A computer is to a geek what a mouse is to a cat
ză Geex » Archive of 'Nov, 2008'

Do we want 500 “friends”? Why? No comments yet

My big question – why do we spend so much time writing stuff to and for people we barely know. Maybe you are using some sort of IM software or website, or using some kind of social network website, like Facebook, hi5, MySpace, or my favorite, at the moment, microbloging like Twitter. Maybe you even go farther and build a blog and write about things.
If you do this as part of your business, to connect with your customers, to be out there, on the web, then everything is very clear. That’s why I didn’t mention earlier LinkedIn. That’s business, not friends. It’s a different kind of animal.
But what about the rest of the cases? The answer is, actually, very well known and discussed. A guy called Abraham Maslow, way back in 1943, in the dark days of no Internet (scary thought) wrote a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation” were he presented what’s now known as “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs”. Great stuff. Smart stuff.
Anybody who studies economics knows this one. There are other motivation theories out there. Some say it’s stupid to even try to make a hierarchy of the needs, but this is not about this. I say that you just need to think about yourself and if you identify yourself with this hierarchy then this Maslow guy was smart.
But anyway, just look at it. We go to work, and we make money and then what? We have food, a place to stay and not much time left. Physiological and Safety – checked. But wait! There’s Twitter, yeeee! And we start writing, we friend people who we know in real life, and then people that we don’t know and before you know it there is a bunch of people talking to YOU. Great! Love/Belonging – checked. Uuu, and look coolcat1340 said I’m funny, and johny78 said I’m cool, and I helped that guy to find a picture of a bunny with a hat. Esteem – checked. Everybody is bloging so I’ll start a blog too and write about that guy in the subway. I write good, I’m smart, I got 5 comments, cool! Self-Actualization – checked.
And there you have it folks. We need to do this kind of stuff. Even more, we LOVE doing this kind of stuff. We are human, social animals, and we know it. We can do this wherever we are, write stuff all day. While at work, on the way from/to home, while shopping, in bed, on the toilet, you got the idea.
But how much of this is really a scam? You know, physically, some of the people. You don’t know most of them. How many are you real “friends”? Not many. When you have 500+ and counting do you really care if mr/mrs 652 is not writing anymore? Maybe you do, for 2 days.
So is there something more lasting in the Worl Wide Web? Oh ye’. There are communities!
What’s the difference? Easy – they stick together. There’s something that drives a community, a common interest, an idea. If I like eating Chinese food today, I’ll most likely have the same taste tomorrow and I’ll still be interested in a good restaurant a week later. But this is a different story.
For now, I’ll just finish this post and maybe I’ll get a comment! Oh, I’m so smart!

Uneori 28 de cuvinte sunt suficiente No comments yet

Am scris într-un post anterior despre regula celor 28 de cuvinte a celor de la Google. Dac? nu ave?i chef s? citi?i postul anterior ?i nu ?ti?i despre ce e vorba – câteva cuvinte, pe scurt – Regul? de aur la cei de la Google este c?, la un moment dat, pagina lor de start nu trebuie s? aib? mai mult de 28 de cuvinte. Dac? num?ra?i o s? vede?i c? ?i propozi?ia anterioar? are tot 28 de cuvinte :) . De aici ?i mare t?r?boi mare când au trebuit s? adauge “privacy” pe pagina lor.

E, idea este c? cei de la Google mai fac excep?ii de la regula lor, pe care eu o consider înc? un exemplu al geniului lor, sau al norocului. Una dinte excep?ii a fost f?cut? la lansarea marelui G1 “the iPhone killer”.

Atunci a fost ad?ugat un link, pe pagina Google din SUA, c?tre site-ul de promovare al G1. Linkul a stat acolo timp de 7 zile.

Pagina de start a Google e considerat?  cel mai valoros spa?iu de pe net. Mul?i ?i-ar da o mân? ?i un picior s? aib? un link c?tre site-urile lor acolo.

