Jun

1

(Cognitive) memory hack: recall just before you forget

Filed Under did you know, regular reads, self improvement | Leave a Comment

I’m backlogged on my reading and I have just gotten around to reading this interesting (but lengthy) piece from Wired about some cool psychology hacks. I’m going to distill the key points for easier (read: less time consuming) mass consumption here. This is a very interesting memory trick. Simply put, I’m sure everyone could use a better memory.

Piotr Wozniak found a trick of how to remember stuff, and his software SuperMemo is a tool to help accomplish just that.

The problem statement and the general theory behind the solution:

SuperMemo is based on the insight that there is an ideal moment to practice what you’ve learned. Practice too soon and you waste your time. Practice too late and you’ve forgotten the material and have to relearn it. The right time to practice is just at the moment you’re about to forget. Unfortunately, this moment is different for every person and each bit of information. Imagine a pile of thousands of flash cards. Somewhere in this pile are the ones you should be practicing right now. Which are they?

The benefits:

Twenty years ago, Wozniak realized that computers could easily calculate the moment of forgetting if he could discover the right algorithm. SuperMemo is the result of his research. It predicts the future state of a person’s memory and schedules information reviews at the optimal time. The effect is striking. Users can seal huge quantities of vocabulary into their brains.

Read more

Mar

14

Pricing information itself as a product

Filed Under business, did you know, marketing, product management | Leave a Comment

Have you ever tried looking up stock prices online? Let’s say we look up the ticker symbol GOOG on Yahoo! Finance:

yhooticker

Hmm. It says, “Quotes delayed for <ticker symbol>. Get streaming real-time quotes - FREE TRIAL”. And this is the same ticker symbol on MSN Money:

msnticker

Quotes on MSN Money are delayed 15 minutes. Now how about we just look up Google’s stock price on well, Google themselves! This is Google Finance:

googticker

15 minute stock quote delay. Ever wonder why that is?

It’s a pricing strategy. The product here is information–the price of the stock quote. They segmented their customers into those who are casual surfers (who may or may not care about investing) from those who are serious stock traders (stock prices accurate up to the nearest millisecond is critical!). The perceived value of the same piece of information is different to each consumer.

If you suffered from some life-threatening disease and have a week left to live, how much you would pay for information of a possible cure? (note: I said “possible” cure) I’m sure you would sell off everything you have for that information, maybe even taking on a loan. Now if I told you that I have information for a verified cure, but you don’t have the disease, how much would you pay for the information now? None.

This is pretty much the same thing. Companies that are in the business of selling information, are always looking for ways to generate a bigger return from their “product”, and this is one of them — by extracting more money from people who are willing to pay the price.
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Mar

7

Towards a greener computer–but what does that really do?

Filed Under cleantech, did you know, geeky, hardware, ideas, innovation, technology, things to ponder about | Leave a Comment

MSI announced that the company has recently invented the world’s first powerless air cooler for computer motherboards. For those new to computer hardware, as we ignore Moore’s Law and advance computer technologies by making them faster and store more data, cramming more and more transistors into a piece of silicon, the heat generated by all these components start becoming a non-negligible problem–as anyone managing a data center with hundreds of computers will identify with.

There are many ways to cool the insides of a computer, but the most common is through the use of heatsinks and fan’s. Computer hardware junkies prefer a more advanced hack: liquid cooling, a more quiet and efficient (and l33t) way of dissipating heat from their overclocked CPU’s. This invention by MSI makes the fan inside your computer power-free, thus less power drawn from the computer power supply.

The basic idea employed here is one derived from the Stirling Engine. MSI’s invention captures the heat from the component, whose energy is then converted to push the fan blades around, which in turn cools the heatsink.

From their press release:

The “Air Power Cooler” transfers the chipset heat into air momentum, when the air becomes hot, the air will expand then push the fan to rotate and In doing so cooling the heatsink immediately. After the air moves from the bottom to top of the piston, the air will become heavy to push the up piston down. The better air piston design can transfer over 70% heat power and transfer to air power, that’s great efficiency transfer from Stirling engine theory. In a comparison with solar power the transfer rate is only around 20~30% requiring more surface and as a result cost.

