See here for more details.
If you know great software engineers who might get excited about working for a startup that's among the frontrunners in the social applications space -- do let us know.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Case against Macs
I recently had to get a new power cable for my powerbook. It cost me $80. Eighty dollars for a power cable?! So in some ways, four power cables = 1 phone??
My DVD superdrive stopped working -- DVDs just won't go in at all. I looked online for possible things, and nothing worked. So I went to an Apple store. Without even bothering to look at it, their solution was to replace it and get a new one. $330. Ouch.
It isn't under warranty so I have every intention of prying it open to see why it won't work. If nothing else, I might be a little bit better off knowing something I didn't earlier.
Replacing batteries in an ipod isn't a simple matter of turning it over, popping the sucker open and putting in a couple of AAs. Apple wants you to send in the ipod.
Agreed, you are trying to get the world back from Windows, but for crying out loud, do you have to make it this hard?
My DVD superdrive stopped working -- DVDs just won't go in at all. I looked online for possible things, and nothing worked. So I went to an Apple store. Without even bothering to look at it, their solution was to replace it and get a new one. $330. Ouch.
It isn't under warranty so I have every intention of prying it open to see why it won't work. If nothing else, I might be a little bit better off knowing something I didn't earlier.
Replacing batteries in an ipod isn't a simple matter of turning it over, popping the sucker open and putting in a couple of AAs. Apple wants you to send in the ipod.
Agreed, you are trying to get the world back from Windows, but for crying out loud, do you have to make it this hard?
We should know fascism when we see it
We watched the movie Parzania. While we knew a bit about the riots, but the hard hitting movie made me go and read about this a lot more. Watching the movie and reading about the atrocities in Gujarat, it makes you detest the nationalist parties involved.
You can read more on wikipedia. The article by Arundhati Roy hit a nerve. Somewhere down the line, India will have to admit that the Gujarat violence was a pogrom, a genocide committed by the Hindu fundamentalists.
The likes of Mussolini and Hitler have come and gone, and yet fascism never stops to rear its ugly head. Yet, we as a society find it convenient to look the other way until it is too late. We are all too involved in our own daily lives to feel concerned about things that happened thousands of miles away -- until one day it blows up in our face.
You can read more on wikipedia. The article by Arundhati Roy hit a nerve. Somewhere down the line, India will have to admit that the Gujarat violence was a pogrom, a genocide committed by the Hindu fundamentalists.
The likes of Mussolini and Hitler have come and gone, and yet fascism never stops to rear its ugly head. Yet, we as a society find it convenient to look the other way until it is too late. We are all too involved in our own daily lives to feel concerned about things that happened thousands of miles away -- until one day it blows up in our face.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Now Plants can talk
If there wasn't enough content being put online by humans, now plants can join the fray.
This is a pretty interesting setup by Botanicalls: the plant can now twitter you about the moisture content in the soil.
One wonders though... I need this twittering so that someone else besides my wife can actually tell me to water the plants. Or maybe once you start getting the twitter messages, you'll feel more compassionate to the plants -- as though they were indeed talking to you... "I'm thirsty!" I guess that would make you rush to the tap.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Couple of lectures
Over the last few weeks I had the good fortune of listening to two excellent speakers.
The first was Mohammed Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank and was awarded the Nobel prize in 2006. Mohammed Yunus is a terrific speaker and a lot more down to earth than most other public speakers I've listened to. His story on the "poor people's bank", as he calls it, is a phenomenal story and he tells it, seemingly, without any spice. For someone to have achieved a likely unassaiblable goal of countering poverty in Bangladesh and inspiring many others around the world, his humility is inspiring.
There were a couple of points he made that I wanted to jot down and remind myself repeatedly. While companies can strive for maximizing profit for themselves, they must pay heed to the planet around them and help maximize the overall benefit to the planet. He did not advocate it as an alternative to capitalism. This is a sentiment I've heard several times recently, and it is something worth listening to.
