Day 50/51/52 - Vienna, seeing the sights

Day 50 - Friday / Daisy 14 days to go

I left Salzburg, talk about by the skin of my teeth. This is why it is important to have a reliable travel agent. My itinary had me leaving at 9am, I did not check the ticket which after my first experience with the trains that were arranged I should have learn't. On my way to Germany I flew in at 2pm and was to catch the train at 3:50pm on the itinary, but that time I caught it and the train was booked at 9:18am. So I was suppose to take the train before I had left London. 

I was early as is my habit when travelling alway giving myself time so as to relax. So I dropped the car off, the hire company dropped me at the bridge to the station. Great, I had some large array of stair to climb with the cases. Went over the the top and down into the station to find out I had 10 mins to get to the platform to catch my train as it was leaving at 8:10 and not 9am. So made it to the train with minutes to spare. The trip was quite uneventful and arrived in Vienna at 10:45am. I then took a taxi to my accommodation. Again flights of stairs, I got the lift from the ground floor to the 3 floor and then 3 flights of stairs to the 4th floor and then one more for good luck to the room I was staying in.

Finally settled grabbed the camera and hit the town for the sights. Took a hop-on hop-off bus ticket for 48hr so will return tomorrow to explore more. After a few hours headed home to prepare for a function that I had been invited to. Black tie event, but without black tie due to heat. I finally returned at 1:30am, very interesting night. So quite tired but quest what the place I am staying the son who has gone for the week left his alarm set for 6:45am so finally killed the alarm, back to sleep and 10 mins later again the alarm went off. So I have set it for 10:45am as I could not shut if off and about to get up and head into the town to see market.

Day 51 - Saturday / Daisy 13 days to go


Yesterday I had brought a hop-on and hop-off ticket for 48hrs around Vienna. So I headed off to see more.

But before I did that I went to see the Naschmarket which was recommended buy a person I meet last night at a lodge meeting. The market was enormus and it had standard fruit and veggies, then there was a trash and treasure area, but most of what I saw were antiques. Everything from Roman artifacts, world war two and one artifacts and paintings, books and anything you can imagine from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century. When I get full internet access I will upload pictures.
 
Ater that I then headed for the bus tour. The buses carried out three tours, red, green and blue. Today was the blue loop, which took in the Gieant Ferris Wheel, over the Blue Danube, that also included the New Danube and the Old Danube and I was staying near the Danube Canal. After that we went past the Danube Tower, UNO City which is a modern area of Vienna and then returned to the State Opera House. I just noted a couple of places to return to at a later stage. 

I then took the green tour and visited the Schobrunn Place which was really beautiful, but again very hot and sticky. Photos will come laters in Singapore when I get better internet. After that I completed the green tour noting the other palace for tomorrow. Due to a 2am return after a function on Friday I returned home about 2pm and crashed until 7:30pm when people I had meet the night before took me to dinner. Really great and I had a traditional Boilded Beef dinner. 


While we were their Marco received a call from another person from the night before. After dinner which was 11pm we then dropped his wife off home and then meet up with this person at the old Hospital which was now a university but the grounds were full of pubs and drinking places. Again returned home at 2am and crashed. ;)


Day 52 - Sunday / Daisy 12 days to go
Today after surfacing around 10am I headed back into town to visit the last palace I had found. Schloss Belvedere Place, this was more of an art gallery. There were some interesting old paintings but no camera. Some large gardens but not so well maintained. After walking back to the center of Vienna I then headed home to crash again. I need to stop the early morning take a lot out of me especially with the oppressive heat. It is now 8pm and I am looking to pop out for a quick bite and hopefully some reduction in the heat.

Tomorrow starts the interesting part with respect to my research. I head out to CURE (Center for Usability Research and Engineering) where I have been invited to join them for a number of days starting Monday afternoon through till Thursday. I am giving a presentation on Tuesday of what I am doing and what I had discovered to date on my trip.

Signing off 8:10 pm 

Day 49 - Salzburg University

Thursday - Day 49 / Daisy 15 days to go



Today is my last day in Salzburg. As a Sight seeing destination it has been a big one. I was only able to obtain a small amount of time with Astrid at the University. Taking with institutions involved in Human Factor Engineering or Human Computer Interaction was a wild shot. I have had a little success on understanding this areas of study which has given me a better appreciation of what it is I am trying to capture. But I am still learning more of this field, I believe it is the underpinning of all that we do in the areas of usability but understanding it from a far high level of details and science.


