be expanded to 32 gb by Micro SD

Useful Hero reviews

• Mobilecrunch
• Engadget
• Gizmodo
• A week with the HTC Hero (video series)
• Androidplanet (NL)
• Tweakers (NL)

Review – HTC Hero is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

1. Buddy Runner

As I am a fan of running I need to check this one out! Buddy Runner uses your Android Device’s GPS to track your runs. Once your run is over the details of it are automatically submitted to the Buddy Runner website. Too bad I just bought Nike Plus to track my runs…

2. Wikitude

Wikitude is an augmented reality (AR) guide for the Android platform based on location-based Wikipedia and Qype content. It is a handy application for planning a trip or to find out about landmarks in your surroundings; 350,000 world-wide points of interest may be searched by GPS or by address and displayed in a list view, map view and “Augmented Reality” cam view.

3. Shopsavy

Using the camera in your phone, you can scan the barcode of any product to find the best prices on the internet and at nearby, local stores. Tweakers launched a version for the Dutch market recently.

4. Meebo

Meebo is a free IM program that supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace IM, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ.

5. HandyCalc

With almost all the features you can imagine on a calculator, waiting for you to explore. It even has a currency converter and it can make graphics!

6. Last.fm

Choose an artist or genre and Last.fm builds the perfect playlist just for you, fresh every time, featuring your favorites and new discoveries powered by millions of Last.fm users sharing the music they love. As Last.fm is one of my favorite social sites this is a must have!

7. Layar

Layar shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your mobile phone (Augmented Reality). This version is available in the Netherlands and has the following layars: Hyves, Tempo-Team and ING. Expect Zekur.nl and Funda soon.

8. Locale

With Locale, you create situations specifying conditions under which your phone’s settings should change. For example, your “At School” situation notices when your location condition is “77 Mass Ave,” and changes your ringer volume setting to vibrate.

9. Aldiko – ebook reader

Browse, download and read thousands of books right on your Android smartphone.

Games:

1. Snake
2. Labyrinth
3. Pimpam (NL)

More Android Apps?

1. Android Market
2. Androlip
3. Android Developers Challenge top 50 apps
4. Androidcommunity

Tips? Please put them in the comments and I’ll be very happy!

Android Apps wishlist – HTC Hero is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

A few weeks ago I flew back to Amsterdam to presentate my dissertation. I went very well, better than my supervisor actually expected. Very quickly after being back in Barcelona I heard that I was graduated with an 8 for my graduating project about online marketing. The project was more focused on the technical aspect of online marketing (onsite SEO) but good enough for a Marketing study. One of the golden keys on universities nowadays to success is to use some old fashioned marketing models like the AIDA model, the Hierarchy of needs and some Porter stuff. Some of them are still useful though!

And again I flew back to Amsterdam to receive my diploma. It was a pretty day with sun, singing birds and everything nice. I was happy to see some friends from the early days and some teachers from the HES Amsterdam. I got my diploma on my 21st birthday and I feel free to do whatever I want, and to chose whatever I want to do. I am still very happy to work for M4N and living in Barcelona and I’m thinking about what I want to do as a Master.

Graduated as a Bachelor of Marketing is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

“I am an Ossie”

Sometimes I’ve got the feeling Germans do not feel like being German, they feel like being a “west German” (a Wessie) or an “East German” (an Ossie), for me a bit strange to see because I see Germany as one country. Even the most people I meet, are in the range 20-25 years old, experienced only a bit about their life in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) or in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD). They may have lived there, but they did not experienced it really. Even those people have their opinions about “the other side of the country”. A person who is born in the western part would normally not move to the Eastern part, and vice versa. I have got a friend from western germany who moved out to the eatern part (Leipzig), her friends considered her as stupid… They think that “their” part is the best one, however I think both parts had some positive things. Wessies ask Ossies how life was “without bananas and Coca Cola”. The movie “Goodbye Lenin” shows how life in East Berlin was based on an example of a DDR family. I see the same thing happening with the younger Dutch generation. Ask a random dutchmen about their opinion about Germans and they will probably tell you they that they do not like Germans. All bases on grandpa’s experiences, not on their own.

It just needs some time…

The freedom which the West Germans had was the best thing and the most important thing in peoples daily lives. And however the people who were living in the DDR had hardly any freedom, they did not complain, they did not know better, they had work and the DDR had a good social safety net, there was no reason to complain. I do understand that some of the West Germans have something against the former East; since the borders got open, the unemployment rate started to rise  in East Germany. West Germany should bear the costs that East Germany made, and they still do. On the other hand, some East Germans see the West Germans as the people who stole their jobs (It is simply not a socialist state anymore dear Ossies!). It is kind of a complicated story and I do not think one part is better than another part, I just think they should work together to solve the problems which Germany still has, and where the high unemployment rate is one of the biggest ones. I am wondering how much time it will cost to integrate the two parts together, it has taken almost one generation. And another generation is definitely needed to have a clear objective opinion.

My experiences in Berlin

Berlin is not one city; Berlin is West Berlin and East Berlin. It is easy to recognize when you are leaving the former part of West Berlin and entering East Berlin. Houses are getting uglier, smaller, taller. The atmosphere is getting more underground, alternative and most of all, very pleasant. You will find all the underground galleries, clubs and cosy bars in East Berlin. You just have to see it by yourself. Do not forget to visit the DDR museum near the Berliner Dom, in this museum is it possible to experience, to see and feel how the people lived in the DDR. You can sit in a Trabant, taking place on a couch in the livingroom and pulling clothes from the closet. Only a few objects are behind glass.

I am really interested in this topic, and how other foreigners in Germany expierence the differences between Ossies and Wessies. What do you think?

Never ending discussions about West and East Germany is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk

2 weeks ago I had an intake lesson, which is some kind of test. The driversschool wanted to see how quick I learn and how I handle new situations. Kinda funny and very exciting all well! It went quite oke, the professor was a nice person, and they gave me advise to take 32 lessons (40 € for each..).

The first lessons took place in a simulator, this is some kind of new system to reduce costs (and accidents? :O). The car is almost real from the inside, however the people walking on the streets look a bit unreal. It is a good way to learn everything in theory, but I have learned to shift gear as well. Thuesday it’s gonna start with the serious stuff, on a real road! Wish me luck and better stay @ home.

Driving lessons! is a post from: Marjolein van der Kolk