Archive for Personal News
May 4, 2007 at 2:32 pm · Filed under Personal News, Seattle News
Hi Everyone,
Today, I formally accepted the position of Senior Marketing Manager with Farecast.com, a Seattle-based travel startup which is the first and only site to predict airfare prices for almost all major US markets based on a database of BILLIONS of historical pricing data points.
I’ve enjoyed and treasured my time at Avenue A | Razorfish and am looking forward to bringing my experience in online marketing to Farecast.com to grow the user base and spread the gospel about why Farecast.com rocks.
I’ll post more updates in the coming weeks and you can definitely expect this blog to be much more active as I start writing about my experiences there.
In the meantime, “Know When to Buy”, when it comes to airline tickets by checking first with Farecast.com!
April 12, 2007 at 12:48 am · Filed under Personal News, Random, Personal Opinion
Besides a Maserati, I don’t think I want any other car more. I can’t wait until it comes out this fall. If possible, I may try to pawn off my Accord, pay off the loan, use the rest against a down payment against this baby.
April 12, 2007 at 12:41 am · Filed under Personal News
So last night, I ran the GreenLake Loop which is about 3 miles and tonight I was on the verge of not running but a last minute project for work came up and I thought “what the hell, I’ll get it done tonight” so I went out for another run around Queen Anne at around 1AM.
I ran past Paragon when I ran into a group of people leaving the bar and all of a sudden a drunk girl starts running besides me and starts drunk-chatting about how she’s visiting her sister in Seattle and she just graduated from RISD in architecture and how she’s hoping to find a job. She kept up for about 3 blocks which was amazing since she was in full blown “going out” clothes and shoes and had a big red purse over her shoulder. In any case, it was an interesting distraction. Wherever you are, good luck with your job search!
Here’s the route I did tonight:
February 25, 2007 at 3:14 pm · Filed under Personal News, Personal Opinion
I caught a glimpse of Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Art of the Start” at my local Barnes and Noble today and decided to give it a quick lookover.
On the cover, Pierre Omidyar, one of the founders of EBay, is quoted as saying “please, read the last chapter first.” So the last chapter is called “The Art of Being a Mensch” which is basically Guy’s advice on how to be ethical, decent and admirable.
It’s a pretty short chapter (3 pages) so the basic idea is:
Help Many People
- Do What’s Right
- Keep your Word, Value the Spirit not the Technicality of an Agreement
- Pay for What you Get
Focus on What’s Important
Pay Back Society
Pretty pratical advice if you ask me. I can probably work on the first point, and the last point more but I think I’m pretty good about doing what’s right most of the time. The most important part of this chapter is probably the exercise you’re supposed to do:
“It’s the end of your life. Write down the three things you want people to remember about you”
1. To be remembered as a close and trusted friend to those who were kind enough to have shared a friendship with me.
2. To raise a strong loving family (when the time comes)
3. To have lived with no regrets and lived life to the fullest.
And here’s a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which I find unwavering inspiration in:
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
That is what I would like to be remembered as.
I would like to invite everyone reading to submit their list of 3 things they would like to remembered for and I’ll post them here.
February 20, 2007 at 8:23 am · Filed under Personal News, Business News, Startup Ideas
Why Another Search Engine?
We use Google everyday and to a large degree, we’ve come to the conclusion that the results Google returns for our searches are “best in class”. Thousands of engineers high on unlimited caffeine and red bull at the Googleplex are refining that algorithm as we speak, thrwarting spammers, getting rid of phising sites, and improving the relevancy of the results overall. But imagine if we added in a social component that would allow for democratic participation in the rating of results based on human-perceived qualities that machines cannot determine easily — factors like quality of content, grammar and syntax, writing style, and even presentation and design.
Overview of Current Social-Ranking Search Engines
I’ve looked at 2 of the most similar search engines out there - Kratia.com and Wink.com. To a large degree, most people have not heard of either although Wink.com does have good coverage and have recently begun to focus more on the People search aspect of their engine and less on the “thumbs up, thumbs down” ranking system.
However, I think there are some shortcomings to both of these engines which hamper their ability to make socially rated search engine results a success.
- Both of these engine’s ranking system is not persistent as you navigate through the search engine results. Once you leave Wink.com, you have to return to Wink to provide a rating. On Kratia.com, the toolbar is persistent but in my testing on IE7 (it doesn’t work with on FF above 1.5), the toolbar was not aware that I was navigating search results for my search for “cat food” as I moved from site to site.
- There is no apparent effective spam/abuse system built-in. On Wink.com, that may not be as big of a problem because they determine results from a combination of both algorithm score + user ratings. On Kratia.com, their philosophy of “Equality: In Kratia every vote has the same value. There are no distinctions, no classes, no authorities” means that webmasters and spammers have the potential to upvote their own site rankings without penalty.
- One size fits all for voting - In the case of Wink.com, it’s a thumbs up or thumbs down and on Kratia it’s a “Like or Not Like”. Users value different aspects of websites which means that any rating system should consider some broader but logical aspects of a website to rank on such as content, quality of writing, presentation & style (quality of images, videos, etc.).
Key Ideas in this New Search Engine
- Leverage existing Google search results for best-of-breed algorithm base.
- Ratings toolbar should be a no-install to ensure maximum adoption. Can be achieved through “Netscape-like” persistent frame w/ AJAX/Flex UI for seamless unintrusive integration into surfing experience.
- Toolbar must be connected to the search engine to provide for navigation across search results even when a user leaves the main search site. This will ensure that users can provide feedback on the spot and move to the next search result w/o having to return to the search site.
- Votes should not be created equal - Merit based system would reward users who consistently rate close to averages to have their scores weighted more heavily. Spammers and those who abuse the system will have their rating’s relevance weighted downwards across ALL of their ratings, eventually diminishing their influence on the search results.
Why would Users do Something for Nothing?
People are inherently good.
Contributing to a more human search and web experience is truly something that can be achieved easily through the power of social networks.
Everyone wants their voice to be heard.
Everyone wants to be recognized. (We’ll have a Top Users board)
People hate BAD Search Results.
Finally, this would force web designers, businesses and individuals to focus on optimizing for People and not for Bots in creating their web experiences. Concepts such as keyword density, hidden text, black hat, white hat, etc. would become irrelevant. What becomes critical to success is relevant, well-written content that that is presented in a clear, easy-to-read, easy to understand format, with great supporting materials such as photos and videos when appropriate.
the Idea in Graphical Format
February 19, 2007 at 11:06 am · Filed under Personal News, Random
I would love to hear what readers think about the Brand Management track at VCU. Do you think it’s worth more or less than a traditional MBA? Will some companies value it less since it’s technically a MA in Mass Communications? Also, is the term “Brand Management” itself being challenged in the industry as a way to avoid the conversations behind ROI and advertising effectiveness?
Brand Management Track at AdCenter (Virginia Commonwealth University)
February 6, 2007 at 4:21 pm · Filed under Personal News, Seattle News
Last night, I became the Organizer of the Seattle Asian Professionals Meetup Group. This group has been languishing and I thought it was about time I got out and made some new friends. The first event is this coming Saturday and I’m hoping for a strong turnout (at least 5!). In any case, here’s my shameless self-promoting post:
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