Monday, July 13, 2009
Why Get An XM Satellite Radio For Your Car?
Today, I learned one of the cool reasons to get an XM Satellite Radio service for the car: to have the ability to listen to CNN's TV feed. I was watching TV on CNN when I should be in the car driving to Just Tires for an alignment. As usual, I was already running late. Just when a news topic I've been waiting to hear finally came on, I hesitantly turned off the TV and got into the car for my drive. Just as I turned on the engine, the radio came on with the XM feed of the CNN news I was missing on TV. Wah-lah! As if CNN was following me and I felt like I never missed a beat.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Why Twitter?
Today, I learned two great reasons why Twitter is useful: (1) self-promotion and (2) news & research. The idea behind Twitter isn't new, which gives the ability for an online user to broadcast a stream of text, limited to less than 255 characters. This is what live chat is all about. (Remember IRC, BBS, AOL, iChat, etc? In fact, in 2000, I created a bunch of portal sites I used for R&D that allowed for a 150-character text streaming of reviews. Actually, ever used a CB-radio?) It's all the same thing, but simply packaged into a brand called Twitter. And because of this, I signed up for an account when they launched (like so many new websites that pop up on a daily basis), but never really used it as it was designed for.
Over a year ago, I was assigned by a client to dive into the world of social networking and understand what's what and why people use them. (I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog I posted a few months ago.) At that time, I created yet another Twitter account, this time, with a more focused purpose. I "followed" and collected some "followers," and twittered away!
The novelty wore off very quickly, in less than a week. I wondered, "What could I possibly "twitter" (or post) that would be of any interest to anyone?!" Since a twitter is accessible by the general public (if they ran a search for a word or phrase that your post included), it just meant that my posts would be archived on the web forever. I was already blogging and Facebooking, and I could barely find content to publicly posts without losing my privacy or letting the world know when my house was empty or not. Also, I've been super busy with work that any free moment I can get, I'd rather be sleeping.
Lately, the popularity of Twitter has gone from 90% to 1000%. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but since I wake up and go to sleep to news channels on TV, it seems that every news reporter and anchor has been tasked by their station to twitter. Why? It's because Twitter is like a microphone, and what reporter, media personality, or PR firm would turn down a microphone?! It's free, it's easy, and it's just like that. So if you're promoting a brand, a business, a personality, or whatever else is there to be promoting, then definitely get in the Twitter bandwagon! Hook it up with your mobile device and you've got yourself a broadcast microphone every where you go... yes, even in the john.
On the flip side, if you don't intend to do much promotion or care to have the microphone, Twitter is useful to get a snapshot of opinions about certain topics you wish to know about it... right now, this very moment. For example, I often run a Twitter search on "jussjef" and "jussjeff" to see who's discovering him and sharing videos with their network. I do the same for the names of my companies, to lurk and get a glimpse of raw opinions people may have or if they love them enough to share to the world. When I was forced to pull over to the side of the road because a mob of bomb squad raced with sirens, I ran a Twitter search about the street I was on to see if someone out there shared what was happening. (Lucky for me, someone did Twitter that the bomb squads running around LA was because of Obama's visit. This information was faster than the AM radio could report.) Anyway, you get my point.
So is Twitter worth the time? I say yes, because they've captured the media as their user-base. It's simple enough for the media folks to understand and use, and they're going to be locked on this for awhile. Yes, they've fallen in love with Twitter. And for the rest of us, it's a domino effect and we'll keep hearing them mention "Twitter" like they just discovered the Internet. As for me, I'll keep my anonymous posting on this blog, and my personal postings on Facebook. I'll be on Twitter for my clients and company, but not personally.
Over a year ago, I was assigned by a client to dive into the world of social networking and understand what's what and why people use them. (I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog I posted a few months ago.) At that time, I created yet another Twitter account, this time, with a more focused purpose. I "followed" and collected some "followers," and twittered away!
The novelty wore off very quickly, in less than a week. I wondered, "What could I possibly "twitter" (or post) that would be of any interest to anyone?!" Since a twitter is accessible by the general public (if they ran a search for a word or phrase that your post included), it just meant that my posts would be archived on the web forever. I was already blogging and Facebooking, and I could barely find content to publicly posts without losing my privacy or letting the world know when my house was empty or not. Also, I've been super busy with work that any free moment I can get, I'd rather be sleeping.
