This is Bipper

In case you wonder what Bipper really is, here's a short video introduction put together by the Bipper Team one afternoon.

Hope you like it!

My pitch for the Bully Award 2010

I would have loved to attend the Pathway to Exit conference in Barcelona next week, but due to the launch of Bipper in Norway I can't.

Bipper is one of the nominees for the Bully Award - a very prestigious prize for the most successful and promising TMT companies - and in Barcelona all 60 finalists (selected from hundreds of nominated companies) are invited to pitch for the jury.

What to do when you really want to be there to pitch, but you can't? Olav and I spent one very late night at the office and made this video.

Peanut, banana, brownie cake- Yummi!

I’m not the best cook, but I love to bake. I think I have this after my grand-mother who made the most amazing and appetizing cookies. However, it’s been awhile since I made anything but “instant cookies” (life as an entrepreneur seems to take time away time from such activities…), but Richelle leaving us deserved something special.  I wanted to make something really good since she has meant so much for us.

I want to share a fantastic recipe with you. Chocolate, bananas, strawberries and peanut butter might seem strange, but this is something out of this world. I found the recipe in a paper when I was pregnant with Oda some 10 years ago and have made this on special occasions

What’s great 1- The cake feeds many

What’s great 2- it’s easy to make

What’s great 3- The base can be made by itself (great brownie) and be eaten with ice cream or fruit

Here is the recipe:

• Part 1, melt 150 gr butter and 150 gr dark chocolate in water bath and mix together
• Part 2 mix together 3 eggs and 115 gr brown sugar
• Mix part 1 and 2
• Mix in 100 gr flour + 1,5 teaspoon vanilla sugar, + 100 gr chopped walnuts

The mixture is poured in round form (ca. 24 cm) and put in the middle of the oven at 200 C for 20 minutes.

Let the cake cool down while you mix the filling:

• 250 gr cream cheese
• 50 gr sugar
• 50 gram peanut butter

I always experience that this is a little too much, so you can probably reduce the amount of everything somewhat. I always seem to forget….

Put the filling on the cake and decorate with sliced strawberries and bananas. Melt the rest of the chocolate (should be 50 gr left if you have a 200gr bar) in the microwave in a small microwave proof bag, cut a hole in the tip of the bag and create a net of chocolate over the fruit. This is very simple, but looks great.

Voila, the cake is ready to be served. And it is delicious!!!

Siv, Facebook and Racism

I came across Siv Jensen’s fan page on Facebook just by coincidence. I‘m a fan of a number of other politicians from various parties, and immediately became a fan of Siv as well. I think it's great that politicians get involved in the media channels where they find the “people” and not least, it gives me a great opportunity to keep myself informed about opinions and discussions. It's not often I have time to watch the news anymore, to say it this way ....Life as an Entrepreneur consumes you!

I also think that Siv is a cool lady

and a woman that I have respect for. Do I share all of her views? No. Am I a member of FrP? No. Do I agree with some of the issues she and her party stands for? Yes. Just the way I agree with some of the issues most of the parties stand for, which is why I find it so incredible difficult to decide which party to vote for….. As a politician, I think Siv is great! She is extremely good on stage, she speaks clearly and she does well in debates. She speaks to the people. They understand her and she capitalizes on that. I was at the Autumn Conference for the Economists Society a few years ago where high profile representatives from all the parties spoke. Siv represented FrP and was the only one there that actually spoke “to” the audience; the rest just read their scripts. You might not agree with her views, but it’s hard to argue that she is not good!

However, after spending some time reading her Facebook page, I got disappointed…. and quite shocked actually. Not with the way she expresses herself or her point of views, but the way that she has opened up her page. Her page is full of racist comments and hate messages made by members/fans since the page is completely uncensored.

• All members / fans can comment on Siv's posts
• All members / fans can be easily post their own post on the page

The first point works well in most cases, but for Siv and FrP, this means that the site attracts a lot of racists who post all kinds of racist comments. There are many - me included - who will not want to be associated with FrP, when such statements freely get published on one of FrP’s channels.

Young mother

I didn’t catch PULS, but I just read the article about the 23 year old medical student who is a mother of 2 and feel that people consider her a failure. I was/is also a young mother and had the same thoughts when I was younger.  Especially when I was strolling the baby around I did get a lot of disapproving looks from people considering me too young to be a mother.

