Saturday, March 30, 2013
Picking a roommate can be tricky
Over the past 10 year I have probably lived with over a dozen roommates. So I think it is only fair if I call myself a roommate guru.
Some of those people were friends, some I have found via Craigslist. My latest roommate is probably the best I ever had and we’ve been living together for about a year and a half now.
Looking back at all the disastrous and successful roommates I definitely can see a clear picture of what is important to know and what red flags should not be ignored.
1. Diet. While I may sometimes wonder how my current roommate manages to survive on an American college kid diet consisting of fried chicken and vodka I do enjoy the benefits of it. This was not the case when I live with this older Korean lady who loved to cook what appeared to be some sort of decomposed fish dish. The smell was so bad I sometimes had to leave the house.
2. Pets. The rule is if you have pets and your potential roommate as much as looks weird at your beloved creature let them go. You will save your money (from having to buy pet gates) and sanity. Some people just don’t like animals and might not even know it. Figure this one out for them by not allowing them to live with you.
3. Parents. I find this one usually a good sign (when they live miles away). When parents are involved the rent gets paid on time, the shelves get hung on the walls and life just looks a little brighter.
4. Boyfriends/Girlfriends. This one can be a hit or a miss. Obviously it is important to discuss limits and rules but until you start living with each other it is difficult to tell what’s going to cause more problems – the fact that your roommate has a steady boyfriend or random people over.
I hope this helps someone to figure out who is the right candidate and who is not!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Smart Phone Network Effects. No room for Windows?
When I think about technologies that I use and are subject to network effects smart phone is the first thing that comes to mind. I have been an iPhone user for over 4 years now. For the longest time I was a very happy and proud user. However, recently the competition has become increasingly appealing and in some ways even superior which is why I do sometimes think of switching to an Android or (gasp!) Windows based phone.
Aside from the obvious physical specifications (screen size, memory, battery life, etc.) one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a smart phone platform is the application market. Google Play has recently caught up with Apple store impressive number of apps – 700,000. Windows store app 120,000 selection looks like a joke next to its two well-established competitors. Two-sided network effect is to blame.
Both platforms in the two-horse race have a pretty solid and loyal customer base. This is the main factor why businesses owners, game makers, advertisers choose these markets for their apps vs. Windows store. Apple and Google have bigger stores with more users and this attracts more developers with new apps, this in return creates more appealing stores and invites new customers. Windows store just happened not to be a part of this network effects vicious circle.
Could this mean game over for Windows OS phones before the game even began? Not necessarily. But Microsoft management and developers have a lot of catching up to do if they want to get their foot in the door and be a part of the smartphone network effects war currently dominated by Google and Apple.
Aside from the obvious physical specifications (screen size, memory, battery life, etc.) one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a smart phone platform is the application market. Google Play has recently caught up with Apple store impressive number of apps – 700,000. Windows store app 120,000 selection looks like a joke next to its two well-established competitors. Two-sided network effect is to blame.
Both platforms in the two-horse race have a pretty solid and loyal customer base. This is the main factor why businesses owners, game makers, advertisers choose these markets for their apps vs. Windows store. Apple and Google have bigger stores with more users and this attracts more developers with new apps, this in return creates more appealing stores and invites new customers. Windows store just happened not to be a part of this network effects vicious circle.
Could this mean game over for Windows OS phones before the game even began? Not necessarily. But Microsoft management and developers have a lot of catching up to do if they want to get their foot in the door and be a part of the smartphone network effects war currently dominated by Google and Apple.
Why I Do Not Use Twitter
I have had a twitter account for
a few years now and rarely used it. So the past of couple weeks while working
on the class assignment I really gave it a second chance. I began following people
and companies that I already check updates from on a daily basis. I am a true
news junkie so naturally CNN, The New York Times and other news titans ended up
in my tweeter page feed as well as a few celebrities and personal friends. I
even used Twitter categories feature to find things of interest outside of the
usual comfort zone.
Days have passed by and once
again I found myself barely ever checking my Twitter page. I simply kept
following my usual routine of getting information some place else. I had to try
and identify the reasons why I could not force myself to use Twitter. The
answer has surprised me. The core of Twitter business model – 140 character
status updates – did not work for me. I simply found the messages annoying, too
short, and too difficult to digest. Most
of the tweets had lots of attachments like hash tags, hyperlinks, etc. So when
something would catch my eye I was required to decode the short message and
eventually go to external pages to get the full story. For example:
luxury takes to the
skies - http://bit.ly/Yw9nU2
The message itself gave me very
limited information regarding what was behind the link. You can discover the
content by clicking at it which takes you to NBC’s website. As a user I had no
idea of knowing what the tweet actually means before leaving the Twitter
website.
Another example of Twitter being
too small for it’s own content is the fact that you cannot post pictures
without using an external application.
Part Deux: http://instagr.am/p/W4nNXmqJwg/
So a tweet like the one above has
no meaning without Instagram app that actually hosts the image.
The more I thought about all the
disadvantages of Twitter the more I kept coming back to the same thought: “It’s
just not Facebook.” Tweets just can’t compare to longer, more readable Facebook
posts that allow users to view the content (pictures, videos, full articles)
right there and then.
After comparing the content I get
from the same people and companies on Facebook vs. Twitter I was surprised to
find out that it doesn’t always match. This contradicted my initial
understanding that liking someone on FB and following the same person on
Twitter would result in duplicate posts. However, I found the content posted on
Facebook to be more meaningful.