?i acum scopul postului – ce efect a avut linkul cu pricina? Chiar merit? membrele pe care unii ?i le-ar jertfi? Eu zic c? nu. Conform ReadWriteWeb, care la rândul lor citeaz? pe cei de la Compete.com, se pare c? linkul nu a atras decât 800.000 de clickuri în cele 7 zile. De ce zic ”decât”? Simplu! Google.com, zic?-se, a avut 99 de milioane de vizitatori. Asta înseamn? c? mai pu?in de 1% au dat click pe link. ?i nu uita?i c? nu vezi în fiecare zi un link pe pagina Google. Eu a? fi dat numai de curiozitate.

Opinia mea – uneori 28 de cuvinte sunt suficiente. Google ?i-a creat reputa?ia de “search only” site. Nu sunt convins de succesul acestui gen de campanii.

M-am bucurat când am g?sit articolul. Mi-ar place dac? a? avea rezultatele tuturor campaniilor care se fac, de exemplu celei f?cute de Cisco. Vise :)

Yahoo – Încotro? No comments yet

Mai a naiba ea de intui?ie. De vreo 2 zile m? ?in s? scriu postul ?sta ?i tot zic în stânga ?i în dreapta – o s? vede?i voi, acum c? Jerry s-a dus ?i Yahoo e în cacao mai r?u ca niciodat? o s? trag? to?i ?acalii cu din?ii de el. Microsoft o s? rup? bucata de search. Google cred c? o s? pun? privirea în podea ca s? nu vad? sloganul ”Don‘t be evil” de pe perete ?i o s? smulg? ce poate ?i ce r?mâne de la osp??ul Microsoft din re?eaua de advertising. AOL o ciupi ?i el ceva ?i Yahoo o s? r?mân? cu ce necesit? prea mult? munc? – portalul, mailul (dac? scap? de AOL) ?i restul serviciilor.

B?smesc? Posibil. Sau poate c? nu. Ia uite ce zice nea Ballmer, cic? ”Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is saying publicly that Redmond is “open” to a “search collaboration” with Yahoo but not a total acquisition of the Sunnyvale company ” . Asta e luat? de aici. Bravo m?i. ?i parc? numai ieri erau peste tot ?tiri ca Microsoft nu e interesat s? cumpere Yahoo. Nu-?i vine s? dai cu ou? în el? ?i se mai zvone?te c? mai fur? ?i oameni de la Yahoo, mai precis pe Sean Suchter, din departamentul de search.

Câteva preciz?ri… Prin rupt din Yahoo nu vreau s? zic c? o s? se despart? neap?rat complet divizii din Yahoo, dar o bun? parte din control, m? gândesc, c? o s? migreze.

A gre?it Jerry în toat? povestea asta? Probabil. Care a fost motivul c? nu s-au în?eles cu Micrsoft de la început? Naiba ?tie, poate orgoliu, poate lucruri tehnice pe care nu le ?tiu sau nu le în?eleg. Dar cum naiba se întâmpl? c? tot ?ia de la Microsoft ies în câ?tig? M?car prin faptul c? dau mai pu?in pe ac?iuni.

Probabil c? o s? revin la acest post pe m?sur? ce evenimentele se desf??oar?. ?i ca întotdeauna – nu sunt singurul cu p?reri.

Editare post publicare: Microsoft tocmai a confirmat c? l-au furat, adic? angajat, pe Sean Suchter de la Yahoo!.

Triburi Reloaded – Tribes Q&A ebook de Seth Godin No comments yet


Seth tocmai a scos Tribes Q&A ebook, pe care pute?i s? o da?i jos de aici. Cartea este practic continuare a Tribes, sau ?i mai corect, este un supliment la original. Din p?cate nu este ?i aceasta audiobook, cum era originalul.