I was initially recommended to explore this area from one of my contacts at C.U.R.E. in Vienna, Lars Ellensohn. Unfortunately he no longer works at C.U.R.E. and I have not heard from him. I recently re-connected with the centre and they have offered me 3.5 days of their time which I am keenly looking forward to.


After doing a little research for a contact at Salzburg University and the HCI department I came across Astrid's details and made contact. I believe her work focusing on the evaluation of usability, user experience, social acceptance and societal impact of human interaction with advanced robotic systems in collaborative working environments could be of interest to what I am looking at. The area that I am working is not robotics but it is human interaction with technology. Mobile technology may not be as interactive as a robot could potentially be but it is still a user experience and social acceptance and impact to the people we work with. I believe there is some synergy but I will find out more this afternoon.


Before I headed into the University which I had confirmed a few days ago when I was in the older part of Salzburg, I took a dry run to the car hire location. I do this for two reasons, one so I know I have the correct way and location and to confirm with the company what time I can drop off the car and if I can get a lift to the station. After doing that I then headed into town to the car park which has been carved out of the hill that surrounds the old part of Salzburg and which the fort is located on. The car park can hold upto a 1000 cars which is great and very central. I then head to a very famous cafe called the Cafe Sacher which is famous for its Sacher Torte (The Original).



From the Hotel Sacher website


The story of the world-famous Original Sacher-Torte began in 1832, when the all-mighty "coachman of Europe", Wenzel Clemens Prince Metternich, ordered the creation of a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests.


"Take care that you do NOT make me look a fool tonight", he warned. That very day, however, the chef was unavailable! The order was reassigned to a 16-year-old apprentice in his second year, the quick-witted chap Franz Sacher...


One thing was certain; the speciality which was finally presented to the masters and mistresses was a resounding success: a soft and fluffy chocolate cake with the tasty apricot jam under the icing. Franz certainly never forgot the great success of his ingenious idea within this exclusive circle. He spent his apprenticeship working for the Count of Esterhazy, first in Bratislava and then in Budapest.


When, as a fully qualified cook, he started to work on his own account, he offered his successful composition once again, this time on a large scale. He was successful and soon the "cake by this man named Sacher" was in great demand, and the victorious career of the probably most famous of all cakes began.


So I ordered an ice coffee and a slice of Sacher Torte. (The Original)

After that I then headed over to the  ICT&S Center to meet and talk with Astrid Weiss. I recorded the whole session for review and my notes for later. Initially I commenced with the background to what, why and how I was doing my research and some of my findings todate and then Astrid explained what she had been doing with respect to evaluation of usability, user experience, social acceptance and societal impact of human interaction with advanced robotic systems. The topic not being totally related to what I was researching but many of the aspects did relate. We discussed that the unit she worked for was a research arm within the university and that they were responsible for 90% of their revenue to sustain their unit. 

We covered the changes in the understanding of usability and human computer interaction and how the market place is changing. That companies and users are realising that there needs to be more understanding of the expectations and the ability to deliver for effectively with technology. That there needs to be a far better understanding of how business actually achieves its outcomes with technology and that technology alone or usability alone can not delivery the outcomes required.

It was good to get some further insights into what and how research do to delivery better outcomes using technology. The other part that I had come to understand that the elephant in the room is Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human Factor Engineering (HFE) which has been there all the time. But the important part is that where my research is approaching this from four perspectives that of the user, developer, manufacturer and business it is an alignment of all these parties with the HCI and HFE that is required at the start. Understanding the needs, expectation and then engineering a result that delivers on the outcome. To better understand what it is that all these parties don't know that they don't know. 

Again more information to my swiss layer cake and knowledge and trying to understand how we work to building a more intuitive and easier solutions.

Signing Off 6:03pm

Day 48 - Waterfalls and Gorges

Wednesday - Day 48 / Daisy 16 days to go


On my trip yesterday I was told of a gorge where there was a path along a cliff face to a great waterfall. So going to check it out. The other I found when looking for waterfall, a place called Dark Gorge. I shall show you on my return.