The other lecture I happened to go to was by Larry Lessig. This was Lessig's last Free Culture talk before he moves on to something different. Lessig's well known for founding Creative Commons and pushing for reduced restrictions on copyrights -- especially as they apply to the digital medium.
Lessig's talk was impressive and it is also impressive that the next challenge he is taking on is to end lobbyism and corruption in Congress. Interestingly, among the presidential candidates there were only two who push for lobbyists not funding congressmen's election -- Barrack Obama and John Edwards.
Lessig later also posted an online video on why Obama and not Hillary, that I am posting below.
The first was Mohammed Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank and was awarded the Nobel prize in 2006. Mohammed Yunus is a terrific speaker and a lot more down to earth than most other public speakers I've listened to. His story on the "poor people's bank", as he calls it, is a phenomenal story and he tells it, seemingly, without any spice. For someone to have achieved a likely unassaiblable goal of countering poverty in Bangladesh and inspiring many others around the world, his humility is inspiring.
There were a couple of points he made that I wanted to jot down and remind myself repeatedly. While companies can strive for maximizing profit for themselves, they must pay heed to the planet around them and help maximize the overall benefit to the planet. He did not advocate it as an alternative to capitalism. This is a sentiment I've heard several times recently, and it is something worth listening to.
The other lecture I happened to go to was by Larry Lessig. This was Lessig's last Free Culture talk before he moves on to something different. Lessig's well known for founding Creative Commons and pushing for reduced restrictions on copyrights -- especially as they apply to the digital medium.
Lessig's talk was impressive and it is also impressive that the next challenge he is taking on is to end lobbyism and corruption in Congress. Interestingly, among the presidential candidates there were only two who push for lobbyists not funding congressmen's election -- Barrack Obama and John Edwards.
Lessig later also posted an online video on why Obama and not Hillary, that I am posting below.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Kids these days!
I've often gotten into discussions with people about the difference between how a teenager would view the world versus how an adult would -- the difference caused by the fact that the kid probably never saw a world without the Internet.
There was a time when you had to take driving directions from someone over the phone.
You couldn't just get your answers by typing a few words on a computer.
Dial up used to cost money -- and it used to make strange noises.
Today I saw its funny outcome on reddit: See for yourself!
There was a time when you had to take driving directions from someone over the phone.
You couldn't just get your answers by typing a few words on a computer.
Dial up used to cost money -- and it used to make strange noises.
Today I saw its funny outcome on reddit: See for yourself!
Friday, January 04, 2008
Where does our food come from?
Have you not always wondered about the origins of food that lands on our plate? I know I have -- especially in the US, more than India.
In India, figuring out the food chain was relatively easy. First off, our family was entirely vegetarian. My father hails from a village not too far from where we lived, and his brothers and father were wholesale traders in fruits and vegetables. My father has always been passionate about finding the best (and cheapest -- but that's just with every Indian ;) and freshest vegetables, and I have always attributed it to his formative years, spent helping out with the family business. So, the food chain to trace for us was relatively easy. The pieces that were missing were -- what seeds, fertilizers and manure the farmers were using at the farms our vegetables came from. The land of Punjab -- the area where I grew up -- is known for its fertility, and as far as I knew and read, farmers were using the traditional methods of farming. As a result, what food we ate depended on what season it was, and how the rains have been that year and so on. Man had not taken over Nature in determining what food we ate. I believe this is still the case there, though it is changing.
In comparison, there is a feeling of mystery behind food we get in the US. First off, the farmers' markets are relatively rare. So the food is mostly obtained at the supermarket. At the supermarkets, irrespective of the time of the year, you get the same food. Potatoes and onions, apples, oranges, bell peppers, you name it -- what season it was, or how the weather had been that year never mattered when it came to determining what to eat. At first glance, it seemed all positive. This is what a developed country is about -- industrialize the agriculture, empower the farmers to grow and feed what people want. A little naive, don't you think?