Lately, the popularity of Twitter has gone from 90% to 1000%. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but since I wake up and go to sleep to news channels on TV, it seems that every news reporter and anchor has been tasked by their station to twitter. Why? It's because Twitter is like a microphone, and what reporter, media personality, or PR firm would turn down a microphone?! It's free, it's easy, and it's just like that. So if you're promoting a brand, a business, a personality, or whatever else is there to be promoting, then definitely get in the Twitter bandwagon! Hook it up with your mobile device and you've got yourself a broadcast microphone every where you go... yes, even in the john.
On the flip side, if you don't intend to do much promotion or care to have the microphone, Twitter is useful to get a snapshot of opinions about certain topics you wish to know about it... right now, this very moment. For example, I often run a Twitter search on "jussjef" and "jussjeff" to see who's discovering him and sharing videos with their network. I do the same for the names of my companies, to lurk and get a glimpse of raw opinions people may have or if they love them enough to share to the world. When I was forced to pull over to the side of the road because a mob of bomb squad raced with sirens, I ran a Twitter search about the street I was on to see if someone out there shared what was happening. (Lucky for me, someone did Twitter that the bomb squads running around LA was because of Obama's visit. This information was faster than the AM radio could report.) Anyway, you get my point.
So is Twitter worth the time? I say yes, because they've captured the media as their user-base. It's simple enough for the media folks to understand and use, and they're going to be locked on this for awhile. Yes, they've fallen in love with Twitter. And for the rest of us, it's a domino effect and we'll keep hearing them mention "Twitter" like they just discovered the Internet. As for me, I'll keep my anonymous posting on this blog, and my personal postings on Facebook. I'll be on Twitter for my clients and company, but not personally.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Best Michael Jackson Acoustic Guitar Medley
Today, I learned this to be very best Michael Jackson medley done on guitar. It was learned by ear and played/recorded in one sitting. Really amazing.
By the way, if you want to see more of JussJef, stay tuned this July 27 (Tue) @ 10p on MTV, when the new "Making His Band" premieres. Yep, MTV... JussJef... Making His Band.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Which social networking tool is more useful to me?
Today, I learned that I miss blogging. It's been awhile since I've blogged for 2 main reasons: Facebook has stolen my attention and work has been tremendously busy. In the last two years, I've been tasked by a few clients to study the world of online social networking. Who's the best? What are they useful for? Is it all worth it?
I'm not much for posting my personal information online, because I know that whatever goes online stays online. If you don't believe me, visit http://www.archive.org. And in today's online world of RSS feeds and "scraper tools," expect what you post online to be copied to other websites you may not even be aware of. Yes, in the web, deleting doesn't really mean it's really deleted. It's definitely not as forgiving as humans.
But to be good at my job, I must embrace and experience whatever novelty is out there so I can advise my clients more intelligently and innovate more appropriately. In fact, it's why this blog was born. I couldn't just be a blog reader (or a blog lurker), but I had to be a blogger to truly understand why people blog and its pros/cons. For the same reason, despite resistance, I signed up for an account on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumpleUpon, ThisNext, Wordpress, to name a few. I created so many accounts and tried to actively use them like their avid users would. It was like contributing to the smog on the web. Really, who cared about what I shared?! Readers take what they can get from the info you serve, then their off to the next. Take. Take. Take. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme!
In case you're curious, here are some of the results from my study:
1. Blogging is great for individuals who want to share information to the world that will be accessible by search engines. Companies can utilize blogging for PR and SEO (search engine optimization). It's out there for the world to bump into. If you don't have a website, then blog. If you do have a website, then blog about your website and post hyperlinks to your websites. In other words, if you don't care who will see it, then blog. Blog about your review on your favorite topic or perhaps a complaint you have that others out there may be able to relate to. Blogging is like being an anonymous newspaper writer. (Well, you can make it as anonymous as possible.)
