Andre

Who hears a tree tweet?

andre — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:29:54 +1500

If tweets, those 140 character messages sent on the Twitter service, are in fact nothing more than status updates and we personify objects, events and actions, then anything measurable can tweet.

The question everyone answers with their tweets is "What are you doing?"
The answer to that should be another counter-question: "Do we care to read?"

Even a simple tree could tweet about what it sees all day, how it interacts with insects, animals and the wind, how it grows, sheds leaves.. A private tweet to me by my laundry machine might still be useful to me at least but does the world need to know? Isn't it enough already when I tell it to all in my own tweet stream?

Fictional accounts like @DarthVader are fun to read, and so are real, human accounts like @_Syma_. Both can't tweet on their own and thus rely on real people who write their stories. However, this is only so long fun as it stays within the account's personality.

Using Twitter as a micro-blog, the daily life of a tree indeed could turn into a beautiful story when carefully written - with a professional level of children books or poetry in mind. Otherwise it would turn into a dead branch of the twitterverse. Why not let an atom whine about its breakup?

Besides the usual spam that today affects every web service that accepts any form of input and account creation, the most annoying form of tweeting is its abuse as an instant messenger. Twitter supports tweet replies which is a great tool to comment or answer someone's question. However, it terribly fails when entire accounts are consisting of nothing more than replies. This might still be useful to that particular account holder for a specific purpose but it is a turn-off for those seeking more content value.

This is in particular annoying when such accounts follow one's own account and expect a follow-back. Probably the biggest misunderstanding of anything Twitter is the concept of following, where accounts can follow each other to receive updates of the others' latest tweets.

The common sense interpretaion of the follower feature should be that people can follow (about the same as "sign up for") others because they are interested in the content of the one they follow. Unfortunately, counters (numbers viewable by the public) have a hypnotic influence on most and thus the race to get the highest count of followers was on the moment the feature was introduced. A couple of accounts now have over a million followers, led by the public battle between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk).

If the number of followers cannot be taken as yardstick to the importance of a certain account, then maybe re-tweets (rt) might do so. As the name suggests, re-tweeting refers to sending again someone else's tweet. This could be a simple copy led by a "rt" note and the original author's Twitter account name, or also joined by an own comment. Re-tweets are usually shortened in writing style or even content to fit within the 140 character limit of tweets but still carry the same message.

If someone - no matter famous or totally unknown - tweets something of great value or importance, it will be picked up by others - not necessarily followers - and re-tweeted. Gaining momentum, this message begins to appear on trend-spotting radars and can break news worldwide within minute, long before any conventional news media picks it up through traditional channels. Even with no WiFi or other Internet connection available, thanks to its SMS compatibility, Twitter users can send tweets from their mobile phone from wherever they are either next or inside the happening.

Twitter might well be on track to create a new communication and expression medium, something like the telephone and TV combined: simultaneously broadcasting and receiving anything from anywhere.

Twitter just might be the ultimate tool to give a voice to everything known to mankind.

Follower or Friend?

andre — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:12:54 +1500

A thought about "followers" on Twitter versus "friends" on about most other social (network) services.

There is something seriously wrong with the usage of "friend" when people clean up their social lists by removing 100s of "unknown friends". If those you follow on Twitter become real friends, it's because you have learned something about them or have communicated with them first.

You "follow" people/services because you are interested in their updates. I personally don't believe in the blind following out of courtesy. What I like about Twitter is that it is about "followers" and not like other sites where the whole world is your - often unknown - "friend".

"Thx for follow" tweets can be annoying but when they are links to "thx for follow" pages with video and plenty of ads, it becomes terrible.

You can follow me on Twitter - and just maybe we might become friends.

Give me your account

andre — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:08:56 +1500

People love to give away their usernames and passwords. That's the only explanation why I receive so many invitations from them to give away my personal data as well.

Common sense, a bit of questioning, the news, sometimes friends, parents, tech and support departments, they all warn us every day about the dangers of certain emails and web sites. Nevertheless, such black holes of personal data are so strong that many can't escape their gravity. Think of it like the fly that cannot escape the blue light that means certain death.

While you may partially forgive people falling for well-made phishing emails and web sites which look exactly like the original, it goes beyond any reason why so many voluntarily give up their privacy to sites which explicitly state on their front page that they WILL use the personal data for all things unwanted, such as spamming.