A recent book I am reading -- Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan -- attempts to trace the food chain that gets hidden behind the meals we eat. It is an enlightening read, and I very strongly suggest that you should read this book. You will never look at your food the same way again.
There are several observations that the book arrives at that are worth remembering. I note them here for lack of a better place to remind myself of these later.
1. Everything is connected. The author makes this zen-like observation about farms -- and he doesn't extrapolate it to anything else. But it is hard to not think about everything the same way.
2. We are what we eat. I recall Hemant telling me this once upon a time. This is true of the meat you eat as well -- the cow that's fed on chemicals and corn will lead to beef that has those compounds, and they will end up in you. It is surprising how apathetic we have become as a civilation about what we eat.
3. Food is a primary reason behind how large our brains are. Koala bears evolved to have a very small brain because they only eat eucalyptus leaves -- and as a result their brains shrank over time because they didn't need to work hard at trying to figure out how to get the food. Humans evolved with a much larger brain because of the complex nature of our meals. This does make you wonder if apathy towards food is going to end up making you dumber.
4. Not everything is suited to be done at large scale. This is especially true about farming. The scalability comes in dumbing down the process, and being able to repeat the same thing again and again.
In India, figuring out the food chain was relatively easy. First off, our family was entirely vegetarian. My father hails from a village not too far from where we lived, and his brothers and father were wholesale traders in fruits and vegetables. My father has always been passionate about finding the best (and cheapest -- but that's just with every Indian ;) and freshest vegetables, and I have always attributed it to his formative years, spent helping out with the family business. So, the food chain to trace for us was relatively easy. The pieces that were missing were -- what seeds, fertilizers and manure the farmers were using at the farms our vegetables came from. The land of Punjab -- the area where I grew up -- is known for its fertility, and as far as I knew and read, farmers were using the traditional methods of farming. As a result, what food we ate depended on what season it was, and how the rains have been that year and so on. Man had not taken over Nature in determining what food we ate. I believe this is still the case there, though it is changing.
In comparison, there is a feeling of mystery behind food we get in the US. First off, the farmers' markets are relatively rare. So the food is mostly obtained at the supermarket. At the supermarkets, irrespective of the time of the year, you get the same food. Potatoes and onions, apples, oranges, bell peppers, you name it -- what season it was, or how the weather had been that year never mattered when it came to determining what to eat. At first glance, it seemed all positive. This is what a developed country is about -- industrialize the agriculture, empower the farmers to grow and feed what people want. A little naive, don't you think?
A recent book I am reading -- Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan -- attempts to trace the food chain that gets hidden behind the meals we eat. It is an enlightening read, and I very strongly suggest that you should read this book. You will never look at your food the same way again.
There are several observations that the book arrives at that are worth remembering. I note them here for lack of a better place to remind myself of these later.
1. Everything is connected. The author makes this zen-like observation about farms -- and he doesn't extrapolate it to anything else. But it is hard to not think about everything the same way.
2. We are what we eat. I recall Hemant telling me this once upon a time. This is true of the meat you eat as well -- the cow that's fed on chemicals and corn will lead to beef that has those compounds, and they will end up in you. It is surprising how apathetic we have become as a civilation about what we eat.
3. Food is a primary reason behind how large our brains are. Koala bears evolved to have a very small brain because they only eat eucalyptus leaves -- and as a result their brains shrank over time because they didn't need to work hard at trying to figure out how to get the food. Humans evolved with a much larger brain because of the complex nature of our meals. This does make you wonder if apathy towards food is going to end up making you dumber.
4. Not everything is suited to be done at large scale. This is especially true about farming. The scalability comes in dumbing down the process, and being able to repeat the same thing again and again.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Taare Zameen Par -- A (slightly) different perspective
The recent Hindi movie, Taare Zameen Par, was a refreshing change as far as movies from Bollywood go. It lacks all the loudness of the commercial cinema, and tells its story with a lot of love. Yet, it has the polish of a well made, well produced film -- something that the offbeat, non-commercial movies lack.
