~ Smartphones & dumb people ~

If you haven't yet watched this movie then please do. Technology is a catalyst to make lives easier & simple. As with everything if you end up over doing a specific thing then you become an addict & need rehabilitation. 

So lookup & stare away from the display. Move away from "Always connected" in the virtual world to being with family & friends in the real world. We only have finite time to live, so enjoy it!

'Look Up' - A spoken word film for an online generation

~ Human behaviour on Social Networks ~

Not really sure how would one interpret the behaviour of humans on the web. As most people tend to freely speak out in the virtual world via the popular Social Apps like Facebook / Twitter, many of us seem to have failed to differentiate the definition of "Like" vs "Read".

This rant originates from my observation of people's behaviour on the Social Networks. 

1. Does a like on Facebook actually mean they liked it or an acknowledgement of having read the piece? 
2. Or an RT (ReTweet) means they endorse the subject of the tweet vs they wish to pass on the information to their respective followers?

As of writing this post, I observed that 12 people have liked the post of "22 labourers killed in a road accident in Karnataka" from The Hindu.

I have add this debate with earlier too & failed to conclude on the subject. What your are thoughts on the same? 

~ Offline vs Online ~

Paul Miller speaks about his offline experience. There is a lot of paradox of being offline vs online. 

It doesn't matter what it is, finding the balance in everything we do in life is the key. When we overdo something, thats when we get into trouble.

This situation might not hold good to most Indians. Definitely applies to all those who use a lot of social apps & are not connected with real world.

Additional reading: Always Connected | Offline Paul

~ Always connected ~

Off-late, have been getting into the mode of keeping my occupied w/ my smartphone when I am in a social gathering. Could be Twitter, Whatsapp, Path or Instagram. Observations regarding my behaviour from my fiancé often makes me slide the phone aside & have a conversation. 

I wasn't like that before, but over the recent months the app addiction has increased. Rather than blaming the technology or the device, its time to accept the short coming of myself. I could use the technology / device as a catalyst in making our lives simpler & better than turn me into Zombie. 

We all need to find balance that keep us sane and connected to the real world. We seem to be more interested in snapping moments on camera, sharing status messages, tweeting sporting events or music shows than ever before. Having conversations with people around is more fun than via social media apps. Definitely, the medium can't be blamed for the addiction we create for ourselves. As with every new invention, technology/device/gadget could be boon or bane based on how one adopts it!

Nick Bilton has a good piece in BITS

“Every experience is being mediated and conceived around how it can be captured and augmented by our devices,” said Mathias Crawford, a researcher in human-computer interactions and communications at Stanford University. “No place is this more apparent than our meals, where every portion leading up to, during and after a dining experience is being carved out by particular apps.”

People make dinner reservations on OpenTable; check in on Foursquare when they arrive at the restaurant; take a picture of their food to share on Instagram; post on Twitter a joke they hear during the meal; review the restaurant on Yelp; then, finally, coordinate a ride home using Uber. 

You be the judge & make the necessary changes in your lifestyle.

Additional reading: Information overload in a minute | Social engagement | Offline Paul | Smartphone: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

~ Information overload ~

Ever wondered what the netizens of the world do in 60 seconds? The infographic below is the answer to that.

Via: The Next Web

Am sure those reading this post, have an account in one of the above application & do contribute a substantial footprint. Off-late I have tried my best to share very less content on networks.

Not sure about others, but I have experienced distraction while I had Tweetdeck running. After 6 months of self discipline, I have kind of cut down twitter usage. Currently, check my TL while commuting to office {P.S: I do not use smartphone while driving. I take the company transport ;) } or during lunch. The below diagram is an ideal representation of how my mind was before.

Mental desktop of Distraction Junkie. Source: Componentowl

Am slowly getting to a different state. To see how the mental desktop of Zen Coder looks like, I suggest you read the post - Are you a Zen Coder vs Distraction-Junkie. 