Oricum, citi?i cartea c? merit?, sau ?i mai bine ascula?i audiobookul. Am scris aici mai multe detalii despre Tribes.
C?teva men?iuni legat de via?a real? ?i de cartea asta.
Se pare c? unii oameni se simt jigni?i cînd li se spune trib (tribe). Am v?zut câteva discu?ii destul de aprinse pe Twitter ?i pe blogul lui Jim Connoly (pe care îl recomand ca lectur? suplimentar?). Mie, personal, îmi e indiferent dac? cineva îmi zice c? fac parte din comunitatea lui de cititori sau din tribul lui de cititori dar, aparent, sunt mul?i care o iau ca pe o insult?. Jim zicea de câteva cazuri când câ?iva bloggeri ?i-au pierdut din cititiori sau ?i i-au pus în cap dup? ce li s-au adresat ca tribul lor.
Îns? nimeni nu a zis ca cea ce zice Seth nu e adev?rat. C?rcoteala era legat? de cuvântul trib ?i de faptul c? lumea nu mai are nevoie de înc? un ”buzz word”, mai ales d?c? e jignitor.
Discu?ii, probleme… citi?i ?i vede?i despre ce e vorba. 

Prima prezentare s?pt?mânal? a lui Obama pe YouTube No comments yet

Ieri (15 noiembrie 2008) a fost postat? pe YouTube prima prezentare s?pt?mânal? a lui Obama.

Nu cu mult timp în urm? promitea c? o s? pun? prezent?rile sau discursurile sau adres?rile s?pt?mânale c?tre poporul american (?i oricine vrea s? asculte) în fiecare s?pt?mân? pe YouTube ?i acum face primul pas s?-?i respecte promisiunea. Discursurile s?t?mânale ale democra?ilor erau transmise tradi?ional în fiecare s?mb?t? diminea?a la radio.

La ora asta (15 noiembrie 2008, ora 13) sunt deja 475.098 de vizion?ri. De zis nu zice nimic revolu?ionar, spune de summitul G20 ?i mai zice ?i despre proiecte legislative care vrea s? le vad? adoptate.

G?sisi?i aici textul prezent?rii de mai sus.

Am v?zut aici un comentariu interesant. Obama î?i începe discursul cu G20 ?i zice despre cum toat? lumea trebuie s? bage mare s? ie?im din cacao ?i termin? cu poporul american care trebuie s? fie unit. Poate ar fi cazul ca poporul american s? colaboreze mai mult cu restul popoarelor.

Dar vorbind de comentarii aproape jum?tate de milion de vizualiz?ri ?i 0 comentarii.

Ce a? fi foarte curios s? v?d este ce procent dintre cei care s-au uitat la clip sunt americani comparativ cu restul, ?i mai ales cu evolueaz? în timp statisticile.

Ce e revolu?ionar e c? oricine poate s? vad? clipul pe YouTube.

S? vedem când o s? apar? ?i B?sescu pe Trilulilu :) , dar asta de bun?voie ?i nesilit de nimeni ?i nu la categoria ”A?a NU”. Probabil c? imediat dup? pa?te, ?la al cailor…

My job simulator or the geek way of thinking about life No comments yet

I have to admit, I am a bit ashamed of my self, better said, ashamed of my geekinesagain.

While waiting for my colleagues to shut down their computers, after a long day at work I put together a few lines of code to depict the fact that after a day of work it was time to go home.
And sent these to them. And waited for the reaction. Which came. In the form of “Ha ha ha” and “you lost it” and so on. You’ve got the picture.
But that is ancient history in IT time (2-3 weeks old).
Yesterday, during a wall staring session I thought I could do better then 10 lines of uncompilable code, right?
Thus “My job simulator” was born. It’s still in pre alfa, so bare with me.
You can get the .cs file from here. It’s C# .NET code.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;


namespace Work
{
///
/// This is my job simulator. Using highly advanced methods, like going to work, I’ve
/// managed to put together this incredible program. It will simulate with unbelievable
/// accuracy a typical work or weekend day.
/// Just put in the configuration section your data and watch it go!
/// After you will be astonished by the accuracy, you can always donate to keep the project
/// alive!
///

class Job
{
public static DateTime TimeToGoHome;
public static DateTime Today;
public static int CheckClockStep;
public static bool IsJobCool = false;
private static bool IsTimeToGoHome = false; //Used for very complicated calculations
private static int Chance; // Used in highly advanced algorithms.
private static Random _Random = new Random(); // Used in highly advanced algorithms.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Configuration Section – Replace with your own values//
// Today’s date and hour. Format year, month, day, hour, second, millisecond
Today = new DateTime(2008,11,14,9,2,35,14);
// Time when you go home. Format year, month, day, hour, second, millisecond
TimeToGoHome = new DateTime(Today.Year, Today.Month, Today.Day, 18, 0, 0, 0);
// How long you can resist without checking what time is it.
CheckClockStep = 20;
// Do you thing your job is cool?!? Do you?
IsJobCool = false;