Besides failing to find value in
tweets content there was another destructing component – the speed with which
those tweets kept appearing on my screen. Because it takes very little time and
effort to write a tweet, those short messages just kept piling up at the top of
my feed. Very quickly I’ve experienced information overload to say the least.
And then it hit me – Twitter unfortunately is the face of American culture. In
the nation where 8% of children 3-17 years of age get diagnosed with Attention
Deficit Disorder, Twitter is just a reflection of what we have become. Our
overfed and over stimulated minds can no longer consume information in full
paragraphs. This would require time that we no longer have or are able to
devote to quality. Instead, we gorge ourselves on quantity – 140 character
half-sentences flashing at the speed of light.
I am sure small businesses and
large corporations that advertise on Twitter are over the moon since they are
able to appear on customer screens using very little effort. We cannot blame
them. As consumers we have made it too easy to sell us things, influence our
opinions, tell us what to think. By letting 140-character tweets run our life
we are giving up something very valuable – our character.
By no means am I social media
snob and want to kill Twitter at its root. However, I cannot help but feel less
intelligent after consuming tons of information via Twitter. Call
me old-fashioned, but I will most likely stick to reading full-size articles in
newspapers, view whole picture albums of my friends on Facebook, and
obsessively check news online. After all CNN.com is only a click away in my
browser bookmarks.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
I should use StackExchange more...
Stack Exchange is a network of individual Q&A free websites (99 of them!) covering very narrow field specific topics. Anyone can contribute by offering their expertise and answering or rating answers to thousands of questions.
Since the 99 available websites cover many different fields of knowledge the demographics of the users varies widely. Most of the users are male in their 20s and 30s. This could be related to the fact that a lot of the topics discussed are very technical. The traffic mostly comes from USA and India - leading countries in software development.
Stack Exchange will be very useful to anyone interested in computer science, math, video games, physics, etc. People of all levels of expertise can contribute. Rookies can ask questions and vote for the answers. Users with proved knowledge of the subject can actually suggest answers and solutions to the problems posted.
I personally use Stack Exchange to find answers to programming questions. However, after doing the research I've discovered that the website could be useful for other topics like traveling and cooking as well. Overall, I highly recommend this social network as a source of valuable and verifiable information.
Examples of Stack Exchange websites include:
http://math.stackexchange.com/ - for Math lovers
http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/ - for random question
http://photo.stackexchange.com/ - for photography gurus
http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/ - for programmers
http://math.stackexchange.com/ - for Math lovers
http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/ - for random question
http://photo.stackexchange.com/ - for photography gurus
http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/ - for programmers
Since the 99 available websites cover many different fields of knowledge the demographics of the users varies widely. Most of the users are male in their 20s and 30s. This could be related to the fact that a lot of the topics discussed are very technical. The traffic mostly comes from USA and India - leading countries in software development.
Stack Exchange will be very useful to anyone interested in computer science, math, video games, physics, etc. People of all levels of expertise can contribute. Rookies can ask questions and vote for the answers. Users with proved knowledge of the subject can actually suggest answers and solutions to the problems posted.
I personally use Stack Exchange to find answers to programming questions. However, after doing the research I've discovered that the website could be useful for other topics like traveling and cooking as well. Overall, I highly recommend this social network as a source of valuable and verifiable information.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thoughts on "Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)" by Siva Vaidhyanathan
Overall, ideas presented by Vaidhyanathan make for a useful
read for those interested in internet history, philosophy and modern media. The
author tries to be fair throughout the book by exposing both positive and
negative effects of Google on modern culture. Vaidhyanathan’s acknowledges the
great deal of good that Google has done to our Internet experience. He
recognizes that Google provides many useful tools and simplifies many everyday
needs. He endorses Google in some chapters and bashes its products
and policies in others. However, this attempt to be impartial causes the author
to lose track of his own thoughts and many times go on for too long trying to
prove a point.
The sub-title “Why we should worry” hints at the book’s
objective to make the readers feel tormented by the idea of global Googlization. Vaidhyanathan tells an enchanting tale but
fails to present enough convincing arguments to sway the readers in any
particular direction. The biggest claim of the whole book is that Google is a
money making business and not a charity organization. Vaidhyanathan presents this idea as if it was
something new. In reality, no one reasonably familiar with the concept of
capitalism and free market would be naïve enough to believe in the opposite.
The author’s accusations of Google delivering information “to facilitate
consumption” lack substance since consumption needs are at the core of human
existence.
Some of Vaidhyanathan’s arguments are interesting and alarming. For
example, notion of a 15-year-old company running our lives is quite disturbing
and unsettling. There are plenty examples of big failures in our history.
Nevertheless, by comparing Google to Caesar and attacking it for being too
innovative Vaidhyanathan sounds a lot like critics of radio and television back
in the days. Regardless of the current
situation, privacy dilemma, fear of Google growing too big, etc., Vaidhyanathan
fails to suggest a different way of getting and sorting information. Human
Knowledge Project looks good in theory, but in reality is nowhere near its implementation
stage.
At the end
we felt a little disappointed – you start reading the book feeling like your
world is about to change and you will discover something really important. And
it simply doesn’t happen. This book is written for librarians, legal analysts,
copyright lawyers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)