I definitely need some kind of Intelligent Algo OR need to cut down on the number of people I follow in the Social Networks to filter the Noise from the Signal.

A new kind of addiction can be seen around - consuming or producing content and being hooked to a mobile device. This might lead to a different health issue if we don't know how to maintain balance b/w online & offline world. 

GoodNight! going offline :)

~ Internet Minute ~

Staggering amount of data init? The next BIG thing would be to have "Good" curators {People or Algorithms} which can sieve the enormous amount of data & recommend more meaningful content. That way one can differentiate the Noise from Signal ;)

~ Don't be evil ~

'Don't be evil' is a phrase which is associated with the search giant, Google. The same can be found in Code of Conduct section of the Corporate Governance. Many of them across the world use Google for more than just Search. With the explosion of Android platform Google has got a foot hold into the millions of devices in our day-to-day usage. Even though they claim that they do not track individual behaviours. We will never know how the scheme of things work with companies. 

After the advent of various Social Networks, people are broadcasting their lives constantly throughout the day via various digital avatars freely than ever before. The platforms are competing for User Engagement by innovating their UX or providing unlimited data for photos & videos. Anything free drives many users to use such services. While the companies are looking to maximize profits based on user activity on their sites, the Governments have other motives. The Govts would like people to use such services as we are now beginning to see that they want to mine the data.

Governments' defense for snooping would be protecting national interests & securing the country. Governments across the world have been making requests to many companies to comply with law of the land to share data on need per basis. You can see how Google complies with various requests from Governments across the world in their Transparency Report. While Google & Facebook have been forced to remove content from their sites in India last year. 

While people in the US were shocked by revelations that US Govt is collecting phone records of many Americans who are customers of Verizon. You can read the Verizon Court Order.

Later in the day NSA's PRISM program was exposed, all of us need to concerned about our digital privacy. 

Washington Post explain how NSA uses PRISM for data collection or mining from the Servers of 9 Major Internet companies.

Another article from Washington Post covers the whole thing in more detailed manner.

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.

Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”

Guess what most of the companies who are listed as Service Providers for the PRISM program have to say. They have flatly denied what is seen on the NSA presentation slides. Isn't that obvious that they would deny it? :P

The eavesdropping program is detailed in the form of PowerPoint slides in a leaked NSA document, seen and authenticated by the Guardian, which states that it is based on "legally-compelled collection" but operates with the "assistance of communications providers in the US."

Each of the 41 slides in the document displays prominently the corporate logos of the tech companies claimed to be taking part in PRISM.

However, senior executives from the internet companies expressed surprise and shock and insisted that no direct access to servers had been offered to any government agency.

You can read more about the denial from the tech giants on Guardian.

If you ask, When & What data has been collected? Source

Some of the world's largest internet brands are claimed to be part of the information-sharing program since its introduction in 2007. Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Your privacy is our priority" – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.

It was followed by Yahoo in 2008; Google, Facebook and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple, which joined the program in 2012. The program is continuing to expand, with other providers due to come online.

Collectively, the companies cover the vast majority of online email, search, video and communications networks. 

Indian Govt isn't far behind in developing a system which lets them snoop on their citizens either. Off-late have come across online campaigns on various social networks against ICMS.

What is ICMS?

Indian Central Monitoring System(ICMS) is being implemented by the Government of India(GoI) this year. GoI started implementation from April 2013.

What does ICMS cover?

For now, it will be linked to the Telephone Call Interception System (TCIS) setup to monitor voice calls, SMS and MMS, GPRS, Fax Communications on landlines, CDMA, GSM and 3G networks, and video calls. 

You can read & support the STOP ICMS campaign here. 

We would like to believe that we live in a Democratic setup where freedom is the beacon. After discovering that such programs exist for monitoring people, all in the name of providing national security. I wonder how different are we - Indians or Americans - from the Chinese. Democracy is just another sugar coated pill which we would like to believe offers something better for "We the People".