To be continues....

Day 47 - Head for the Hills, well actually the Alps

Tuesday - Day 47 / Daisy 17 days to go


Today I am heading for the Alps and the lakes area. It is about an hour south. On my return I should have some interesting stories and pictures.


Yesterday I started to put some flesh around my final report but the first exercise I did was to list my acknowledgements. In some ways I have been feeling that I have not achieved much for the time that I have taken to carry out this trip as well as the effort that I had put into planning this trip. This trip has been the culmination of a years work. Contacting total strangers in the field of Usability and Mobile Technology. Telling the story of how and what I was doing and requesting valuable time of theirs to a total stranger. 


When I left I had high hopes and lots of people to meet. As I progressed some of those meetings fell through, but from the meetings I did have I then was able to obtain more. Total strangers assisted me as well as good friends and business associates. To all of these people thank you. So as I was building my acknowledgement list I realised that I have achieved quite a lot and meet many and varied people. I have been shown and introduced to lots of new ideas and concepts and have I believed learn't quite a number of key points in my endeavour to answer the question of how do we make technology easy to use. The main point being the elephant in the room. The knowledge and capability has always been there, but there needed to be an alignment between the different groups responsible for the design, delivery and ideas behind the technology.


Steve Jobs was one of those people who was capable in achieving that by bringing the focus and simplicity as well as in his words, "Think Different". To that end I believe I have some concept on how we can approach this issue and create similar if not better experiences that Apple has in the past and now, as well as Microsoft in their up coming Windows 8 and their Surface Tablet, in Android with ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich - Android v4) and (Jellybean - Android VX.X). People as starting to "Think Different" and there is an alignment between all parties, the user, developer, manufacturer and business.


So that is my start of my thoughts, and I am heading for the hills / Alps.  :)


What a day, a cable car, boat and ratchet train up a mountain. The best part of the day was returning to find and email confirming my visit to CURE in Vienna and that they had offered me 3.5 days with them. :)

The cable cart maximum 4 people

The top of the mountain

Going back down 

The boat I took to get to the train 

The crank train I travelled on

The Mountain top I reached

The boat that I took to return

Day 46 - Day of Rest and Research

Monday - Day 46 / Daisy 18 Day to go now


Today I decided to relax and get my breath. I also starting to work on both my final report and a keynote speech that I will be giving at the FutureGov SAARC Summit in cinnamon Grand, Colombo, Sri Lanka. My Keynote is "Securing Mobile Government" looking at:

• Rethinking information security for the mobile channel
• Access control for endpoint devices, and
• Remote management of compromised devices

This speech is part of the discussions that I have had on my way around the world with people with regards to mobile technology and the deployment and management of these devices. Looking at the change in attitudes which are leaving both government and corporations exposed. The rapid change and introduction in technology, the consumerization of that technology and the powerful aid and damage BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) can bring to the party.

The other part is to my report. Part of what I have been doing is researching a number of books which have been recommended to me on my way. One of those books was  "Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data through the Eyes of Experts "  by Julie Steele and Noah Ilinsky. This book was recommended by one of the contact I received from Isabelle Sigal whom I stayed with in New York. Here name was Zoe Fraade-Blanar we unfortunately were unable to catch up but I have received a number of correspondence from Zoe and the information she recommended has been great.

I also had a couple of books recommended by Clay Shirky they being two he wrote which after readying the intro I obtained copies. They were "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organising Without Organisations" the second was "Cognitive Surplus - Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age" both of these indirectly have added to my research. Thank god for Kindle software and digital books. The final book which is utilising mobile technology is using the services of Audible an audio book. I tried to obtain the book written by another of my contact who worked at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. That was Zackary Tumin and his book "Collaborate or Perish" which was written by him and William Bratton

"William Bratton former Los Angeles police chief and New York police commissioner. They lay out a field-tested playbook for collaborating across the boundaries of our networked world. Today, when everyone is connected, collaboration is the game changer. Agencies and firms, citizens and groups who can collaborate, Bratton and Tumin argue, will thrive in the networked world; those who can't are doomed to perish. No one today is better known around the world for his ability to get citizens, governments, and industries working together to improve the safety of cities than William Bratton. 