2. Facebook is great for connecting with people you know (or knew from way back when). It's a one-stop shop to share photos and information about yourself to only the people you know. On the flip side, you may find yourself stuck on the site looking at photos of your network and people you knew from the past. When posting, you need to use discretion on who gets to see what. It sometimes blurs the line between personal VS business networks. (I mean, really, if a client or business colleague requests to befriend you, should you really ignore them? Maybe not, but you can set your privacy level so they don't have to see photos from this weekend's party or know you're sleeping in the middle of the day.) Sometimes, when I'm on Facebook, it almost feels like everyone I know online is looking over my shoulders when I'm going through my Outlook. You know what I mean? Now, if you're trying to move forward and avoid people from your past, Facebook may not be for you.
3. LinkedIn is purely for your business life. Never mix personal and business on this site. If you're looking for a gig, your time is better spent updating your LinkedIn than your Word/PDF doc, because the chances that your hiring manager will look you up on LinkedIn is pretty high. The same applies when you're looking to network or seek for investment.
4. Twitter is for blasting a sentence to your followers. Most don't discriminate who their followers are, so it's like a blog where people you may not know personally can read about what you post. It's like a text messaging broadcast. I see it more of a mix between a blog and Facebook. You can be an anonymous Twitter poster pushing information into people's cell phones on a timely manner. I see the benefit from the poster's point of view, but I find it crazy to manage from a follower's point of view. I followed multiple Twitters and after receiving 5 blasts at practically the same time from different Twitters, I'm lost and I stop caring. Funny enough, I found myself following Twitter from J** and I felt like I knew his every move b/c my cell phone kept beeping every time he updated his Twitter. It took me almost half a year to figure out how to stop it.
On that note, it's 1am and I must continue next time. Or else, this blog will be saved to my DRAFTS like the rest and never get published.
I'm not much for posting my personal information online, because I know that whatever goes online stays online. If you don't believe me, visit http://www.archive.org. And in today's online world of RSS feeds and "scraper tools," expect what you post online to be copied to other websites you may not even be aware of. Yes, in the web, deleting doesn't really mean it's really deleted. It's definitely not as forgiving as humans.
But to be good at my job, I must embrace and experience whatever novelty is out there so I can advise my clients more intelligently and innovate more appropriately. In fact, it's why this blog was born. I couldn't just be a blog reader (or a blog lurker), but I had to be a blogger to truly understand why people blog and its pros/cons. For the same reason, despite resistance, I signed up for an account on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumpleUpon, ThisNext, Wordpress, to name a few. I created so many accounts and tried to actively use them like their avid users would. It was like contributing to the smog on the web. Really, who cared about what I shared?! Readers take what they can get from the info you serve, then their off to the next. Take. Take. Take. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme!
In case you're curious, here are some of the results from my study:
1. Blogging is great for individuals who want to share information to the world that will be accessible by search engines. Companies can utilize blogging for PR and SEO (search engine optimization). It's out there for the world to bump into. If you don't have a website, then blog. If you do have a website, then blog about your website and post hyperlinks to your websites. In other words, if you don't care who will see it, then blog. Blog about your review on your favorite topic or perhaps a complaint you have that others out there may be able to relate to. Blogging is like being an anonymous newspaper writer. (Well, you can make it as anonymous as possible.)
2. Facebook is great for connecting with people you know (or knew from way back when). It's a one-stop shop to share photos and information about yourself to only the people you know. On the flip side, you may find yourself stuck on the site looking at photos of your network and people you knew from the past. When posting, you need to use discretion on who gets to see what. It sometimes blurs the line between personal VS business networks. (I mean, really, if a client or business colleague requests to befriend you, should you really ignore them? Maybe not, but you can set your privacy level so they don't have to see photos from this weekend's party or know you're sleeping in the middle of the day.) Sometimes, when I'm on Facebook, it almost feels like everyone I know online is looking over my shoulders when I'm going through my Outlook. You know what I mean? Now, if you're trying to move forward and avoid people from your past, Facebook may not be for you.