Huffington post has a George W. Obama ;)

Update 7 June 2013

We now have statements from the CEOs of Google & Facebook on the PRISM. Who is speaking the truth, NSA's presentation showcase the companies who have joined against the passage of time or those who run these Companies?

Here is the response from Larry Page:

First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.

Here is the response from Mark Zuckerberg:

Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday. 

Additional reading

Media coverage about the ICMS here: The Verge | The Register | Human Rights Watch. I do not see any Indian Media covering this or are we caught up in the IPL hole ignoring this? ;)

More about PRISM here:  EFF | Guardian | Guardian | WashingtonPost | WashingtonPost 

Microsoft admits revealing subscriber data to govt | Google Got 2431 User Data Requests From Indian Govt Between July & Dec 2012 | India is next only to the US, which made 45 user data requests a day on an average, the highest for any country | India’s requests for Web censorship increase | The NSA surveillance story reinforces why an entity like WikiLeaks is so important

Doublespeak Denials Of PRISM Hid The Truth About Participation | Tech Giants Built Segregated Systems For NSA Instead Of Firehoses To Protect Innocent Users From PRISM | Obama tells intelligence chiefs to draw up cyber target list – full document text |

~ Viral marketing comes at a price ~

I know companies spend loads of money on advertising & marketing their product. Advertisements are one of *the* mainstream ways to promote. However, these days videos are created more for Viral Factor on the Social Networks.

Today morning, I came across the video on FB wall. No doubt the video is well edited by Pro Cycle to showcase their product. 

Not sure why they had to put an off-road bike {not bicycle, I mean Motor Bike} in the video. Another aspect which I disliked, was the need/necessity to show the location info at the start. 

People in the city already lack in conserving nature - parks, lakes, trees, wildlife - in and around Bangalore. While the city is ever-expanding & many prominent builders are exploiting open spaces with new Villa / Townships offering; add to it, people are always on look out for adventure & exploring new avenues to kill their time. I wonder what impact it would have on Thurahalli forest if people took their Motor Bikes to explore the eco-space.

ProCycle is bicycle store with a “difference” that is committed to promoting bicycling in a “Correct” manner. You will experience our commitment and feel this difference the moment you walk into our store at Indiranagar

Thats the introduction about ProCycle on their website. While they state their committed to promote bicycling in a *Correct* manner. I hope they live up to every word. 

I googled & guess what I found, not to be surprised, exploitation of Turahalli   has already begun with illegal temple :(

“Turahalli is the last remaining wilderness space so close to South Bangalore. Everyone in the adventure community, be it climbers, walkers, birdwatchers or cyclists, have a responsibility to keep the forests as they are, and leave minimum impact. The same responsibility does not seem to hold good with temple constructions and the like,” adds Venkatesh, alias Venky. More here

Therefore, viral marketing comes at a price. The price could be monetary at times; And in this case ecology, which could be irreversible. 

Yes, they already got my attention & a post. I hope people of the city enjoy & conserve what is left in and around Bangalore.

~ Social Engagement ~

Social engagement these days happen through a diverse stream of channels. Some of the common methods of engagement being messaging {Gtalk | Skype | Whatsapp | SMS}, Emails, Social Networks {Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, G+}. 

Facebook has funded an IDC research on how Smartphones have had an impact on our lives. The report 'Always Connected - How Smartphones And Social Keep Us Engaged' throws up some interesting behavioural patterns, stats & how mobile apps are driving those changes. 

• Half of total US population uses Smartphones i.e 155.1 Million people (2012)
• Primary usage: Text/Message, Talk, Message on FB. All of them are direct communication.
• Highest levels of engagement happens during Friday through Sunday, with the peak on Sunday.
• Top 10 Apps: Email, FB, Web browsing, Games, Maps, Photos, Search, Local Search, News/Sports, TV/Video
• Wake up call: Within the first 15 minutes of waking up, 4 out of 5 smartphone owners are checking their phones.
• 79% of respondents have their phone on or near them for all but up to 2 hours of their waking day.
• Social Apps play a very significant role during Social Events.
• Average daily time spent on Facebook: 32 mins 51 secs
• Average daily time spent communicating on smartphone: 131 mins 43 secs
• Who we are most connected to via Smartphone + Facebook - Friends, Spouse/Parnter/GF/BF, Parents, extended family, colleagues/classmates, children, community.

