I am not productive if I don’t get at least half of a day of time. Manager schedule runs only hourly basis, but I doubt how much productivity are those meetings other than showing your presence. If a manager need to do some strategy thinking, he still have to block off half a day.
How geeks consume media
A 15 years old intern at Morgan Stanley wrote an report on How Teenagers Consume Media. The mass media pick up report and thought they found the crystal ball on how to analyze the teens market. Maybe the mass media belongs to the previous generation, they don’t understand how technology had changed our life. Given credit to the 15 years old, the report is well written, but the finding is nothing new. It is just plain common sense with basic laws of economy. Teenagers are short on money, so they will spend wisely on the product or service that give them most value. It’s not surprising to see teenager consuming behavior parallel those of 30 something first digital generation who witness the birth of computer and internet. Engineers and computer geeks may have more pocket money, but in the heart we are as cheap as teenagers. Here is my report on “How Geeks Consume Media” .
- Radio
- Teens don’t listen to radio, geeks neither. Radio is so 70’s. Except live news, nothing on the radio is not on the net.
- TV
- Teens don’t watch much TV, geeks neither. We watch downloaded TV shows online at our convenience. Why let TV schedule control your life?
- Newspaper
- Teens read news online or free newspaper, geeks are the same. I sometimes read real newspaper, but I admit I am old fashion.
- Gaming
- This one is different. Geeks don’t have time for games.
- Internet
- Teens don’t use twitter, nor geeks. 150 characters is not enough for any meaningful. Only those self proclaim hippy lefties use twitter. We use facebook though.
- Directory
- Both teens and geeks wonders what’s the use of the Yellow Page? The only use of the Yellow Page I can think of used by the police to torture suspects.
- Ads
- Teens ignores stupid ads, geeks are the same. However we love clever ads and even watch it on Youtube. And everyone hates banner ads. Teens simply ignore them, we use plug-ins to filter them.
- Music
- Teens don’t pay for music, nor the geeks. 99 cent a song is way too expensive, never mind that it comes with many restrictions. Music should be free for download.
- Cinema
- This one is different. Geeks don’t have time go to theater every week. But both teens and geeks download movies. Most movies do never worth the rental fee, never mind buying DVD or tickets.
- Mobile Phone
- Geeks loves gadgets and can afford them, but teens can’t. Teens never purchase ring tone or wallpaper from the carrier. We always wonder who would anyone pay 2 bucks for something that is essentially free if you know how to upload it to the phone.
- TV, Computer, Console
- Here is where the purchasing power between geeks and teens make a big difference.
- Teens uses Windows, Geeks use anything but Windows.
Monkey’s Brain Can “Plug and Play” to Control Computer With Thought
The scientist has BMI working on monkeys, the next step is try it on human. It would be cool if I can control a few more hands. I would buy one even if they just made a BMI mouse, given that no brain surgery to probe electrodes implants to my brain.
Continue reading Monkey’s Brain Can “Plug and Play” to Control Computer With Thought
One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind
Today is the 40th anniversary of moon landing. July 20 1969 astronauts from Apollo 11 set foot on the moon surface. “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” is the famous quote from Neil Armstrong. Unfortunately, mankind still haven’t able to made the second leap. After the Apollo mission is canceled in 1972, man has never return to the rock flowing in the night sky. Compare to the Apollo mission, the space shuttle and international space station barely touch the other side of the atmosphere of the Earth.
When I was small, I always fantasy by space adventure, dreaming one day I could travel to space like the astronauts. I thought within my life span, I can witness space tourist for average people and maybe even a resort hotels on the moon. Somehow mankind seems lost their interest on space. Space exploration becomes boring academic and scientific exercise. I am probably the last the generation that grew up with space aspiration. Nowadays, youngster instead of looking up the sky, they look downward back to Earth. They concern more about environment problems than further expanding the horizon of mankind. When green is trendy, man are doomed to bounded by the gravitational pull, forever wasting our attention on mundane issues. When space becomes cool again, only then man can unleash our imagination and evolve beyond the current level.
Element of humor
I am working on my “Humorously Speaking” manual for my Toastmaster program. Some people seems to have natural talent with a good sense of humor, but humor can also be learned. You just have to remember the basic principle of humor and practice, everyone can become a decent joke master.
Telling a joke always has 5 basic parts. The first part is the set-up. It builds up the expectation of the audience so you can surprise them later. Then it follows by a pause to draw the attention of of audience. Then the punch line is the sentence that creates humor. Within the punch line, there is a punch word, the word that triggers the laughter. After the punch line, follow by another pause to give the audience time to absorb the joke and enjoy it.
A joke starts with a target, someone or something you want to make fun of. Hostility to the target in subtle or obvious way is fun. But because choosing a target that suits your audience. Sex, racial, religion jokes sometimes may be offensive to some people. Then use exaggeration and emotion to draw the attention of the audience before surprising them with the punch line. Humor must be unexpected. The joke would be less effective if you laugh at your own joke or you tell the audience you are about to tell a joke.
There are eight handy methods to construct the punch line:
- Exaggeration, push your imagination to make the tales sounds absurd.
- Incongruity, two genuine points followed by an radical point.
- Reverse of view point
- Definition to distort the meaning of the subject
- Combination the characteristics of two totally unrelated items
- Play on words, use words with different meaning in different context
- Understatement, the opposite end of exaggeration
- Implication, let the audience draw the missing connection
Here are some examples:
Philosophy is so difficult that even philosophers don’t understand it. (Exaggeration)
Talking philosophy in a date makes you sound intelligent, sophisticated and boring. (Incongruity)
Nietzsche says God is dead; God says Nietzsche is dead. (Reverse of view point)
The cost of doing philosophy research is minimal, it only have food and shelter the philosophy. The easiest way to apply for philosophy research grant is through social welfare. (Definition)
A moralist questions others morality, a skeptical moralist questions his own morality. (Combination)
Why an immoral person wearing a T-backs? Because he wants to become immortal. (Play on words)
Sophie’s boyfriend is a philosopher; He loves Sophie. (Understatement)
Philosophers thinks about all sorts of questions except the question “How to earn a living?” (Implication)