I think the claim of besting solar power is interesting, but would like to see some independent tester verify that statement (just for my assurance that this isn’t the typical corporate PR mudslinging nonsense).

This actually reminds me of Tesla Motors’ regenerative braking system. Energy from deceleration is captured and stored for later use in acceleration. Genius!

In a battery-powered electric vehicle, regenerative braking (also called regen) is the conversion of the vehicle’s kinetic energy into chemical energy stored in the battery, where it can be used later to drive the vehicle. It is braking because it also serves to slow the vehicle. It is regenerative because the energy is recaptured in the battery where it can be used again.

Tesla Motors is an interesting electric car startup in Silicon Valley headed up by Elon Musk (of PayPal fame), who also started SpaceX and SolarCity (I’m an admirer!).

But I digress.
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Feb

20

Ridiculously sick work ethic

Filed Under career, changing the world, did you know, execution, goal setting, passion, people i like, perseverance, things to remind myself, values | Leave a Comment

I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. I’ve viewed myself as slightly above average in talent. And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping? I’m working. While the other guy’s eatin’? I’m working. While the other guy’s making love, I mean, I’m making love, too. But I’m working really hard at it.

You can look at the first six episodes of the Fresh Prince and I was so hell bent on not failing that I memorized the entire script. And you can see in certain shots they try to cut around it as much as they can, but I am mouthing the other actor’s lines.

Nuff said, this guy is my hero and role model.

More from CBS.

Feb

14

The 3 kinds of (competitive advantage) data

Filed Under business, career, did you know, things to ponder about | Leave a Comment

I learned some interesting financial jargon today.

Competitive advantage, referred to in financial markets as alpha, only comes when you have information that others do not. (An earlier speaker, Eric Christiansen of Barclay Global Investors, made clear that people like him think of three types of data: data that everyone has that gives you no advantage, data that you need to know because it gives you no advantage but not knowing can really hurt you, and finally, data that only you have, and can (briefly) take advantage of.)

Interesting food for thought. I’m going to chew on this for a while, especially #2. What about me that I don’t know about, that other people can see, that can hurt me? (a.k.a. your blind spot)

Feb

13

A simple solution to a difficult challenge

Filed Under changing the world, did you know, ideas, innovation, poverty | Leave a Comment

A simple solution that impact the lives of others by solving a seemingly difficult problem!

From the blog of Guy Kawasaki.

Feb

4

Dominant Logic

Filed Under business, changing the world, did you know, poverty, startup, things to remind myself, wokai | Leave a Comment

C.K. Prahalad writes on the powers of Dominant Logic,

All of us are prisoners of our own socialization. The lenses through which we perceive the world are colored by our own ideology, experiences, and established management practices. Each one of the groups that is focused on poverty alleviation–the World Bank, rich countries providing aid, charitable organizations, national governments, and the private sector–is conditioned by its own dominant logic.

Makes sense to me. We’ve all had different paths, and each of our paths has shaped our thinking in different ways. This reminds me of something Paul Buchheit said some time ago about the limitation of our own thinking.

In his presentation at Startup School 2007, Paul reminded us that when someone tells you, “That’s impossible” it should be translated as “According to my very limed experience and narrow understanding of reality, that’s very unlikely.” Everyone continuously builds a different set of experiences in their respective lives, and therefore everyone’s understanding of reality is fundamentally different.

I covered that here. Back to the story on why for-profits are generally viewed and treated negatively in their genuine endeavors to do good (and inhibiting them from achieving real success). Prahalad continues,

The policies of the [Indian] government for the first 45 years since independence from Great Britain in 1947 were based on a set of basic assumptions. Independent India started with a deep suspicion of the private sector. The country’s interaction with the East India Company and colonialism played a major part in creating this mindset.

