Ronnie's Blog

in class debate

Coming Soon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:51:59 +0000

Today is the much anticipated in-class debate for cs430. It was a fantastic experience for me and probably for many people as well. Despite the fact that my performance suffered substantially from nervousness, I enjoyed the entire time. I love debates because it’s in my flesh and bone that I like to convey my ideas and convince people. But it has also been a very long time since I talk to a class, probably years. When people don’t practice, they lose their skills. It is a wake up call. I used to be in the Toastmaster Clue where I practice speaking every week. Maybe I should re-join the club and take part in some activities related to public speaking.

Streetview / Street level imagery

Coming Soon — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:24:47 +0000

These days Vancouver is welcoming two big players in Geo-Information Technology – StreetView – from Google and Microsoft. Ahead of the Olympic games, the Google StreetView team which launched its Canadian version in October, is coming back again this week to update its images and add new shots at the Olympic venues. If I’m right, their vehicles with panoramic camera should be driving here on the street between 9 to 3pm as this is when there are least pedestrians on the street. Had this not been the last week of class, I will definitely make it there to leave my footprint on the images. I think this is an honor.

Some folks, however, don’t really take it as that honorable. There are still controversies over the use of StreetView, but as a hopeful technologist, I think StreetView will be accepted by the society.

ISP competition

Coming Soon — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:45:20 +0000

Are Vancouverites enjoying the lowest cost-effective internet services in the world? I think so. (and no pun intended)

For years I’ve been enjoying a cheap and fast internet service at home, below the advertised monthly cost, around $20/month for high speed service. When I check the price in the States, which usually has better prices than Canada in almost every category of consumer goods, are actually higher by comparing the advertised costs. Here in Vancouver there is always a fierce competition between Shaw and Telus. When I called each company, there will be attacks involved telling me how terrible the other service is. Just as I think I’m already getting a very deal, Shaw sent me promotional deal, $10/month for their high speed internet. That is extraordinary, can they still make money? Maybe free internet in every household is approaching much sooner than I think. A few years back there were plans from Google to provide free internet with advertising on the side. This Christmas Google also offers free wireless internet in over 50 airports in the States, which used to costs quite a bit. Free internet will be really awesome.

is advertising revenue a reliable source

Coming Soon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:02:38 +0000

Many of the free services we enjoy today, are made possible because of advertising revenues. From Youtube, Gmail, Serach….In fact it seems the entire Google empire is supported by advertisements. That naturally leads me a question: what if people no longer advertise?

First of all, there are false advertisements everywhere. Once everyone in the society is educated enough to make the distinction between genuine advertising and false advertising, there will be no room for false ads, resulting in exits of their marketing spending. On the other hand, we have also seen examples of success without marketing investment. Technology has created opportunities for people to spread the word about good stuff, which some calls it viral marketing, but they don’t directly contribute to Google’s balance sheets. If communication between people becomes efficient enough, exchange of ideas can spread quickly enough, will we still need advertiser to tell me what is good and what is not? Maybe Twitter, which enables individuals to communicate directly in a more efficient and timely fashion, will someday kill Google along with many other ad-supported companies.

whois

Coming Soon — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:26:28 +0000

Not sure how many people knows Whois, a service that helps people look for information about domain registrant. Information include the name of the person who registers the domain, the address where they can found, the telephone number, etc. This information can be protected from public disclosure if the registrant pay a fee, but not often did I find people using it, even some famous people who I suppose do not want the world to know the thereabout of their house. The real question I have though, is that people are often afraid of information leak. They worry that if their name, address, and telephone number reach identity theft, something terrible could happen. If this is the case, shouldn’t Whois the very service identity thefts are looking for? How can this service still exists? I don’t understand…

On real online identity

Coming Soon — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:12:32 +0000

Every once in a while I would post ads on craigslist. Among those who replied are Korean visitors in Vancouver, whose names always show up in Korean characters in the title. At first I find it a little obscure, as I don’t know how to call them in reply, except copying and paste the characters. Later I learned that it is by law in Korea that everyone use real name on Korean websites, whether it be forum, social networking site, or email address. Later I tried to register an account on Naver.com, the biggest Korean online social networking site where I can connect with my Korean friends. The registration can only be completed if I send them a copy of my ID issued by government body. I was amazed. I wonder how Korean people think about this law, don’t they have the same privacy concerns as we do here? Net neutrality and freedom of discussion are also one of the great advantages Internet has. Have they ever considered the impacts on these issues? People in most countries are used to the idea of anonymity on the Internet. I for one, would be more at ease to freely express my opinions if I know my identity is not revealed to the mass internet users.

