Dec 29 2010

Captcha This, Byatch!

Google announced the development of an autonomous self driving vehicle that has the potential of revolutionizing and maximizing the use of roads, fuels, and other resources. I wondered out loud, via Twitter, what other struggling industries might need some of Google algorithmic-minded engineering.

  • @techknow: In addition to moving into the automotive industry, Google should get into the airline business and revolutionize it from the ground up.
  • @SchemaCzar: Google did get into the airline biz a few months ago by buying ITA Software.
  • @techknow: You are right, I totally forgot about that acquisition. Okay, the business they still haven’t entered into: home loans! They could fix the mortgage industry

Spam and spambots are a big problem for website operators, but their solutions to get around spambots is hurting the web just as much as the spam. Personally, I despise captchas. Captchas are those cryptic and distorted letters or words that look you have to type to prove that you are a real person when signing up for a web application or service. I recently had to do an eye test and I have 20/20 vision and I have trouble entering captchas, imagine the accessibility issues that people with disabilities have to deal with because of these.

  • @techknow: I get personally insulted when I am prompted to prove my humaness with a captcha. It makes me wanna bust a cap-tcha on some webdeveloper!!!
  • @AaronBoynton: I so agree! There are better ways #downwithcaptcha
  • @techknow: The worst part is that I start thinking that maybe I am a robot because I can’t read the damn captcha. A robot with poor vision.

I’ve written about missing features in Foursquare and other location based web services before. There is little or no utility in checking into a location though Foursquare. In check into hotels more than I check into Foursquare. In check into a restaurant more than I check into Facebook Places. I want to be able to check into a restaurant and make an order. I want to check into a hotel and check in without talking to the front desk. I want to check into a parking structure and pay for parking. The following conversation started with that idea.

  • @techknow: I would like the hotel check-in process to be as easy as Foursquare check-in.
  • @ButtercupD: cool would be something similar Fastrak for bridge tolls–what about frequent guest card and walk in and autochecks you.
  • @techknow: We should patent that. ;)

I was fortunate enough to get a free CR-48 Crome notebook from Google. People outside of Google had the opportunity to sign up for one and this was the first raffle/lottery that I have ever won. This is the first time I have ever heard of a company making available a test pilot product to people outside of the company in this fashion. I think it was marketing genius and Google engineers will mine a lot of real life usage data from pilot users.

  • @techknow: My Google wish came true, and it came in a UPS box!
  • @aaronhalford: aw, everyone is getting a CR-48 but me. Enjoy it!
  • @techknow: Thanks! I hope you get one too! I also wish that Apple had a similar program. I also wish for world peace.

Nov 25 2010

Retweet October 2010

From time to time I just blast tweets about software development, project planning, team dynamics, or whatever else comes to mind. Here is a synopsis of recent tweets and rants. If you want to follow the conversation follow me at techknow and/or juixe and I’ll be sure to follow back.

Software Development

  • If rhythm is a dancer, then algorithm is a break dancer.
  • If you were a Java language reserve word what word would you be? I would be volatile!
  • I get personally insulted when I am prompted to prove my humanness with a captcha. It makes me wanna bust a cap-tcha on some webdeveloper!!!
  • Is there group think in the development community? Yes, but we build patterns around group think and call it Best Practices.

Team Leadership

  • Change your perspective and you can change the world.
  • If you don’t have an original idea you can remix existing ideas in original ways!
  • Go hard, go home, go big. Pick two.
  • If a web site’s end users are not paying customers, then the end users are the product that web site then sell to their advertisers.
  • Why do people compensate their inability to communicate with the belief that others just know what they mean, you know what I mean?
  • Hype is the food of lemmings.
  • The plan was to have no plan, the backup plan was to leave the backup plan at home.
  • Most people are natural born followers, it’s human nature.
  • The toughest competition doesn’t always come from a competitor trying to build a clone of your product but from market shift in the industry

Product Placement

  • In terms of hardware, mobile, and even operating systems Microsoft is anywhere between 3-5 years behind the leader.
  • Startups age really fast in Internet time, by my calculation Digg is already and Old Media Company.
  • Like what percent of Tumblr’s posts are reblogs and reposts?
  • I want JJ Abrams to do a movie about do a remake of The Muppets in an alternate time line like he did for Star Trek.
  • I want an iPhone that transforms into an iPad when I need a bigger screen.
  • Google is an advertising company with great search technology. Facebook is a virtual share cropping company with great social technology.
  • Who collects more personal data and knows more about a given user, Facebook or Google?
  • Apple should add a few filters to their iPhone camera app.

Mini Meme Machine

  • Scotty and Christopher Walken Mashup: Captain, I’m giving her all’s she got.  She needs more cowbell.
  • You know who would be great in a reality television show? A prison gang! Imagine, Real World San Quentin.
  • r-EPO, the performance-enhancing drug of champions!
  • Monetize common sense because people don’t have it.
  • I want to trademark the & char so that I could file a trademark infringement to all law firms with names of the form Dumb Dumber & Dumbest.
  • The best part of a bagel is the creme cheese.
  • My all time historical hero is Johannes Kepler.
  • Your life comes with terms of service, batteries not included, void where prohibited.
  • In Silicon Valley, everyone drinks the kool-aid but using bottled artisan water from a 10,000 year old glacier.
  • In Silicon Valley, everyone is more interested in their piece of the pie than in the recipe of success.

Quote

  • I didn’t mean for it to be released so quickly because I wanted to control peoples’ being offended by it. – Mark Zuckerberg
  • I think people might be slightly offended but whatever, maybe there’s a way to control that. – Mark Zuckerberg
  • Quitting while you are ahead is not the same thing as quitting. – American Gangster
  • Living at home with your parents is a very powerful contraception. – David Willetts
  • We should start a new social media web 2.0 holiday: Friend, Fan, and Follower Appreciation Day!!!