It’s strange. My mother was considered old as a first time mother and needed extra follow- up when she had me. She was 25. When I got pregnant at 21 and my daughter was born on my 22^nd birthday (yes- I haven’t had a birthday in 10 years, but what a fantastic gift!) it was definitely not the norm. None of my friends had kids and it’s only in the last few years some of them (and I emphasize some) have started having kids.

Was our first planned? No, she was not, but the rest of them certainly was. When we first had one, we might as well continue. I had my second child at 25 and my third just before I turned 28. Three fantastic kids and a great partner. He was only 25 when our first was born and was considered an extremely young father (by today’s standards) There was no doubt that a lot of people doubted if we would make it, the odds were against us….

No way!

We had everything, except a degree, our own home and money. However, that’s what matters …strange!

I was studying when I got pregnant and continued during my pregnancy. Why stop? Besides my family life with an increasing number of kids, I had an active student life where I was involved with a lot of volunteer work, I finished my bachelor, a MBA and was into my second MBA when the entrepreneur spirit got the better of me.

I actually became a better student after I had kids. My grades improved and I was elected The Economics student of the year in Norway only a few months after I had my second as I was already way into my studies again. That’s great about being a student mom, but much harder as a working mom. Strange!

To be allowed to be a mom while studying is a fantastic gift. The days are flexible, and the child can grow up with “slow” mornings, long vacations and attentive parents. We didn’t have a strong economy, but do you really need much more than a small student apartment. I would definitely not been without our 5 years at Nattland Student Housing in Bergen. What a great place to live both for adults and children. Paradise!

My life situation was and still in many cases is very different from people my own age. Only half of my graduating class has a family of their own and they still live a “uncomplicated” life. The rest have typically only recently had their first child and are facing some busy years with raising, having and taking care of small kids while many are in the middle of a very important and hectic period in their careers.

It’s nice to think about that I recently could celebrate my first day in 10 years not having to change diapers anymore!!

Biiiiiig Blueberries

Have you seen blueberries this big before? They are gigantic and absolutely beautiful. And best of all- I get them from my own terrace. I have a blueberry bush with American blueberries that I bought at a garden center a few years ago.

A great buy resulting in happy kids and fascinated adults!

Live from a-ha

Blogging directly from a concert might be a little “too live”, but this one brings back sooo many memories. I fell in love with Morten when I was 9 years old. He made my heart skip. Take on me was constantly being played in my room…need I say more?

When I was 21, I met Morten in Oslo. We were both speakers at the celebration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and my knees were trembling when we were introduced. I barely managed to say a word. I’m capable of debating with people like Hillary Clinton and Dalai Lama, but meeting Morten…, damn that man….

At the moment he is on stage in front of me, as hot, cool and tough as his been over the last 25 years.  It’s strange that this is their farewell tour, to my kids they are brand new…time flies!

Thon Linne- never again

I always stay at Thon, this time at Thon Linne. The more centrally located hotels were all full so I ended up in the middle of nowhere. 

I can deal with that, but it’s unacceptable to offer internet service which takes 5 minutes to download Aftenposten (newspaper). What is that all about? Everything is documented on video (I’m being “nerdy” with Jing) and ready for distribution to those that want a flashback to the 90’s!

Thon usually use Telenor as provider, a service I’ve always have been happy with, Linne however is using a provider called www.zlip.no . Initially I needed help to get online (when is that necessary?), then the network is so slow that I get an “upgrade” (free) and supposedly better speed. No such luck, and when trying to reach Zlip customer service they hang up on me. Customer support!!! Hello??? Olav (my CTO who works as much  I do-is it possible?), leaves an angry message and they actually return his call, unfortunately not much good can be said about the service that time either unfortunately…However, my room is Bipper orange :-)

I don’t want to sound like a whiner, but I had to express this frustration, due to poor internet service- from my mobile!  

Back to the 90’s

Find your patience and imagine you are back in the 90’s. This is internet at Thon Linne Hotel, provided by a company called Zlip www.zlip.no). Reference yesterdays blog. They actually called Olav and left a message today. I appreciate that! However, it doesn’t make sense to blame Telenor for their poor service. Take responsibility, don’t blame others!

Enjoy 5 quiet minutes!

Cheering for Body Shop

I love Body Shop! Not only because of the products (I cheer for any company that produces goods in a sustainable manner), but because the Body Shop continuously shows: 

Body Shop is committed.

Body Shop takes a stand.

Body Shop has an opinion.

How many companies today do? How many companies have the courage to allow their sales arenas contain political messages? How many have the courage to potentially provoke some of their customers?