It is not to say that requiring everyone to use true identity online is not without benefits. I am sure one can easily list many. However, I am still not convinced how the benefit could overweight the lost.

internet fraud

Coming Soon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:48:28 +0000

Most people are quite conscious about scams on the internet already. As an early adapter on e-commerce, I am one of the unfortunates who fell victim to fraud.

It was a shopping experience on eBay. Someone put an electronic item up for sale, but the seller only accepts money order. I thought it should be a genuine transaction since he’s giving me his full name and address where the money order should be sent to. So I followed the instructions, sent him the money, from then on there was no more responses from him.

Consequently I filed a complaint and eBay gave us about a month to resolve the problem. The seller would never respond, his account status later even changed to “no longer a registered user”. Then it took another 30 days for investigation to begin, and yet another 30 days for me to receive a $175 cheque from the buyer protection program (after a $25 investigation fee was deducted). The worst news? The buyer protection program only insures up to $200 dollars regardless how much the item is worth, and I paid almost a thousand.

The lesson I learned is that I would never pay anyone with money order. Had he accepted paypal, I would have recovered 100% of the lost.

goodbye twitter

Coming Soon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:43:34 +0000

Twitter is awesome. It’s convenient, it’s short, and it’s updated instantly. People can subscribe directly to the source, not only can it be a traditional newspaper, but also the person or club you are interested in. How cool is that when the celebrity you like sends tell you breaking news directly from their cellphone to yours. But since school started I’m following fewer and fewer people (there weren’t many to begin with, just fyi), because twitter message, even they are just like SMS, can be distracted, especially in class. When a tweet comes to my phone, I tend to check it to find out what it is. (it also adds up to the problem that the person I was following is highly active on sending tweets, aka Mr. American Idol host). Another problem is that I don’t always remember to switch my phone to silence mode, and some other times I need the phone to be in active sound mode when I’m waiting for a call, twitter then gets too intruding in my peaceful life. So, until I am bored again, not likely in the coming month, good bye twitter.

Warner music back to YouTube

Coming Soon — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:12:33 +0000

After months of withdrawing the music catalog from YouTube, unwilling to join the advertising supported model with YouTube, Warner Music finally came back to the table and make their music available to everyone with access to YouTube.

This is good news for music fans as well as Warner. Let’s face the reality, revenue sharing from ads is a working business model, benefiting both listeners and music industry. For those who cannot afford to buy musics, they can enjoy them freely and legally; for people who want to support their artist, or who want high quality instant access of music anywhere they go, they may well do so by purchasing music. On the other hand, music label gets paid directly or indirectly from both user groups. From a game strategy point of view, this is the best solution.

The biggest concern from the music industry would probably be that putting music available online for free will hurt traditional music sales. Yes, true. But which traditional industry isn’t effected in this information age. From the micro-perspective, people will be more confident to purchase music if they have the chance to listen then in full length in advance; from the macro-perspective, free music help singers reach a broader audience, which in turn will stimulate more people to go to concerts, or buy idol’s accessories. So far as I know music artists are still making millions of dollars by creating music. CD sales plunged, their income not. Artists will not stop creating music, but rather, a whole new generation of artists have been fostered by people listening music from YouTube. Susan Boyle, Justin Bieber…too many people have gain phenomenal fame because of YouTube.

Who will be hurt by this model? Yes, The Pirate Bay! As people seek after legal ways to enjoy music, TPB will lose visitors, which basically means money transfer from TPB back to the music industry.

Reference:

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/warner-music-comes-back-to-youtube.html (Oct.2nd, 2009)

Doing homework on iphone

Coming Soon — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:50:34 +0000

To live up to the spirit of a CS student (and possibly a geek), I am now doing homework on the iPhone, thanks to the weekly journal assignment, and the amazing Word Press app. It’s a really cool statement and act in my opinion. So instead of sitting in the bus reading the NY Times (another iPhone app), this is another option for me to spend time, in a more productive manner. I can also jot down random ideas whenever they arise. When Steve Jobs unveiled iPhone to the public, he said:”Every once in a while, there is something new come out that changed everything.” To me this is not an overstatement. For many people, the first thing they do in the morning is checking emails, even while in bed, to keep up with the digital life (source: NYT). As I’m on the Canada Line right now typing this journal, I am also surrounded by many people who’s eyes are fixated on their iPhone or BlackBerry. Much more powerful CPU for MID is being developed [CNET]. I can only imagine a better future lying ahead.