The dominant logic, built over 45 years, is difficult to give up for individuals, political parties, and sections of the bureaucracy. This is the reason why politicians and bureaucrats appear to be vacillating in their positions. Most thinking people know where they have to go, but letting go of their beliefs and abandoning their “zones of comfort” and familiarity are not easy

Read more

Jan

28

Unbundling production from delivery can change the world

Filed Under business, changing the world, did you know, innovation, mobile, product management | Leave a Comment

From this article from the McKinsey Quarterly,

Technology helps companies to utilize fixed assets more efficiently by disaggregating monolithic systems into reusable components, measuring and metering the use of each, and billing for that use in ever-smaller increments cost effectively. Amazon.com, for example, has expanded its business model to let other retailers use its logistics and distribution services. It also gives independent software developers opportunities to buy processing power on its IT infrastructure so that they don’t have to buy their own.

Interesting, but that (Amazon Web Services) seem like an obvious application since IT assets are consumed remotely/virtually, i.e. one isn’t actually physical interacting with it. Does unbundling apply outside of the virtual world too?

Unbundling works in the physical world too. Today you can buy fractional time on a jet, in a high-end sports car, or even for designer handbags. Unbundling is attractive from the supply side because it lets asset-intensive businesses—factories, warehouses, truck fleets, office buildings, data centers, networks, and so on—raise their utilization rates and therefore their returns on invested capital. On the demand side, unbundling offers access to resources and assets that might otherwise require a large fixed investment or significant scale to achieve competitive marginal costs. For companies and entrepreneurs seeking capacity (or variable additional capacity), unbundling makes it possible to gain access to assets quickly, to scale up businesses yet keep their balance sheets asset light, and to use attractive consumption and contracting models that are easier on their income statements.

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Dec

22

Facts about helplessness at work

Filed Under career, did you know, fear, passion, things to remind myself | Leave a Comment

I have held previous jobs where I felt just absolutely shitty and felt just completely helpless, not knowing how to dig myself out of the deepest trench in my life. Out of challenging moments and difficult times, you always learn something out of it. Consider it character building–the tough way. I read this today and am sharing this here to remind myself in future:

Among small-business owners and employees, those with a stronger sense that they control what happens to them in life are less likely to become angry, depressed, or agitated when faced with conflicts and strains on the job. But those who feel little control are more prone to getting upset or even quitting.

In a study of 7,400 men and women in London civil service jobs, those who felt they had to meet deadlines imposed by someone else and had little say in how they did their work or with whom they did it had a 50 percent higher risk of developing symptoms of coronary heart disease than those with more job flexibility. Feeling little control over the demands and pressures of the work we have to do holds as a great risk of heart disease as risk factors like hypertension.

That is why, of all the relationships we have at work, the one with our boss has the greatest impact on not just our emotional health, but also our physical health.

Read more

Nov

18

Wyclef on 1 world, 1 race, and the American Dream

Filed Under changing the world, did you know, passion | Leave a Comment

Did you know that Wyclef Jean (yes, the rapper) was appointed as a goodwill ambassador to Haiti and was awarded a diplomatic passport?

Famous performing artists wield quite a bit of power, and it’s not surprising that they sometimes help drive political agendas. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who would have guessed that he would one day become the Governor of the great state of California?

Leaders are great salespeople. They can tell a great story, to move people. Here’s Wyclef’s 7 minute story of 1 world, 1 race, and the American Dream.

This land is the land of opportunity. There’s books, there’s libraries. You get a bus card. You can take the train.

Wyclef, thanks for keeping the dream alive.

Sep

17

Third-world stats and myths

Filed Under changing the world, did you know, ideas, microfinance, passion, people i like, things to ponder about, winds of change | Leave a Comment

The following TED video clip is AWESOME. 20 minutes well worth your time, I personally guarantee it.

Key points for myself:

  • It’s better to be healthy first, then wealthy later (vs. the other way around)
  • GDP per capita is tied directly to infant mortality rate
  • We’re moving towards 1 world, 3rd world countries are slowly pushing out of poverty
  • Cookie-cutter approaches don’t always work, 1 size fits all cannot be applied everywhere
  • Some people are unwilling to share data that can help change the world
  • $100 dollar OLPC initiative is truly changing the world

Amazingly cool graphs! Makes me believe even more in why the non-profit microfinance I am helping out with can really make the world a better place. I would love to one day meet Hans Rosling in person.