My latest invitation to join a service hungry for my data I received last night, sent through the Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger). A message from a friend popped up, only containing a link to http://xxx.0sev.info (friend's name replaced with "xxx"). Let's take a closer look at their main page (looks same as the friend's username branded): www.0sev.info.

Only "name" on the site: "pix for MSN friends v1.1c"
Required: "please login with your MSN to continue..."
Input fields: "MSN E-Mail" and "MSN Password"
Best of all are the "Terms of Use / Privacy Policy" right below the login form. I've copied it below and added comments in bold to the best parts:

Terms of Use / Privacy Policy:

By filling out this form, you authorize TST Management, Inc to spread the word about this 100% real and upcomming Messenger Community Site.
You will receive your share of the credit in helping us spread the word. This is a harmless Community site which is offering users a platform to meet each other for free. (who believes that?)

We do not share your private information with any third parties.
By using our service/website you hereby fully authorize TST Management, Inc to send messages of a commercial nature via Instant Messages and E-Mails on behalf of third parties via the information you provide us. This is not a "phishing" site that attempts to "trick" you into revealing personal information. Everything we do with your information is disclosed here. If you are under eighteen (18), you MUST obtain permission from a parent or guardian before using our website/service.

This page is not affiliated with or operated by Microsoft(tm) or MSN Network(tm).

ANY LIABILITY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED OR ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS LINE FAILURE, SHALL BE STRICTLY LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE SUBSCRIBER TO THIS SERVICE. (in other words, "zero" - see further below "free service")

We may temporarily access your MSN account to do a combination
of the following: (in other words, using your MSN contact list to spam everybody in your contact list; your contacts will love you for that)
1. Send Instant Messages to your friends promoting this site.
2. Introduce new entertaining sites to your friends via Instant Messages.

This is a free service. You will not be asked to pay at any time.
You will not be subscribed to anything asking for payment.
This service is made possible by many hours of human effort.

TST Management, Inc reserves the right to change the terms of use / privacy policy at any time without notice. To view the latest version of this privacy policy, simply bookmark this page for future reference. (who is ever doing that?)

You understand that this agreement shall prevail if there is any conflict between this agreement and the terms of use you accepted when you signed up with MSN. You also understand that by temporarily accessing your msn account, TST Management, Inc is NOT agreeing to MSN's terms of use and therefore not bound by them. (in other words, you give them free access to everything, you violate MSN rules, and everything will be in your liability in relation to MSN)

This agreement shall be construed and governed by the law of the republic of Panama. You expressly consent to the exclusive venue and personal jurisdiction of the courts located in the Republic of panama for any actions arising from or relating to this agreement. (do I really need to comment about this?)

If any provision of this agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not effect any other provisions of this agreement, and this agreement shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had not been contained herein.

Copyright 2008 TST Management, Inc

It is important to mention that giving access to MSN / Windows Live accounts also gives access to the Windows Live ID (formerly known as Passport) account, which in turn gives access to a whole range of services, including Hotmail and Xbox Live (if gamertag is known).

Another - same - "legal phishing" site is MaxComments.com, also operated by the same company TST Management, Inc. That one targets the MySpace community.

Email receiver's best friends

andre — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:30:58 +1500

I admit it: I am an email receiver. I do receive emails, some more and some less important, daily. Occasionally, I even send some. Nowadays, one almost dares not to tell anyone about it because of the flood of unwanted emails arriving minutes after the world knows someone's email address, or even just the domain name. Holding a couple of domain names on my own mail server, I noticed a couple of odd things and I met 2 new friends.

First, there are the spam sender names such as molliedistilleryroper or any other garbage mix of letters and numbers, attached to existing or fake domain names; in some cases even a non-existant account at my very own domain. It sometimes happens that the sender pretends to be the same email as the target. Like I would send spam to myself...

Funny are the destination addresses, which are made up of the same combinations as the senders, with one notable difference: the majority of the destination names are quite funny:

son
catchthismail
thisisjusttestmessageatall
iamjustsendingthisleter

There are surprisingly few emails addressed to my correct address.

Meet my 2 best friends in all things email: catch-all and site_blackhole. While all incoming email not matching an existing account is forwarded by default to catch-all, they are being destroyed by site_blackhole. In fact, catch-all is an alias for site_blackhole, so all that spam just disappears. End of their digital life.