Console.WriteLine(”Today is ” + Today.DayOfWeek.ToString() + “!”);

if (Today.DayOfWeek != DayOfWeek.Saturday && Today.DayOfWeek !=
DayOfWeek.Sunday)
GoWork();
else
BeHappy();

Console.ReadLine();
}

private static void GoWork()
{
//We all know how things are on Friday…
if (Today.DayOfWeek == DayOfWeek.Friday)
CheckClockStep = 10;

//Nothing works n the first 2 hours anyway, why bother?
if (Today.DayOfWeek == DayOfWeek.Monday)
Today.AddHours(2);

IsTimeToGoHome = WorkOne();

if (IsTimeToGoHome)
Console.WriteLine(”HOME!”);
else
Console.WriteLine(”Something Broke! If I’m quick nobody will notice, going home…”);
}

private static void BeHappy()
{
Chance = RandomNumber(0, 100);
if (IsJobCool)
{
if (Chance > 99)
{
IsJobCool = false;
Console.WriteLine(”job’s not cool anymore”);
Console.WriteLine(”Working…”);
}
else
Console.WriteLine(”Enjoying life”);
}
else
Console.WriteLine(”Enjoying life”);
}

private static bool WorkOne()
{
try
{
while (Today < TimeToGoHome)
{
Chance = RandomNumber(1,10);

if (IsJobCool)
{
if (Chance <>
Console.WriteLine(”Actually Working”);
else
Console.WriteLine(”Annoing friends by telling how cool my job is”);
}
else
{
if (Chance == 1)
Console.WriteLine(”Having Coffee“);
else if (Chance == 2)
Console.WriteLine(”Reading Emails”);
else if (Chance == 3)
Console.WriteLine(”Reading Blogs”);
else if (Chance == 4)
Console.WriteLine(”Twitting“);
else if (Chance == 5)
Console.WriteLine(”Helping Colleagues”);
else if (Chance == 6)
{
int CanWin = RandomNumber(0, 100);
Console.WriteLine(”Having an argument with my boss and…”);
if (CanWin <>
Console.WriteLine(”… winning”);
else if (CanWin >= 51)
Console.WriteLine(”… losing”);
}
else if (Chance == 7)
Console.WriteLine(”Staring at the monitor”);
else if (Chance == 8)
Console.WriteLine(”Working…”);
else
Console.WriteLine(”Trying to look like actually working”);
}

Today = Today.AddMinutes(CheckClockStep);
}
}
catch
{
//Something Broke
return false;
}
return true;
}

private static int RandomNumber(int Min, int Max) {

return _Random.Next(Min, Max);
}
}
}
This code compiles and runs. If you run it, you will be amzaed by the astonishing accuracy.
Next version may never come…

Google Gmail face pe Skype No comments yet

Cei de la Gmail au lansat Video Chat direct din Gmail.

Mai multe g?si?i aici sau ?i mai bine – direct la surs?.

Cisco pe urmele Microsoft (apocalipsa) No comments yet

Am tot scris despre m?rea?a campanie Cisco aici ?i aici. ?i acum a venit momentul deznod?mântului.

Eu i-am zis, foarte poetic, apocalipsa. P?i ce putea s? lanseze Cisco? Un router sau switch – ?i asta a ?i f?cut.

A?a c? acum a ap?rut m?rea?a serie ASR9000. Site-ul de prezentare e frumos f?cut. Ce am re?inut eu din toat? prezentarea a fost c? s-au concentrat mult ?i pe consumul de energie. Lucru care e deja o tendin?? bine definit?. Google tot zice de cât de interesa?i sunt de subiect. ?i John Doerr a zis la în interviul de la Web 2.0 summit c? cei de la Kleiner investesc acum în tehnologii verzi cam aceia?i suma pe care o investesc ?i în web. M?car s?-i ?in?.