The reviews of the movies have mentioned it as a story of the kid who goes through a low and comes out tops thanks to the helping hand provided by his teacher. People find that they could relate to the kid in many ways. I actually had a slightly different experience -- I related just as much, if not more, to the teacher. In many ways, I felt this was a story of the teacher as much of the kid.
A review complained that the teacher having admitted to having dyslexia was a fault of the movie -- where I felt that was the whole facet of the movie that took it to higher level. Just as much it was the story of the child finding his way, it was the story of the teacher in some ways resting his demons. The story of the teacher wasn't developed as well -- but you could see him looking for himself in all the kids he spent time with, and trying to save them the pain he might have had to go through. Finding a child who he felt was a reflection of himself, the teacher finds a path too.
It may well be a viewpoint far removed from the majority of the movie goers. Anyone care to share what they thought?
The reviews of the movies have mentioned it as a story of the kid who goes through a low and comes out tops thanks to the helping hand provided by his teacher. People find that they could relate to the kid in many ways. I actually had a slightly different experience -- I related just as much, if not more, to the teacher. In many ways, I felt this was a story of the teacher as much of the kid.
A review complained that the teacher having admitted to having dyslexia was a fault of the movie -- where I felt that was the whole facet of the movie that took it to higher level. Just as much it was the story of the child finding his way, it was the story of the teacher in some ways resting his demons. The story of the teacher wasn't developed as well -- but you could see him looking for himself in all the kids he spent time with, and trying to save them the pain he might have had to go through. Finding a child who he felt was a reflection of himself, the teacher finds a path too.
It may well be a viewpoint far removed from the majority of the movie goers. Anyone care to share what they thought?
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Random tidbits from Bollywood movies
Some random tidbits you might not know or might not have noticed...
1- Movies "Andaz Apna Apna" and "Mr. India" are related through their principal villains -- or rather their principal villains are related. Crimemast Gogo claims Mogambo to be his uncle ("Mogambo ka bhatija, Crimemaster Gogo!")
2- There is a sequence in the recent movie "Taare Zameen Par" where the kid is daydreaming class, imagining himself to be a space traveler -- a clear rip off of Calvin's alter ego Spaceman Spiff.
3- In "Om Shanti Om", one of the stars who comes in at the premiere is clearly channeling Mithun Chakravorty -- and Mithun himself shows up in a later song in the movie to do the same dance moves.
If you haven't seen "Taare Zameen Par," you should.
1- Movies "Andaz Apna Apna" and "Mr. India" are related through their principal villains -- or rather their principal villains are related. Crimemast Gogo claims Mogambo to be his uncle ("Mogambo ka bhatija, Crimemaster Gogo!")
2- There is a sequence in the recent movie "Taare Zameen Par" where the kid is daydreaming class, imagining himself to be a space traveler -- a clear rip off of Calvin's alter ego Spaceman Spiff.
3- In "Om Shanti Om", one of the stars who comes in at the premiere is clearly channeling Mithun Chakravorty -- and Mithun himself shows up in a later song in the movie to do the same dance moves.
If you haven't seen "Taare Zameen Par," you should.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Only a couple of weeks ago...
I didn't realize I had posted only about a couple of weeks back. It seems a lot has happened in these two weeks.
Thanks to the success of some of our apps on Facebook, we ran into scaling issues the last few days. We went from one box setup to two and then to three very quickly. This was the one of those times when years of dealing with large scale problems at Amazon comes in handy. Above all, we were particularly pleased with the fact that our component based distributed system design allowed us to scale out with little headaches, and it gave us considerable flexibility in optimizing our systems.
Quite a few friends are now in the midst of their own startups, and when I share my lessons learned, I actually don't harp much on building scalable systems anymore. Product and monetization comes first, and I still believe if you need to build things to scale you'll be able to handle it. Just make sure you have the engineering talent for it. That said, if you are building applications on platforms like Facebook where, just maybe, your applications can ramp up to 100,000+ daily active users in a few days, you'd better plan for scaling upfront. I think, it would have been much more costly for us to scale had we not built our systems well the first time around. But even then, every such problem is unique, and you will have to handle new problems when you do run into scaling issues.
