The Smartphone Hub

Tetris: it’s just good, clean fun, right? Wrong! You’ve actually been stacking Space Invader body parts like some intergalactic sicko all along. This is the game’s SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE moment, and you can wear it on a t-shirt. [TheDailyWh.at] More »

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So, you’ve decided that you need to get out of the house and are looking for a coworking space. But how do you make the most of the experience? Here are some of my favorite coworking tips:

1. Choose your space carefully. If you’re lucky enough to live in a large city with a choice of coworking spaces, it’s worth looking at more than just the facilities that the space offers. Obviously you want to work in a nice environment, but it’s worth checking out the current mix of members, and see what activities and social events the space offers. Some spaces also offer additional services, like mentorship or the Coworking Visa program (see tip #7 ), that are worth considering. One of the main reasons to join a coworking space is the community. Personally, I like spaces with a very diverse membership as it seems to spark my creativity — mixing with people from other industries gives me new perspectives. Try working at your chosen space for a day or two to see how you get on with the building, the facilities and the current members before taking out a full membership.
2. Invest in a decent pair of headphones. If you’re used to working on your own, moving to a hybrid coffee shop / office environment can be quite distracting — it can be hard to concentrate on your work when there are a bunch of interesting conversations happening. It’s worth investing in a decent pair of headphones for those times you need to crank out some work. However, you shouldn’t wear them all the time — see the next tip!
3. Get to know the other members. Part of the reason for joining a coworking space in the first place is the social aspect — so take the headphones off and talk to people when you can. Go out to lunch with the other members. It’s worth getting to know everyone, because you never know what business opportunities could arise out of your conversations — and it’s also great just to have a few people to bounce ideas off.
4. Respect the space. Each space will have its own house rules that you should obviously stick to (here are Citizen Space’s, for example), but regardless of house rules, use your common sense and courtesy. You’re now in a shared environment, so don’t leave dirty coffee mugs or plates lying around for others to tidy up, don’t touch anyone else’s food, don’t leave your gear all over the place, don’t hog the best spots in the office and don’t make unnecessary noise when others are trying to work.
5. Use the space to its fullest. If your space allows it, why not organize some events? You could bring in guest speakers on all kinds of interesting topics. It’ll help to bring the community together, will provide promotional opportunities for you and should be a lot of fun. Even if member-run events are not something that’s encouraged, it’s worth talking to the founder or manager — they’d probably view an event as an excellent opportunity to promote the space.
6. Work in the cloud. It’s unlikely that you’ll be working solely from your coworking space. And while you’ll probably use a laptop while at your coworking space, it’s worth using cloud-based web apps (Google Docs and Zoho, for example) to provide seamless working between machines and locations.
7. Take advantage of the Coworking Visa program. If your space belongs to the Coworking Visa program, it means that you can work for free in other participating locations all over the world. It’s an excellent way to find a cool place to work while you’re on the road, and also a great way to expand your network.

How do you make the most of your coworking space? Share your tips in the comments.

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req.): Making Coworking Corporate-Scale

Photo by Flickr user hyku, licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

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In 2012, when the space shuttle Endeavourlaunches for the last time, the United States’ manned space program will be over for the foreseeable future, killing the dreams of millions of kids nationwide. Hopefully, American astronauts won’t end like this: More »










Space – United States – Technology – Space Shuttle – International Space Station

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This Sunday there will be a total solar eclipse over the south Pacific Ocean, Chile and Argentina. Watching solar eclipses from Earth is a rare occurrence. Watching them from space is extraordinarily rare. Here are the best photos and videos. More »










Astronomy – Eclipse – Eclipses Occultations and Transits – Pacific Ocean – 1999

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HP has closed on the $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm. The substantial investment by HP means it is time to get down to business, and here’s what HP needs to do to make its Palm buy a success.

The top item on the HP post-merger agenda involves sending a clear message to Palm’s webOS developers its full commitment to the platform. The development community is bound to feel some uncertainty over HP’s intentions in regards to webOS, and the company would do well to assuage their fears. HP could do so by being clear in its intentions and communications. The recent move by Palm to waive the $50 application fee for developers, even retroactively, is a good first step.

With its vast resources, HP can ramp this development effort  better than Palm could do it alone. Hosting some app competitions that throw a few million dollars at top applicants could get some good coding happening quickly. HP should focus on getting smartphone apps and tablet apps as each device has a different usage scenario.

The tablet space is hot due to the success of the iPad, and HP has indicated it has plans for webOS in this area. Producing a webOS tablet should be a priority of HP to help them compete with the iPad and make its personal computing business more mobile. We will be seeing a flood of tablets running Android hit the market late this year, and HP is in a good position to compete with them. The webOS system is a good fit for touch tablet operation, better than Android, and HP should prove that with its first effort. With Palm, HP’s can do this without input from Intel or Microsoft.

HP tc1100

Tablets have only recently gotten a lot of attention, but HP has been producing them for nearly a decade. The tc1000 slate computer produced by HP was the precursor for the iPad, so HP knows how to build these things. The key is timing — HP needs to beat the big Android tablets to market. Get a solid webOS tablet to market with the HP branding and muscle behind it, and it will have a big impact on this space.

The smartphone area is going to be important for HP going forward. Palm created a good platform in webOS but was hampered by hardware that was regarded as worse than the competition. HP has a long history of producing great phone hardware –previously on the Windows Mobile platform — and this expertise needs to be leveraged to take advantage of the strengths of webOS. Big screens and state-of-the-art hardware components can be coupled with webOS to make phones that are competitive with both the iPhone and Android.

HP needs to be tightly focused on these areas to make an effective run with Palm, and they need to do it quickly. The mobile space has a very short product cycle, and HP must be prepared to meet that head-on. Companies that plan 18 months to two years ahead in the mobile space often miss the window of opportunity. Look no further than Redmond to see that truth.

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub req’d): HP/Palm Merger Yields Big Opportunities

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Here, the Mercury Seven astronauts examine their “couches”—essentially molded exoskeletons that helped support the gravity pressure of launch. More interesting to me: the bygone era when it was commonplace to wear a tie into space. [NASA] More »










NASA – Space – Technology – Astronaut – United States

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This is the supersonic wind tunnel located on Tennessee’s Arnold Air Force Base. It is used to test “advanced hypersonic technologies such as wave-rider-type vehicles, scramjets and transatmospheric space planes.” And it looks terrifying. Just look at the full-sized image. More »










Air force – Military – Government – United States – Boeing X-51

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This view from the international space station, showing a sunrise from the Russian MRM1 Module, is particularly impressive. Not only because of Earth, but because of the different solar panels entangling into an almost abstract painting. More »










Technology – Image Cache – Business – Solar – Renewable

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Meet Justin, the space robot. He’s clever, agile, wired to a human for control (of the robot, not the human) and he’s a possible solution for fixing orbiting satellites in the post-Shuttle era. If they’re dead, he can even fire them to their doom. More »










Robotics – Robot – Companies – History – Building

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Quick. Run to download this pack of craptacularly naff Space Invaders-themed iPhone utilities—Clock, Battery Meter, Business Card, Calculato, Flashligh, and Memory Status—all free courtesy of legendary game developer Taito. [Krapps] More »










Space Invader – Video game – IPhone – Game – Shooter

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