Sunt tare curios dac? apar rezultate despre succesul campaniei, dar a? fi uimit s? g?sesc ceva. A? fi ?i mai uimit s? zic? c? a fost un succes. B?ie?ii au tot 4 comentarii pe site-ul lor teaser.

P?rerea mea e ca toat? campania asta Cisco e un bun exemplu de cum s? dai cu m?m?liga-n gard. Dragi oameni de marketing de la Cisco, voi, cei de la Cisco, nu sunte?i glamorous, sunte?i doar buni, chiar foarte buni, dar în rutere. De ce naiba nu a?i f?cut un joc de inteligen?? sau ?i mai bine un hack game cu sculele (adic? echipamentele ;) ) voastre? C? atr?gea?i mai mult? lume dintre chiar interesat? de fier?tania voastr?. 

Basic – foarte Basic No comments yet

Am g?sit aici o referin?? la un nou limbaj de la Microsoft, pe numele lui de cod „Small Basic”.  Practic e un Basic dar foarte… basic: redus mult ?i vine ?i cu un mediu de dezvoltare la fel de prietenos. La ce e bun? P?i a fost gândit pentru copii, dar e la fel de bun pentru orice încep?tor în ale program?rii.

Eu l-am dat jos, l-am instalat ?i am ?i f?cut un prim program, s? v?d dac? e chiar a?a de simplu cum ar vrea s? fie.

Programul meu inteligent face cursorul s? se agite pe ecran câteva secunde. Mi-a trebuit mult? imagina?ie s?-l gândesc ;) .

?i impresia mea e c? este. ?i uite de ce cred asta:

  • chiar dac? nu ?ine de limbajul efectiv, interfa?a este extrem de simplu de folosit

  • tot de interfa?? ?ine ?i intellisense-ul, care e bine gândit

  • nu trebuie s? stau s? includ cine ?tie ce minuni de libr?rie (?in minte ?i acum cum am pierdut jumade zi cu unul dintre primele mele programe pentru c? nu inclusese-m o libr?rie)

  • nu ai tipuri de variabile – adic? le deduce compilatorul de la sine

  • ca s? rulezi un program nu trebuie decât s? dai pe F5

Mie mi-a pl?cut, a func?ionat a?a cum trebuie, mi se pare suficient de simplu ?i o s? încerc s? v?d cum reac?ioneaz? ?i v?rul meu de 10 ani.

Una peste alta, mi se par l?udabile ini?iativele de genul acesta. Mai e ?i gratis! Înc? o bil? alb? pentru Microsoft din partea mea.

Download de aici. Documenta?ia este aici.

S?-l folose?ti ai nevoie ?i de .Net Framework 3.5 – download aici.

The girl, the bag and the butt – the story of a geek No comments yet

I want to share with you what happened to me last Friday… As usual, I woke up, just enough to get dressed an go to work, and was sitting in the metro, doing a little bit of people watching and thinking about the purpose of being. When I was just about to find the answer I noticed something orange – it was a laptop bag, a nice one. Black and orange, with a strap. The owner – a girl, was minding her own business. The geek in me kept staring at the bag – very nice colors, nice design, super cool neoprene laptop bag. And kept staring, and kept staring and then… the girl turned and gave me a look that could make the sun turn into a snow ball, then she turned away and that was it.

But my question was now – WHY? What did I do – then I looked at the bag again and… a little to the left and I noticed the reason – it was there – the butt. She thought I was staring at her butt!
If only she new the geek I am…
I felt so geeky then… and I still feel geeky. I should go out more. I should stop writing this post and go have a drink with my friends! 
I’m gone already… after I finish this, and check my Tweeter account… and my e-mail…
Can it get  worse then this?
Me.Blog.Post.End();
Me.Go.HaveADrink(DateTime.Now); 
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