At Harvard, Zachary Tumin has led senior executives from government and industry in executive sessions and classrooms for over a decade, burnishing a global reputation for insight and leadership. Together, Bratton and Tumin draw on in-depth accounts from Fortune 100 giants such as Alcoa, Wells Fargo, and Toyota; from masters of collaboration in education, social work, and the military; and from Bratton's own storied career. Among the specific strategies they reveal: Start collaboration with a broad vision that supporters can add to and make their own Rightsize problems, and get value in the hands of users fast Get the right people involved - from sponsors to grass roots Make collaboration pay in the right currency - whether recognition, rewards, or revenue Today companies and managers face unique challenges - and opportunities - in reaching out to others, thanks to the incredibly connected world in which we live.

Bratton and Tumin provide practical strategies anyone can use, from the cubicle to the boardroom. This is the ultimate guide to getting things done in today's networked world."

Quoted from the Audibility Write up

I tried to get a digital version for the kindle software but the copyright issues were stopping me. Crazy, I could buy the physical book or the audio book but not the digital book, crazy.

There is an example of Department of Social Service and the changes required in the Department to get Families, Social Works and many other parties.

So with all this in mind I am using this time for some study and research.

Signing Off 3:00pm

Day 43/44/45 - Friday/Saturday/Sunday - Salzburg

( For my Daughter Daisy who is counting down the days for my return - 21/20/19 Days to go )

I left this morning on the train from Heidelberg after 7 days there. I had two interviews with SAP. This week I will be here in Salzburg.

I will be catching up with Astrid Weiss Astrid WEISS is working as a HCI Research and Teaching Assistant. She holds a PhD in social sciences (2010) and a master’s degree in sociology (2005) from the University of Salzburg. During her study she specialised on methodologies of empirical social research. She joined the ICT&S Center in 2006 and engaged in the FP6 EU-project ROBOT@CWE, focusing on the evaluation of usability, user experience, social acceptance and societal impact of human interaction with advanced robotic systems in collaborative working environments.

Currently she is working for the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Contextual Interfaces to investigate key factors influencing human-robot collaboration within the factory context and the EU FP7-project IURO, that aims at developing interaction paradigms for an interactive urban robot. Her specialities are user-centred design methodologies (ethnography, cultural probing), user studies in HCI and HRI, statistical data analysis.

So for the weekend I will be checking out Salzburg and the surrounding areas. I will update this entry as the weekend progresses.

Saturday- Day 44 / 20 Days before I am home Daisy

Today I walked from the car park which was at one end of the hill across the ridge, to the fort and down the cable car. To give you a better idea. I started at the orange circle in the top left of the map and the green trail is approximately where I walked. I took many tunnels and passages between the streets as well but this will give you a general idea.

Sunday - Day 45 / 19 Days to go Daisy
Today I went to Hellbrunn. The main building of Schloss Hellbrunn Castle or the Hellbrunn Palace it is more of a manor and pleasure ground than a proper palace, to be quite honest, was built between 1613 and 1615.

It is a rectangular court with two pavilions on the front corner. The three storeys are divided in the façade by so-called "Kordongesimse" decorations. A double-sided stairway in the front leads to the central main gate of Schloss Hellbrunn Castle. Under this staircase you will find a grotto - fountain by Santino Solari. On the first floor of Hellbrunn palace, you will find the remarkable "Fürstenzimmer" or "Prince′s chambers", most significant the "Festsaal". A long alley connects Hellbrunn with the city of Salzburg. 

It was decorated by Arsenio Mascagni around 1615; the Italian painted the walls and ceilings completely with street scenes and 12 very plastic, golden Caesars. 

The plastic mode of the painting simulates a peristilium or "pillar court". In a similar fashion, Mascagni painted the octagonal "Musikzimmer" or simply "Octagon", a music room which borders the Fürstenzimmer.


I also toured the trick fountains and the park before heading back to Salzburg for a Segway tour. 

The three faces of Jesus, God the Son, God the Father and God the Holy Ghost. Pope Urban VIII  band this type of picture in 1628

I then headed back to Salzburg for a Segway tour and to do some night shots of the city.

My tour guide

The house in the Sound of Music

Again from the Sound of Music

Statue to Mozart

Fountain to Neptune