Beyond the clouds

Earlier computer networks have a central server that is connected to many computer terminals. These terminals serve mainly as input/output devices while the main computation and processing are done on the server. Then as personal computer became more and more powerful, many of these computation are done locally on the user's machine. Basically, the terminals in the network got smarter. Now we have more computing power in your cellphone than those servers back then.

With the rise of broadband and high-speed wireless connection like WiMAX, we now enter the era of cloud computing. In a way, it's back to basic where the server does most of the work and then deliver the result directly to the terminals on demand.

Companies like Gaikai, OnLive and OTOY are now capitalizing on this to make gaming more accessible for anyone. As long as your device can run their client, you can virtually play any game you want. The heavy workload and processor-intensive tasks are run on a server located somewhere else which then sends the audio/video output to your device.

Google is also trying to move everything we do on our PCs to the cloud. You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations using Google Docs. All you need is a device that can run a web browser. Eventually, they want everything to live in the clouds.

This is all very exciting but I can't help to wonder what's next. Once everything we do is done and store in the cloud, what's the next big thing? Will we revert back to having smarter devices or something completely differently? Only time will tell us what's beyond the clouds.

Lizard brain

All of us have this fear that prevent us from getting stuff done. We fear that others will laugh and make fun of our idea and we don't want to be embarrassed when we fail. Seth Godin refer to this fear as the lizard brain. The lizard brain is the reason we choose the safe side and stick with the status quo. If something bad happens, at least you have others joining you on the way down. It causes us to compromise on our solutions and sabotage our own progress to keep things from changing. Change isn't part of the lizard brain's vocabulary.

But if you want to do something different, something remarkable, you have to shut down the lizard brain. At least until you ship your work out to the world. You have to learn to ship and ship often. It's fine to have your idea being laughed at. After all, when Twitter came out, many people consider it a fad.

If you want to know more about the lizard brain, watch the video below and get Seth's latest book, Linchpin.

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo.

The 100th post

This post is a rather important milestone for myself and this blog. I've managed to write 100 posts on this blog by turning it into a habit and enforcing deadlines on myself. I've also learned to write shorter posts that deliver the message directly. State the main idea in a simple to understand manner and give some examples. Write as how you would say it in person.

Sometimes, you do run out of stuff to talk about and that is where it is handy to feature and share links, videos and presentations that is related to your blog theme. I do this at least one a week under the Interesting category.

There are still many things that I would like to improve on this blog particularly the quality of my posts. I hope that one day, I'll be able to write insightful articles every single day.

Just want it to work

A few days ago, my desktop computer decided to go for a vacation and refused to boot up. Even though I'm a computer engineer, I rather let someone else fix it. All I want is that the computer to work as it should like an appliance.

I've noticed that I'm now more of a mainstream user than an advanced or early adopter for computers. I used to build my own system by buying the parts individually but now I prefer a complete solution like Macs.

Obviously, Apple products are far from being mainstream but the idea of making them to be more of an appliance is a good one. Setting up a computer should be like using a toaster for the first time.

It's nice when you have products that just works when you turn it on.

The Alternative

Have you ever gone to your favourite restaurant or bar to find out that it's full and decide to go for the one next door? There are many businesses that position themselves to be the alternative after the popular choice. In order to be the next best thing for your customer, you need to be easily accessible and ideally be at the same place as the best. This is why you see businesses of the same type tend to open next to each other. It makes the location the place to be and improves patronage for everyone in the area.

Obviously, it would be better to be the best in your trade if possible but sometimes being the alternative is a viable strategy as long as you are at the right place at the right time.

Dropbox: It actually works!

Drew Houston from Dropbox posted a slide about lessons they learned from building, launching and promoting their product. The first lesson was to learn early and learn often. You need to get something out to the users to get feedback. The catch is you need to build something that they want. They also found out that marketing using adwords didn't work out for them because users rarely search for a product like Dropbox. Instead, they rely on word of mouth from their fans to reach new users. The most important was to make the product work as it should.

There are many more insights about how to market a product like Dropbox. For example, it's also important to know the market type for your product and how it fits into your user's life. Check out the slides below.

Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned

Job Security or Satisfaction

When choosing a career, many people will often choose the job that is more secure. This job security is the reason why those who wish to start their own business are still working for people. It feels safer to rely on a regular paycheck. In this day and age, where recessions are more common and the economy more volatile than ever, the only factor you can control to keep your job is your own skill and ability. Job security is over-rated and the thing that matter most is job satisfaction.

You want a job that continuously challenge you and gives you the opportunity to grow and learn. You want a job that you will endure the commuting in order to do work that matters. You want not just a regular paycheck but the chance to constantly better your own ability.

This doesn't mean you have to quit your job and start your own business. There are plenty of jobs out there that are satisfying and pay well. The point is to stop thinking about job security but think about the satisfaction you get from it.

Enterprise from Tom Peters

Found this manifesto over at ChangeThis about the real meaning of enterprise and organization. Tom describes an enterprise as:

Enterprise* (*at its best): An emotional, vital, innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial endeavor that maximizes individuals’ growth and elicits maximum concerted human potential in the wholehearted service of others.

Organization exist to serve people and the bottom line is that people serve people. He also encourages businesses to adopt the Professional Service Firm Idea where your company or department offer a complete turn-key solution to your customers. Your company or department need to do work that is worth paying for.

There's also a section where he teaches us to not let our life be dictated by our competitors. Instead of reacting to what your competitors are doing, you should focus on creating solutions for your customers. In fact, he wants you to love your competitors in order to grow the industry.

We ... are the problem. They are ... not ... the problem. We have one source only of Excellence: Us.

If you are running a team, department or company, this is a must read. Even if you're not, you should still check it out.

The need to create

I always wondered why people can devote so much time and effort into their hobbies. After all, to an outsider, it all seems just like a big waste of time. But after observing some of the hobbies, I've come to a conclusion that the hobbies that allow you to inject your own creativity and create something are the ones that's most addictive and time consuming. In Warhammer, players get to assemble and paint their own army. For Magic: The Gathering, you get to design and pilot your own decks. Hobbies like these gives you the opportunity to accomplish something.

I think in general, all of us have this need to create something of our own, be it in your working life or your leisure time. As a programmer, I can fulfill this need by coding applications. For those that feel they can't accomplish or create something in their career, they might seek to do this in their hobbies instead.

The best case scenario for this would be to be able to create something and make a living out of it. That is basically what entrepreneurs do. If you can somehow align your need to create with the demands of others, you got yourself a business right there.

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Facebook lets you like the web

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Facebook just released a new Like Button for you to easily share content on the web to your friends. It's basically the same Like functionality you see on Facebook comments and photos, made available to every page on the web. I've added it here on my blog where you can see it right after the article. For those who are also using Wordpress, here's the code I added to the single.php file.

 

The code is originally generated from Facebook's Like Button page which I then replaced the URL to Like with the current page url shown below.

<?php echo urlencode(get_permalink()); ?>

<?php echo urlencode(the_permalink()); ?> // Use this in index.php

The button also tells you if any of your friends liked the page. Try out the button below and tell me what you think.