Sunday, July 17, 2011
+1: Turning Search Results Into Status Updates
Before the +1 button the search results belonged to Google. Searching was a spectator sport. Now Google has allowed us to participate. We have become part of the secret sauce Google algorithms. We change the search results just as we consume them.
But this is just a start. I want much more say in what happens to my +1 activity. I want some kind of an internal display. I want my +1 action to become the mother of all bookmarks. I want some kind of an internal dashboard.
Ultimately I want my own very personal Google. I want to be able to search though only sites I ever pressed that +1 button on.
Pressing that +1 button is the simplest of status updates for now. You are not having to write up anything. If you press that button enough times, you should have mapped out your personal interest and knowledge graphs. That is powerful.
Physical
Sunday afternoon plan: free lunch at the Gurudwara near Jackson Heights. My childhood best friend's wife is Punjabi. Evening plan: Ace Hotelless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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Just did 1000 situps. Tech consulting interrupted.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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30 minutes of crude yoga. Feeling good.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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1000 units of tummy muscle exercises.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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Making yogurt. Nobody makes it better in NYC.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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500 pushups. Yoga next. Yoga: not easy. The mind wants to wander.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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120 minute walk. Hello Vig Bar. Happy birthday Soraya Hareez.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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Headed to the Ace Hotel for some good music this evening. But first the free lunch at the Gurudwara near Jackson Heights.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
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Haddaway: What Is Love
Just heard on the sound system at the Ave Coffee in Sunnyside.
Ace Sundays
No More Beer, No More Soda
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Android Has To Be Kept Free
Microsoft And Oracle Misbehaving On Android
Android being free is fundamental to what Android is all about. Charging for Android from the back door would be a major setback to the Android phenomenon.
Considering the smartphone is how the vast majority of humanity will come online, it can be argued this is to be the Android century. Android is robust and it is free. It is as good as any in performance and it is free. If it is no longer free, that takes away from the shine of Android.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Microsoft And Oracle Misbehaving On Android
But Sun's Java went open source a long time ago, no? What seems to be the problem?
Larry Ellison going after SAP is fun, but this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Android has to be kept free. It is to do with humanity. The leftover swathes of humanity, if they ever will come online, Android will be it. And it makes no sense to jack up the prices. You do that and less people get to come online.
For the first time I am wishing retirement upon Steve Ballmer and Larry Ellison.
Leave Android alone.
The gist of the story is this: the PC guys - Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, Larry Ellison - are going after the Internet guy - Larry Page.
The story should end thus: software patents should be disallowed. The patent trolls have been creating mayhem. Takes energy away from innovation.
Plus, Face
With the Facebook name, the emphasis is on Face. The emphasis is on human relationships not on algorithms.
It was this very mismatch in DNA that prevented Google from cracking the social nut for the longest time. But finally they did it.
"Do You Have An Email Address?"
This had to have been in 2005, 2006. I was doing democracy work for Nepal. My blog was my primary tool. And I had the largest Nepali mailing list in the world. I had managed to penetrate all the key organizations inside the country and out. And I stayed on a constant lookout for new email addresses.
So I am at this event in Queens. It has not started yet. I am working the room, meeting people, blatantly asking for email addresses.
I came across this guy who apparently did not know what an email address was. Every Nepali in the city has a phone, but only a minority even today have email addresses.
"Would you have an email address?" I asked.
"I do, but I forgot it at home," he said and saved face.
The guy apparently thought I was talking about some kind of a physical object. Like, do you have a Vespa?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Nosh: The Starting Point Is Not The Dish
The social graph I have had in mind for FoodSpotting has been more the Color kind than the Facebook kind. FoodSpotting could be an amazing force for peace. And I don't feel like I am exaggerating. I do mean to talk geopolitics.
The Color Social Graph Might Work Better For Books, Movies, Music
Twitter ---> Instagram ---> FoodSpotting
But if I were FoodSpotting, this would be a wake up call to me. The brain behind Nosh was the same brain behind what today is Google Voice. The guy sure has the tech chops. And he is trying to fork into the FoodSpotting space from the Instagram paradigm. But he has already exhibited some major vision level blind spots. The name Firespotter borrows half the body from the name FoodSpotting. Thief!