In the midst of this I managed to sneak away to Hawaii for a short trip. If you haven't been to the big island of Hawaii, I suggest you pack a bag and go. Snorkeling on the west side -- particularly the Cook monument -- was probably the best we've experienced in the state of Hawaii.
Thanks to the success of some of our apps on Facebook, we ran into scaling issues the last few days. We went from one box setup to two and then to three very quickly. This was the one of those times when years of dealing with large scale problems at Amazon comes in handy. Above all, we were particularly pleased with the fact that our component based distributed system design allowed us to scale out with little headaches, and it gave us considerable flexibility in optimizing our systems.
Quite a few friends are now in the midst of their own startups, and when I share my lessons learned, I actually don't harp much on building scalable systems anymore. Product and monetization comes first, and I still believe if you need to build things to scale you'll be able to handle it. Just make sure you have the engineering talent for it. That said, if you are building applications on platforms like Facebook where, just maybe, your applications can ramp up to 100,000+ daily active users in a few days, you'd better plan for scaling upfront. I think, it would have been much more costly for us to scale had we not built our systems well the first time around. But even then, every such problem is unique, and you will have to handle new problems when you do run into scaling issues.
In the midst of this I managed to sneak away to Hawaii for a short trip. If you haven't been to the big island of Hawaii, I suggest you pack a bag and go. Snorkeling on the west side -- particularly the Cook monument -- was probably the best we've experienced in the state of Hawaii.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Facebook ads: More hype?
It's no secret we've been developing apps on Facebook for Jambool. And where the more involved apps have had a hard time taking off, the brain dead ones are rocketing up. In the last one week we added more than 50,000 users without spending a penny on advertising. Now there's got to be some value in that.
Facebook announced today that they are coming out with "Facebook Ads." Techrunch covered the announcement in New York. This stuff has been speculated for a long time. Facebook already has their ad network -- it's called Facebook Flyers. And going by the ads I see on them ocnsistently, my guess is that they are not doing that well. We even tried using them sometime ago, and ad clickthrough as well as conversion from these ads was abysmal. So are things set to change with the new release?
I don't think so.
I'm trying to understand what they are offering, and here's my understanding. Facebook does provide advertisers the ability to target ads for specific demographics and user attributes (age, location etc). But this is what they do with Facebook flyers -- and afaik it is not a successful program. I think the important factor in ads that helps convert users is not as much just the targeting but the context that the ad is displayed in as well. This is where Facebook seems to be missing out. They talk about beacons and insights -- that people can be walking billboards for brands they love, and spread the virus into their network. So you can publish your purchases etc to your friends, advertising the web site you bought it from. While useful, I would wait to get some numbers on this data to see if this is really worth anything. Because my friends bought "something" at Ebay doesn't make me jump on and go to ebay. It reeks of advertising, not a recommendation. Besides being a privacy concern, I am not convinced that users will want to have their purchases get published to their friends.
The talk about "Insights" seems to be wishful thinking. They "will be able" to track how much people are talking about the brands in forums, which forums and brand pages the user goes to, and target the ads better. I suspect that there is no data that they have to back up their claims -- What is the actual impact they can make for a brand? It isn't even anything new. Companies like doubleclick and Google have cookiess in just about every browse out there. They know which sites you go to, which brands you visit, etc etc. Or at least they are in the position to. They may not know the specific age and sex and favorite color and pet peeves of every user, but when you have enough data about the user through the kind of sites he/she visits, this data starts to become irrelevant -- especially if the end goal is to just target the ads for that user. Age and sex be damned, just show the ads to the user that he or she is most likely to click on. That's the best service you can do to your advertisers and publishers.