Back in 1995. . .
In 1995 I got my first real encounter with Body Shop. I was 17, had just moved to Wales to attend United World College and the idealistic Silje was involved in new idealistic projects. France had at this time resumed testing of nuclear bombs in the Pacific, and this upset me greatly. I had to do something! The answer was a demonstration in the streets of London.

We ordered buses and were able to transport close to all of the nearly 400 students from the school - representing nearly 100 nations - to London. All were dressed in their national costumes and carried flags from around the world. The police sealed off one of the city center's main streets this Saturday morning, and as we approached the French embassy more and more people joined in. It was a peaceful, beautiful and great demonstration (even though my role was noticed by the secret service. I was under surveillance for a few years after this episode, but more on that in another blog).
So what is the link between this demonstration and Body Shop? It was Body Shop that made it possible! Body Shop sponsored the rally which made it possible for several hundred international students and others to have their voices heard. Body Shop got involved and took a stand. How many companies would do that? Body Shop also had locations in France; still they took a stand against that country.

Yesterday. . .

I visited Body Shop. On the way to the meeting with the Norwegian Data Protection Agency, I discovered a pimple on the nose (Help! I thought I was grown up now I, but perhaps a result of maximum 5 hours of sleep per night for a long time. Downside of entrepreneurial life ...).

The meeting with the shop at Oslo S was almost like coming home! It’s an incredible feeling when their involvement meets you as soon as you walk in the door. A large stand encouraging people to sign a petition against trafficking of children and young people was the first thing that caught my eye, and half the counter and the entire wall behind it- where used to profile this campaign. This is a sharp contrast to the typical collection bucket for some organization hidden behind marketing material you typically find in other stores. 

Can’t more companies get involved such as Body Shop do? I can promise you that Bipper will!

Inspiration from Body Shop:

This is Bipper!

The discussions about Bipper as a monitoring service which has found its way to social and traditional media in the past two weeks, has undoubtedly been interesting and educational. People ask themselves and others:

• what is monitoring and to what extent should parents have control over their children's use of mobile?  
• Should parents actually have control over anything? Talk about boundaries, says some someone, but trust that they are followed!  
• Don’t children have a right to privacy without any interference?

These are questions that engage everyone from bloggers to journalists to twitters, but also readers who prefers to sit back and observe. Typically, you find that those who strongly oppose something get involved in debates. I receive on a daily basis email and inquiries from parents who say "Finally! We've been waiting for this."

Bipper - the world's worst monitoring solution

many of the articles about Bipper have been focused on that we give parents the opportunity to monitor their kids. If this is true, I have probably developed the worst monitoring service in the world. Simply because the purpose has never been to monitor anyone, but to give parents a tool for setting limits for their kids’ cell phone.

Various forms of web-filters has been on the market for a long time, but solutions that give parents the opportunity to involve themselves actively in their kid's mobile world (without peeking in the mobile phone’s history) has not been available.

It's not easy being a mom and dad today. . .

in a world where boundaries are being erased. This is why I believe having the opportunity to actually define the limits or boundaries is important. At least I felt a need for something when my girl (and oldest kid) started school a few years back. For me it was not a question of her having a mobile or not a mobile, but between not a mobile or a limited mobile. I felt it was wrong to give my young daughter an “open” mobile like adults had, but found no alternatives. The solution was simply to develop what I and most parents around me wanted. And tracking of kids on a map is definitely not part of that!

So what is Bipper?

Bipper is a safety solution for children’s mobile phones. Simply told, it is a service that let's parents set limits for how children can operate their mobiles. Not too different from what we as parents do in most other areas in life, we set boundaries and limits in relation to where our children are allowed to go, when they have to go to bed, how many friends they can have over, what to eat and so on. Guidelines - and a steady expansion of the boundaries as we got older - was a part of our own childhood, and should probably be part of our own children's upbringing. It's just that creating digital boundaries is not that easy ... They are to a small degree verifiable (as opposed to most other borders and boundaries we set are).

This is how Bipper can help - we give parents the opportunity to define some of these digital boundaries in relation to the mobile phone. With Bipper, parents, preferably those with elementary school children, can define how the child can use the mobile phone through a personal administration page on the Web:

• WHO the kids can communicate with
• WHEN during the day the mobile phone can be used
• HOW MUCH mobile phone can be used per week

It is possible to set different limits for friends than for the immediate family!

In addition to BipperLimits (which the service elements above are part of) Bipper offer a SAFETY ALARM (BipperSafety) which can easily be activated by the child if something were to happen. Up to five people the parents have chosen are then called, and the mobile phone does not stop ringing even if the child hangs up the phone. All "safety contacts' will also receive a text message with a message that the alarm is triggered and a link to a map that shows the area where the child is.