At best, 5% of an average of 1500 incoming emails per day are not spam, or at least not falling into the spam category (some long-forgotten signed-up newsletters...). Looking at the pattern of incoming email quantities, it emerges that the spam flood spikes every 2-4 days; going up and down between those peaks in an orderly manner (not randomly). On the long run, the quantity grows but the 2-4 days pattern remains the same.

Meet the digital neighbors

andre — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:56:19 +1500

There are many neighbors online, be it in virtual worlds like Second Life, social web sites like MySpace, shared interests in user groups or bookmark entries. These places offer great opportunities to get in touch and learn more about others and all is just a click away. Instead of the usual friend lists and random suggestions, why not click the strangers immediately around you?

Say you publish something in a service like Twitter, then go to the page listing all recent posts and follow up on the people immediately behind and ahead of your own post. You never know what and who you could find this way; a surprise at every click.

Twitter Travel Reporter

andre — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 08:19:18 +1500

Doing a recap of the past week regarding my Twitter experience, I've concluded that this service could be a great travel reporting tool if you keep using the same phone but it totally fails when you don't do so.

The first half of the week I spent in China, so I registered my other mobile card with Twitter before going there. It worked just fine.
Returning to Hong Kong, I initially forgot to update Twitter about my mobile card changes so I couldn't post updates. Lucky me, there's always either a coffee shop with Internet access or a wireless network around so I switched from there.
Two days later, I went to Macau and again totally forgot to update my Twitter records when switching mobile cards so I lost a great opportunity to comment on many things I encountered during my trip.

Twittering from a mobile phone is a great tool to keep track of one's adventures and publish it in real-time to the world but if I can't remember to update my Twitter settings, it's useless. It's often necessary to switch mobile cards: some cards won't do roaming, the fees might be too high so a local rechargeable card would be better...

Web Sites' user waves

andre — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:34:31 +1500

Trendy Web sites come and go, in most cases similar to seasonal fashion filling stores only to be replaced a short time later. In a same way as some people dare to wear clothes beyond the original season, some Web sites make it through while others just disappear; some users just keep using them because they like it.

Another kind of Web sites started out with much hype through word of mouth (in the online world, that would be instant messaging and annoying emails) and thus attract many subscriptions in the early stage. However, such sites usually are less than well performing at first, be it cumbersome handling methods, lack of services and features, etc...

This results in a fast growing sign-up rate of people trying out the service and many more just joining because they were "talked into it" by friends. Those talked into it likely will not become active members while many if not most of the very early active users will eventually feel bored by the service and complain about bugs and missing stuff, or move on to the "next big thing". After not too long, most of them will have become inactive users as well.

These new Web sites keep adding and upgrading resources to make the site a smoother ride and often have a hard time coping with the high demand; not seldomly collapsing under the higher than expected sudden surge in users at the beginning. After the active user curve bounces back downwards, better resources are in place and many bugs have been fixed. The sites are more stable and become widelier known through conventional media such as reviews, advertisements, integration into other sites, partnerships... By that time, the sites' active members are well down which leaves plenty of room for new development and implementations (less complains if the service announces maintenance downtimes) and more resources for new features and better performance.

The broad(er) coverage of the sites' features and good performance, the high number of registered users (nobody would ever mention they are mostly inactive) and the newly upgraded and improved services put the sites into the right position to attract their first wave of dedicated users. These users mostly discover the service on their own (read about it, see it somewhere implemented...) and it is their own curiosity and interest which makes them sign up. This guarantees a much higher rate of new active users as those who take the time to study a service often only bother to sign up if the site gives them a certain impression.

Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (SMS), instant messaging, email, or desktop applications and browser plugins, adds a note to each update showing when the post was created. Coupling this date information with a location, one can see when the (first) peak time died out.

In an example, Twitter was searched for keyword "hongkong" which would result in all registered users with location "hongkong" being displayed. Out of 35 samples:

12 (or one-third) were last active within 6 to 7 months,
5 within 4-5 months and
4 never bothered to do any update.
Only 14 are still active.