Aug

20

Data suggests: More swings at the bat == higher success rate

Filed Under did you know, innovation, regular reads, self improvement, strategy, things to ponder about | Leave a Comment

Wow, I just read this great post by Marc Andreessen — finding empiric data (true to Marissa Mayer’s what-does-the-data-suggest style) to answer the flame-brewing question that has been circling: “Are older or younger people better at entrepreneurship?” I do no justice by just skimming here, so please read the entire post for the full effect.

For the impatient: In summary, the valuable lesson learned here from Dr. Simonton’s research is that:

  1. Generally, productivity — output — rises rapidly from the start of a career to a peak and then declines gradually until retirement.
  2. This peak in productivity varies by field, from the late 20s to the early 50s, for reasons that are field-specific.
  3. Precocity, longevity, and output rate are linked. “Those who are precocious also tend to display longevity, and both precocity and longevity are positively associated with high output rates per age unit.” High producers produce highly, systematically, over time.
  4. The odds of a hit versus a miss do not increase over time. The periods of one’s career with the most hits will also have the most misses. So maximizing quantity — taking more swings at the bat — is much higher payoff than trying to improve one’s batting average.
  5. Intelligence, at least as measured by metrics such as IQ, is largely irrelevant.

Jun

22

Globalization and The Information Age [video]

Filed Under did you know, technology, things to ponder about | Leave a Comment

An interesting trend, see the 6 min video clip by Karl Fisch, edited by Scott McLeod.

Jun

17

Cutting finger off for biometric pass prolem solved

Filed Under did you know, regular reads, technology | Leave a Comment

I’m sure everyone has heard of a fingerprint biometric device, where your fingerprint is scanned and you are then granted access to something. In the movies, you see the villains getting around that by chopping off the finger they need from the person, to gain access. I just read this blog post on newscientist.com and it talks about how this Japanese company has solved this problem.

The company’s biometric system uses an infrared camera to record the unique pattern of capillaries just beneath the skin, which can only be seen when blood is pumping through them. When this blood flow is cut off - when the finger is cleaved from the body, for example - the pattern disappears and the finger can no longer be used for identification.

Interesting technology, although it doesn’t stop the villain from forcing the victim to willingly scan his/her finger, by say, holding the victim’s loved one as hostage.

Jun

14

eBay merchant rating hack

Filed Under did you know, security research, websense | Leave a Comment

If you shop on eBay, did you know that their merchant rating system can be gamed to artificially inflate its positive feedback number? This happened on eBay.co.uk, I learned about this and wrote a short blog post for the Security Labs.

Buyers beware. Read more about it here:
http://www.websense.com/securitylabs/blog/blog.php?BlogID=130

Mar

14

Happy Pi day!

Filed Under did you know, engineering, geeky | Leave a Comment

Yes, that’s right, you math nerds. March 14 is Pi day.

From Wikipedia:

The mathematical constant π is an irrational real number, approximately equal to 3.14159, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry, and has many uses in mathematics, physics, and engineering. It is also known as Archimedes’ constant (not to be confused with an Archimedes number) and as Ludolph’s number.

Update 15/3/2007 - Saw this on Digg, explanation about how the constant Pi is used! Very informative stuff: http://www.howstuffworks.com/pi.htm

Nov

13

Identity theft prevention tip

Filed Under did you know | Leave a Comment

Identitfy theft is on the rise, and financial services are all trying to sell all their anti-identitify-theft products for profit.

As a measure of precaution:

  • Have only your first name initial (instead of having your entire first name) printed on your checks. A thief will not know whether you sign your name with only your first initial or entire first name, but your bank will.
  • Don’t sign the back of your credit cards — instead, write “PHOTO ID REQUIRED”. That should prompt the merchant to ask for driver’s license.
  • Ready the “emergency” pack consisting of: photocopies of all your credit cards & documents in your wallet and be sure to have the phone numbers to all 3 of the national credit reporting organizations immediately (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union)

If you do find your wallet missing:

  • Cancel all credit cards
  • File a police report (where cards were stolen)
  • Call national credit reporting organizations to place fraud alert on name and social security number. Any company checking your credit will know that your identity has been stolen, and will have to take extra steps in verifying the application to authorize new credit.