Bipper also includes a LOCALIZATION SERVICE. Parents can locate the position of their kids mobile phone a maximum of 20 times per month and a maximum of three times per day. This can for example be useful if you are concerned if you can’t find your kid or if you can’t find the phone (I have used this myself a few times ....). Safety and security are key words. Not monitoring.

If concerned parents take advantage of the feature, it will not be without your child's knowledge. He or she will receive a text message for every search. Monitoring has traditionally been associated with the one being monitored being unaware of it and has not given the consent for it. This is why it’s wrong to call such a “innocent” service like Bipper for a "monitoring service". If anyone would like to monitor the movements of their children - or anyone else for that matter – Bipper is definitely not the solution for them!

Is localization something new?

No, definitely not! However, some journalists drive to “sensationalize” stories can easily create the impression that location services for mobile phones is a new phenomenon. This is not correct. Location services for mobile phones have been around for about ten years, and Bipper is not even the first to offer this in Norway. The first positioning service here was introduced as far back as 2002. What distinguishes Bipper from the others is that our functionalities are more limited.

• With Bipper you are not able to locate so much you want  
• It is not possible to hide the location of the person being positioned  
• Nor is it possible to build large networks of people who can locate the others

It's exploding!

Used correctly, localization is a super service that is designed to provide better security for both adults and children. Research - both nationally and internationally - also shows that many parents want to be able to locate their children.

The location services I found on the market were typically quite extreme - or surveillance if you want to call it that. It didn’t take many hours of research before it became very clear that the location services was going to explode internationally. It was in 2008, and halfway through 2010 we see that Facebook will soon implement localization in their service, a service used by 60% of Norway's population. Another sign that the market for localization services has exploded!

  

But why offer localization at all?

In the midst of a jungle of localization services - both those who already exist and those that will come - I wanted to offer a simple positioning product that was especially developed just for the rare moments parents are unsafe and need to locate their child. If such a product was not released, I was concerned that these tracking and surveillance solutions would get a foothold also in Norway. I also had the need to locate at times when I’ve been looking for my kids, however I did not want those solutions.

In a digital age where the venues are many and often confusing, parents have a greater need than ever to set safe limits for their children. Within the framework you typically allow some leeway. Bipper wants to assist here!

Do you want to locate?

So there are LOTS of solutions available. Especially for those living in the U.S. ( had you expected something else), but also here at home.

Here is a small selection!

Operators in the U.S. and increasingly around the world have offered localization solutions for children's cell phones for several years. Telefonica in Spain launched a solution for a few years ago and got over half a million users within six months!

Here are some localization solutions from a few operators  that you can look at if you want:

Read here

And here

And here

There is no getting around Google Latitude when discussing location. They let you locate your loved ones, and everyone else you (or for that matter your children) would choose to include in its localization network. It works everywhere all over the  - given that you have a compatible mobile phone, of course:

Here

This was a small selection of all the localization solutions that are available. If you want information about others, I will gladly share that with you! There are many to choose from!

Listen

Read phonetically

Dictionary - View detailed dictionary

What do you think?

Facebook no longer only exist on your computer screen, but has quickly moved onto the mobile, you, me and almost all of us walk around with. Now the company, we Norwegians love more than almost everyone else in the world (second only to Iceland who recently claimed the top spot from us) have released a new feature that lets me, you and all of us find out where all our friends on Facebook are. Through the Facebook’s app  you have on your mobile you will be able to quickly locate  all  your  friends that are nearby, and allow them to locate you. This is done through the phones GPS so the accuracy is extremely good. 

Exciting or scary? Scary, I think! Would I like to find friends in the vicinity and grab a coffee at the spur of the moment?Definitely! That would be nice. In addition, it is a feature that I can decide  to turn on and off, and as an adult I should be able to watch after myself. At least I think so. Or could this create a problem? Hmmm ... Unfortunately, I can imagine that I - at least  a few years ago when I lived the uncomplicated student life – easily could  use the feature without really thinking about the consequences. Especially, if everyone else did.

And you have to be pretty naïve not to think that kids will start using this feature as well. Yes - it's 13 year age limit on Facebook, but a few days ago I wrote about my new young friend on facebook. "Ola" had never met me before, and I had never met him, but he had no hesitation to intiate a chat with me and speak freely and openly with me. I have several other young friends on Facebook  too, and they all have mobile phones. Many use Internet on their mobile daily. That’s the reality! 