It also seems that Facebook is not really providing application developers a new avenue to make money. They seem to be intent on being the publisher for all ads, and attracting the advertisers to put ads -- including application developers. At least I did not read anywhere that they are providing a means for developers to monetize through Facebook ads. This, I think, is where they are missing out. There is more money to be made by sharing the pie with developers than with getting the developers to pay for getting traffic. This would mean, that developers will continue to stick with the existing ad networks to get ads for their pages, and as a result, advertisers will also continue to advertise on these networks.
So my reading of the Facebook ads is that it is more hype than substance. Life's going to go on just as it was.
Facebook announced today that they are coming out with "Facebook Ads." Techrunch covered the announcement in New York. This stuff has been speculated for a long time. Facebook already has their ad network -- it's called Facebook Flyers. And going by the ads I see on them ocnsistently, my guess is that they are not doing that well. We even tried using them sometime ago, and ad clickthrough as well as conversion from these ads was abysmal. So are things set to change with the new release?
I don't think so.
I'm trying to understand what they are offering, and here's my understanding. Facebook does provide advertisers the ability to target ads for specific demographics and user attributes (age, location etc). But this is what they do with Facebook flyers -- and afaik it is not a successful program. I think the important factor in ads that helps convert users is not as much just the targeting but the context that the ad is displayed in as well. This is where Facebook seems to be missing out. They talk about beacons and insights -- that people can be walking billboards for brands they love, and spread the virus into their network. So you can publish your purchases etc to your friends, advertising the web site you bought it from. While useful, I would wait to get some numbers on this data to see if this is really worth anything. Because my friends bought "something" at Ebay doesn't make me jump on and go to ebay. It reeks of advertising, not a recommendation. Besides being a privacy concern, I am not convinced that users will want to have their purchases get published to their friends.
The talk about "Insights" seems to be wishful thinking. They "will be able" to track how much people are talking about the brands in forums, which forums and brand pages the user goes to, and target the ads better. I suspect that there is no data that they have to back up their claims -- What is the actual impact they can make for a brand? It isn't even anything new. Companies like doubleclick and Google have cookiess in just about every browse out there. They know which sites you go to, which brands you visit, etc etc. Or at least they are in the position to. They may not know the specific age and sex and favorite color and pet peeves of every user, but when you have enough data about the user through the kind of sites he/she visits, this data starts to become irrelevant -- especially if the end goal is to just target the ads for that user. Age and sex be damned, just show the ads to the user that he or she is most likely to click on. That's the best service you can do to your advertisers and publishers.
It also seems that Facebook is not really providing application developers a new avenue to make money. They seem to be intent on being the publisher for all ads, and attracting the advertisers to put ads -- including application developers. At least I did not read anywhere that they are providing a means for developers to monetize through Facebook ads. This, I think, is where they are missing out. There is more money to be made by sharing the pie with developers than with getting the developers to pay for getting traffic. This would mean, that developers will continue to stick with the existing ad networks to get ads for their pages, and as a result, advertisers will also continue to advertise on these networks.
So my reading of the Facebook ads is that it is more hype than substance. Life's going to go on just as it was.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Facebook ad to app install conversion
Just posted another update on optimizing ads to app installs on Facebook.
Give it a read if you are interested.
We also launched an update on Balloonz: users can not create their own fillings to put in the balloons. Today, just five days after launch, we are crossing 3K users!
Have you thrown a balloon yet?
Give it a read if you are interested.
We also launched an update on Balloonz: users can not create their own fillings to put in the balloons. Today, just five days after launch, we are crossing 3K users!
Have you thrown a balloon yet?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Throw a balloon at friends
The latest rage on Facebook is Balloonz!.
It's a fun little app that lets you stuff things in balloons and throw at friends. Friends can dodge them by sending them on to someone else. The fun continues until the balloon explodes...
Come, throw some! :)
It's a fun little app that lets you stuff things in balloons and throw at friends. Friends can dodge them by sending them on to someone else. The fun continues until the balloon explodes...