*Note: The report is based on the online survey of iPhone & Android smartphone users in the U.S. 

I do agree that these tools have helped us connect with friends who are separated by time zones or distance. How about those who live in the same city & yet not meet friends. Most of us claim that we do not have time. Rather than lack of time, I feel we lack at effective Time Management & priorities. Time is just an alibi for our own short coming ;)

Go offline! Plan & meet your friend in the city. Surprise them.

Update 31 Mar 13: 

If you have noticed the Facebook profile picture updates among the circle of friends. The campaign is a for the support of future of same-sex marriage in the United States by HRC. Ever wondered how many people have taken part in this online civil rights movement or what the Big Data tells us. Facebook has the insights into the week long campaign. FastCo Design | Facebook 

~ Socially Me ~

The life of an technophile living anywhere today, is expressing those moments of emotion as a constant stream of data to various Social Networks - FB, Twitter, Instagram, Path, G+. The power of smartphones & data connectivity has exploded into data bomb. Will not be surprised, if the Governments tomorrow are not elected by tweets :) 

I personally use all of those networks for various means:

1. Instagram: For clicking moments when am travelling & without my DSLR around. 
2. Path: For places  - restaurants, movies, leisure - all for audit trail purpose. 
3. G+: For sharing information w/ co-workers on various news items - tech, political, football.
4. G+Messenger: For 3 months, have been using it mostly to connect with Gooners who are spread across the globe. We share the latest updates, rants, news or anything to do with ArsenalFC. Happened to meet few of them in Bangalore & watched the Arsenal vs Manchester United game with Bangalore Gunners. This week we were amongst the first to have Arsenal FC Fans G+ Community.
5. Twitter: Consuming or sharing instant updates about anything under the sun which I like.
6. FB:  Updates from college friends, (ex)colleagues, travel, interests, etc.
7. Last.fm: For scrobbling songs.
8. Also there are numerous tech blogs which I follow on a daily basis.
9. Using LinkedIn more often over the last 2 weeks. Most of you who are connected would have noticed the activity :P
10. Youtube subscriptions are active, but not regular.

By now you have figured out how much of information over-load I go through in a day from various apps at various point of time. This definitely isn't good when you are working or otherwise. Your attention span takes a BIG hit & distracts from your task. Off-late {for the past 2 months} have made  conscious effort about how & when I use - Twitter & FB. I check them during lunch / tea breaks & post dinner, during weekdays. On weekends, my usage of Twitter & FB is high; considering football games.

The trigger for the post was this article by Roger Cohen - Thanks for not sharing, on NYT. 

Like everything else in life, when it comes to usage, technology too has its share of pros & cons. Instead of blaming - technology, smartphone, social networks, information overload - for not having enough time for loved ones or pursuing your hobby or reading a book or going for walk or run or meeting friends, etc. It boils down to the individuals' approach on maintaing the balance in the eco-system of life. Be it virtual or real, we still have control over ourselves. The day hasn't arrived yet, where machines have taken over & we have limited options. It isn't far, surely gonna happen. But till then, we are the masters of our own lives & we can maintain a healthy balance. Be the judge the next time when you are about to share or like something w/ the rest of the world :)

Take a look at the Socially Awkward Infographic. 

Image source: DigitalQuarters

Update: 26 Jan 13

If you are a developer, then I recommend you read Christian Grobmeier post 'The 10 rules of Zen programming' This should definitely help one focus & achieve more in the age of social distraction {Twitter, FB, Whatsapp, Emails, SMS, et al}