The Facebook children are young. They have mobile. They are on the Web - on PC and mobile. They have many Facebook friends - both adults and children. They are trusting. They are naive. And they definitely do not share everything with my mum and dad. And such a service will be awful lot of love. 

It's "crazy cool"! Or? 

The discussion about the location of children is monitored or not, is exciting. It is an important discussion. The discussion of whether the minor children shall be able to decide if they can freely give himself chose the second option to locate itself, is just as important. Would I as a 15 year old girl have understood the potential implication of allowing all my Facebook network of perhaps 300 people could locate me? 

Unfortunately, I do not believe it .... 

Waking up to a media Storm

I finished my working day at 4am last night and was awakened by a media storm before 8am. Waking up to find out that NTB (Norway’s largest news bureau) has distributed Klassekampen’s (Norwegian newspaper) article about Bipper being a monitoring service to the entire country of Norway was not the desired start of the day. I get so frustrated that monitoring is the first word associated with Bipper when one of Bipper’s objectives was not to be designed as such and actually be a different alternative to all the  monitoring services that keeps popping up around the world. 

Setting limits and responsibility, not surveillance and paranoia 


Bipper’s mobile solution for families is motivated by a sense of safety, not the need for monitoring. The distinction is important!

It was by no means the desire to control and monitor my child's movements that motivated me to start Bipper. They go to and from school themselves, and are out and about all day. All three (4, 6 and 10 years) are independent and secure children that I in no way want to track or control. But I want to be present and engaged, and I think it is very reassuring now – with Bipper being used - that they can activate the safety alarm if something is wrong and that I will be both called and receive a text message with information where they are located. It also gives me a sense of security to be able to locate them when I can’t find them and are nervous. It has not happened often, but occasionally I've had my heart in my throat before getting piece of mind by using Bipper. To continuously track my kids movements is not possible with Bipper, and never will be. There are plenty of localization solutions on the market that allows both parents and jealous spouses to track their loved ones, and if anyone wants this, they would go somewhere else than to us.

I did not want to control all communications to my child either. That is not why I founded Bipper. But for me the issue was not whether or not my oldest child should have a mobile, the decision was between no mobile or a mobile with limited functionalities. I would not let her have a regular mobile. I know many other parents who are facing the same dilemma.. Do I trust my children? Definitely! Do I have faith in their surrounding world in general? No, not always. Do I believe that my children are born with a filter in the head and always make the right decisions? No. And I don’t really think any children are. My role as a mother is to be present, to be supportive and be involved. To make sure they are safe. I believe that its good for children to have guidelines, and that they are safer then. I think it's a part of parental responsibility to be in present and guide them along the way - so that they become great adults with both filters in the head and the ability to guide their children on the right path in the future. Not to be present, not setting limits and not looking after their children, I think is irresponsible! 

When I was l kid, the boundaries to the world around me and my communication with this was largely given by the world itself and “supervised” by my parents. The technical possibilities then were not like today, and communication tools (phone) were for the whole family not for individual family members. Mom and Dad had an easy job. Ensuring that limits were followed was not particularly difficult. For parents today, it is a completely different situation. It is easy to talk about limits to our children, but how can we put it into action? Without checking the history on both browsers and chat logs and check their inbox (as recommended by many, but which I definitely think is to intrude on the childrens privacy)? 



The Data Protection Agency and Bipper 


Bjorn Erik Thon, the newly appointed Director for the Norwegian Data Protection Agency, expressed a certain skepticism towards Bipper’s solution in an article in Computer World earlier this week, His skepticism is now published all over Norway based on an article printed in Klassekampen (Norwegian newspaper) today. Bipper is monitoring children, says Thon, and that is not good for the children.

For me this was very sad reading. Not because Thon believes children shouldn’t be monitored, but because he considers Bipper’s solution a monitoring service, which it’s not. It’s especially regrettable that none of the articles mention that Bipper has had an ongoing dialogue with the Data Protection Agency for some time.  Bipper has presented them with plans for the service, requested input, received feedback  and implemented changes based on this (for example, that the child will receive notification by sms when they are located. This is not required by law). Bipper has submitted the service and followed all applicable rules for this type of service and have set limits for users well within the framework of the law. 



I don’t expect the Data Protection Agency to be excited about Bipper’s location service, that is not their role. They should be critical and ensure regulatory compliance. But it is nice if the media could convey a nuanced and balanced picture in which the whole story appears. That being said, it might not create the big headlines....