3. LinkedIn is purely for your business life. Never mix personal and business on this site. If you're looking for a gig, your time is better spent updating your LinkedIn than your Word/PDF doc, because the chances that your hiring manager will look you up on LinkedIn is pretty high. The same applies when you're looking to network or seek for investment.
4. Twitter is for blasting a sentence to your followers. Most don't discriminate who their followers are, so it's like a blog where people you may not know personally can read about what you post. It's like a text messaging broadcast. I see it more of a mix between a blog and Facebook. You can be an anonymous Twitter poster pushing information into people's cell phones on a timely manner. I see the benefit from the poster's point of view, but I find it crazy to manage from a follower's point of view. I followed multiple Twitters and after receiving 5 blasts at practically the same time from different Twitters, I'm lost and I stop caring. Funny enough, I found myself following Twitter from J** and I felt like I knew his every move b/c my cell phone kept beeping every time he updated his Twitter. It took me almost half a year to figure out how to stop it.
On that note, it's 1am and I must continue next time. Or else, this blog will be saved to my DRAFTS like the rest and never get published.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
2009 Business Logos
Today, I learned something funny being circulated in the Forwarded Email world that takes up my mail server. My uncle sent me this.
2009 Business Logos
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Live video webcast from my cell phone
Today, I learned how to use my Sprint Mogul HTC as a live video camera webcasting tool. It's not new technology, but the most amazing piece for me is how simple and easy it is. As much as I "love, love, love" my Sprint Mogul HTC, I'm a bit disappointed at how difficult it is for me to share on the web the photos and videos I take on the device. I'd say my Sprint Mogul HTC is the closest to a James Bond / McGyver gadget that can save you in tough situations.
I'm not a typical cell phone owner, because I currently own at least 5 phones from different phone providers. (I'll explain later as to why in the world I have so many phone plans, but the simplest explanation is it's all for business and R&D use.) I'm an early adapter who's not afraid to be the beta user and push the technology for what and how consumers can use these gadgets. (My first pager was in 1994 -- the watch pager which I used to receive text messages even though it wasn't meant to be used for that.)
Okay, back to my fun discovery. The site and application can be found on http://qik.com. It allows you to broadcast the video you capture on your cell phone, LIVE, to a webpage. It's so simple and lives up to its plug-and-play goals. In other words, it's something my parents can do without receiving a phone call from them on how to do it.
Why am I so excited about this? Hm. Imagine:
Cheers!
I'm not a typical cell phone owner, because I currently own at least 5 phones from different phone providers. (I'll explain later as to why in the world I have so many phone plans, but the simplest explanation is it's all for business and R&D use.) I'm an early adapter who's not afraid to be the beta user and push the technology for what and how consumers can use these gadgets. (My first pager was in 1994 -- the watch pager which I used to receive text messages even though it wasn't meant to be used for that.)
Okay, back to my fun discovery. The site and application can be found on http://qik.com. It allows you to broadcast the video you capture on your cell phone, LIVE, to a webpage. It's so simple and lives up to its plug-and-play goals. In other words, it's something my parents can do without receiving a phone call from them on how to do it.
Why am I so excited about this? Hm. Imagine:
- If there was some catastrophy I find myself in, I can simply film it and you can watch it -- LIVE! -- with my audio commentary.
- As a Southern California driver, I can show you how the freeway looks like by pointing my cell phone to the road.
- Men can go shopping at the grocery store, and broadcast what they're looking at for their wives to tell them to look left-right-up-down, go to the next isle.
- A person can go shopping and ask their website viewers which shoe to select, which dress to buy -- talk turning that BFF shopping buddy into an wide online audience! Right on the spot, people can tell you thums up or down. (Well, of course, this is for those people who can't make a decision.)
- I mentioned traffic report... how about live weather report? "See how much snow we're getting in SoCal!"
- Here's a silly one, but my brother and I would totally use this -- live mass!
- Speaking of James Bond, how about live video espionage? :)
Cheers!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Contagious for being happy
Today, I learned that happiness is contagious. Last month, I read an article on the benefits of laughter and happiness. Does this mean I'm going to live longer eating all these happy food? ;)
I don't know about wanting to live longer than the people in my life.
I don't know about wanting to live longer than the people in my life.
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