Similar results can be seen using keyword "hong kong". Often, early adopters are not just bored-between-instant-messaging users but also more "high-profiles" like (keyword "hong kong") Hong Kong International Aiport (user HKG). At the writing of this article, their last Twitter post reads: "09:45HKT: TEMP 29C HUMIDITY 83%. WEATHER FOR WED: FINE AND HOT, LIGHT EAST WINDS HIGHS 33C. NO WEATHER-RELATED FLIGHT DELAYS EXPECTED. 4 months ago from web"

A reason not to become a nudist

andre — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:42:41 +1500

A reason not to become a nudist is the Internet. Browsing around for natural beaches easily leads to web sites making their living from photos displaying naked people enjoying a day at the beach, nude. I doubt they all agreed on being part of the Web; in particular the parents with their children.

I'm not discussing any legality issues here, afterall anyone can go to a nudist beach and see for him-/herself and people do take their souvenir snapshots. It's just a reason not to become a nudist if one doesn't want to end up involuntary on the Web.

Who needs friends?

andre — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:19:55 +1500

With the ever-growing list of online social networks, invitations to join the latest "coolest" network flood my inbox daily. I'm not a fan of such sites, at least not the "friends" part of it. It's a different matter with the "business" networks. Too much hype and wrong or plain fake importance is given to sites like MySpace. People were aware of and met other people before such sites existed and with all personal information users put online about themselves and others, such sites recently began to become rather a problem than a source of opportunities for some.

The ever-growing list of new sites requires a huge amount of time just to keep own profile pages updated and track friends' activities. With new features added to every site nearly weekly, the risk is high to miss out on the latest extension and thus become "lame" in the view of others.

What bothers me most is the stream of invitations by total strangers to add them to my own friends' list despite me not even having a common language with some of them. What's the use? Many users are "friend hunting", basically just artificially boosting their friends' list into the hundreds to show off what cool, handsome, exotic, strange, foreign... people they "know".

While I was bothered by half a dozen friends to join a network in the first place, it is often those people who after a while abandon the service and leave me with a list of inactive or hollow friends. Those I know have empty or outdated profiles whereas those I don't know keep growing. This is totally against the purpose of a social network.

To prevent further chaos, I won't accept any invitation on any network if it's not at least sent together with a personal introduction message. I'll also just ignore any smile or whatever action people can do to/for my profile page if I don't know them. I really enjoyed cleaning up my profiles when I deleted about 2/3 of all people in my lists of so called friends as either they didn't have an account anymore or never bothered to contact me. Better no friends than such friends...

Blog Action Day

andre — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:53:56 +1500

I know it's kinda late to announce something supposed to be today but for those timezones not yet going to sleep soon, here it is: today is "Blog Action Day". If it wouldn't have been for other blogs writing about it, I wouldn't have known there is such a thing.

The purpose of this action is to get attention to a certain topic; to be achieved when thousands of blogs publish posts about and discuss the same issue on the same day.

WiFi wonderland

andre — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:34:09 +1500

After "oceanpark" and "disneyland" comes "wifi wonderland". I wonder what will be the next title for Hong Kong. According to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), 5,228 Wi-fi hotspots had been installed at 3,055 locations through the city, making it an international leader in providing wireless broadband.

This is nice for those in need of a quick online session but it's not to be confused with other technologies like mobile phone network-based such as 3G. WiFi restricts you to your currently logged-in hotspot and moving away from it will get you disconnected. Furthermore, WiFi is quite a "fragile" radio signal such as a simple wall may reflect or break the signal with ease. Navigating within the theoretically operational radius becomes a challenge in a concrete and steel environment.

I've been playing with PCCW WiFi and it's rather frustrating at times. There might be no place to sit down or at least to put your gadgets if they are larger than anything handheld, or you move within the (assumed) same hotspot (like an MTR (subway) station) but only after changing levels you notice you got disconnected because the concourse is a different hotspot than the platform.

I love the "WiFi anywhere" idea and it certainly adds more convenience and new possibilities to life but I'm rather looking forward to change my local mobile subscription plan to use 3G for stuff like a quick picture upload from really (!) anywhere I want.

Twitter upgrade

andre — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:52:11 +1500

I've seen a lots of people writing about some Twitter changes but apart from some slight design modifications, I fail to see what's all the fuzz is about. Features like Twitter Tracking are not that new and Twitter Blocks is still a very confused ("ed", not "ing") application too. (visit my own account)