Come, throw some! :)
Recalling an interview on TV with Lata Mangeshkar
I was reading some coverage of the felicitations of the Indian cricket team for having won the world cup. Of course no one expected them to win. Every victory seemed like their last. But that didn't stop the ministers and the who's who to bask in refelcted glory.
The incident I was reminded of was what Lata Mangeshkar -- who if you don't know about happens to be the female voice of just about any Indian film song you heard from 1950 to 1980 -- recounted in a TV interview.
Lata had sung a "patriotic" song during the Indo-China war days in 1962 for India's prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. As it happened, Nehru was deeply touched by the song, and shed a tear. Lata was hurriedly called back to meet Nehru after the performance, and Nehru told her that she had made him cry. This incident became a huge rage. And it spun off a weird fad. Whenever Lata was performing live at a show, ministers and babus would sit in the front row, and have her perform the same song she did for Nehru. And... they would cry.
The incident I was reminded of was what Lata Mangeshkar -- who if you don't know about happens to be the female voice of just about any Indian film song you heard from 1950 to 1980 -- recounted in a TV interview.
Lata had sung a "patriotic" song during the Indo-China war days in 1962 for India's prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. As it happened, Nehru was deeply touched by the song, and shed a tear. Lata was hurriedly called back to meet Nehru after the performance, and Nehru told her that she had made him cry. This incident became a huge rage. And it spun off a weird fad. Whenever Lata was performing live at a show, ministers and babus would sit in the front row, and have her perform the same song she did for Nehru. And... they would cry.
Friday, September 21, 2007
This one's for the gallery
Six sixes off six balls. This one thing alone makes up for a lot of could-have-beens-that-werent from the Indian team. Yuvraj's the man!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Tracking Facebook ad to install conversion
This is a problem we were looking into for some time, and we released an application to track these better for us.
Read more about it here.
It might be insightful anyway to read it if you want to advertise your apps on facebook.
Read more about it here.
It might be insightful anyway to read it if you want to advertise your apps on facebook.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Gripe of the day
Why do sites require me to provide my birthday, my zip code, my email, my dog's name, my school's name, my roommate's name, my favorite color... Why? When will websites learn? Why is this information relevant to them?
I just today tried to sign up for Mashable. I don't even remember why. Here's what their sign up page looks like:
I tried ot leave a few of them blank and sign up. It didn't work. No I did not sign up thank you. My stupid old internet life is fine enough without sharing all my personal data with every tom, dick and harry.
I just today tried to sign up for Mashable. I don't even remember why. Here's what their sign up page looks like:
I tried ot leave a few of them blank and sign up. It didn't work. No I did not sign up thank you. My stupid old internet life is fine enough without sharing all my personal data with every tom, dick and harry.
Have you shared a memory yet?
Where have you been? Here's a link to the Facebook app. Shared Memories.
Vote for it on best of facebook here.
Also -- if you are building applications for Facebook, you might be interested in the blog post here.
Vote for it on best of facebook here.
Also -- if you are building applications for Facebook, you might be interested in the blog post here.
Looking forward to Shoot em up
I've seen the trailer online a few times and I am all for it. Shoot 'em up, Clive!
Ever since I saw him in Greenfingers, I've been a fan of Clive Owen. That was years ago, and this guy seems to go from strenght to stength. Shoot em up seems to have everything going for it -- they even roped in Monica Bellucci! Paul Giamatti is an odd guy -- Sideways seemed ot suit him just right -- but he looks irritating enough in the promos that him getting his ass kicked is probably going to be double the fun.
Trailer...
Ever since I saw him in Greenfingers, I've been a fan of Clive Owen. That was years ago, and this guy seems to go from strenght to stength. Shoot em up seems to have everything going for it -- they even roped in Monica Bellucci! Paul Giamatti is an odd guy -- Sideways seemed ot suit him just right -- but he looks irritating enough in the promos that him getting his ass kicked is probably going to be double the fun.
Trailer...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)