(4/28/2014) Sometimes to change the society is not as difficult as you think. This comedian just acted and change the dated "no cross-dressing" law in Haddon, NJ. What an interesting activist and comedian and he changes the society in the most creative way!
Ben Kissel - Lawbreaker from Adam Wirtz on Vimeo.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Social Media Promotion? Watch Out for Backfires.
(4/22/2014) Everyone knows the importance and the power of the social media. It can even topple down a regime in the mideast. Many companies and organizations try to catch the bandwagon of social media now no matter they are proactive or forced.
The police department of the New York City started a campaign asking users to tweet their pictures with policemen to demonstrate the policemen are helping the neighbors. But most retweet are not that 'positive.' Many pictures uploaded and spread through twitters are like those below.
OK, maybe these policemen were really maintaining some social order. But the images just don't match the goal of this campaign. I hope the one who initiated won't get fired (and (s)he would be fired if (s)he is working in a private sector.)
(4/28/2014) It seems that NYPD believes that if you fail once, you should be able to do it right the second time. Not scared by its social media mistake, NYPD's newest move is to have "all precinct commanders throughout the city to man their own Facebook and Twitter accounts." Watch that interview inside the news. Social media is not a cure for NYPD's branding problem, it is just a mirror reflecting any good or bad action that NYPD policemen will do. Is this a unspoken strategy that will remind NYPD police: "behave yourself and act properly and correctly while doing your job? (Which I doubt)" If it really does so, that will be so great. If not, then the days of William J. Bratton (the newest commissioner of NYPD) will be numbered. (Being optimistic! No matter what the result is, it will always be a good lesson of social media).
The police department of the New York City started a campaign asking users to tweet their pictures with policemen to demonstrate the policemen are helping the neighbors. But most retweet are not that 'positive.' Many pictures uploaded and spread through twitters are like those below.
OK, maybe these policemen were really maintaining some social order. But the images just don't match the goal of this campaign. I hope the one who initiated won't get fired (and (s)he would be fired if (s)he is working in a private sector.)
(4/28/2014) It seems that NYPD believes that if you fail once, you should be able to do it right the second time. Not scared by its social media mistake, NYPD's newest move is to have "all precinct commanders throughout the city to man their own Facebook and Twitter accounts." Watch that interview inside the news. Social media is not a cure for NYPD's branding problem, it is just a mirror reflecting any good or bad action that NYPD policemen will do. Is this a unspoken strategy that will remind NYPD police: "behave yourself and act properly and correctly while doing your job? (Which I doubt)" If it really does so, that will be so great. If not, then the days of William J. Bratton (the newest commissioner of NYPD) will be numbered. (Being optimistic! No matter what the result is, it will always be a good lesson of social media).
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| Well.... |
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| I cannot see more... |
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| This is probably the worst of them. |
Friday, April 18, 2014
Learning Curve from iOS to Android (A Personal Story)
(4/18/2014) In the last several months, I have switched from Apple's iOS to Google's Android both on smartphone and tablet. It started with Apple's stubbornness in it's slow-upgrading strategy in iPhone to catch up its competitors. I am sick of the small screen, slow 3G network and slow processor on my iPhone 4. When Bestbuy had a $0 Black Friday sales on Samsung Galaxy S4, I got me one. Switching from iPad to Android tablet is another story. Within 2 months, my iPad 2 screen cracked 3 times without big drops. I had it fixed twice through local a repair shop and paid $120 (2nd break with discount to repair). After the 3rd break, I decide that won't pay the third time. You may think it's because I am cheap and didn't send it back to Apple to repair. However, it is unjustifiable to fixed a 2 year-old iPad 2 screen and costs me $250+tax, when new iPad Air is probably twice of that repair cost. Maybe it's iPad's revenge on my betrayal of Apple. Fine, I am done with iPhone or iPad at this moment. (However, my old iPhone 4 still works and I use it to play music and FaceTime with my parents most of the time.)
How painful was that switch? I would say, it takes time to get used to it because all command, interfaces, and applications are different. I experience 2 months of time of low usage on my Galaxy S4, and most of 'missing usage' are the game time on my iPhone 4 and txt messaging. Before, iPhone or iPad did provide me a good time in gaming and reading. I have used iPad to read ebooks and PDF files intensively and that was the part I 'felt lost' in the beginning when my iPad died.
After 5 months, I realize that there are some changes in my smartphone and tablet usage.
I started to use Galaxy S4 like a small computer because of its power, which my iPhone 4 could not offer. You may say it's because I still use old iPhone, not the newest iPhone 5s. But I hate Apple's stingy screen size even on iPhone 5s. But small screen size is not the only turn-off. Why is that the case? Apple's iOS does have more and better quality applications than Android at this moment after looking for substitutes right following my switch. But the interfaces between my Macbook Pro laptop with iPhone 4 can only go through iTune or iPhoto, and this is really the deal breaker between me and iOS. Definitely Apple has its strategic concern in this part, because it wants all users use more iTune and buy more apps or musics from Apple. But if you have many musics, photos and videos like me, your iTune and iPhoto library probably have grown so big such that they slowdown your laptop significantly.
Another thing you may notice that many mobile applications now are 'free' and they are pretty powerful. Some of the free apps you will 'pay' by 'being tracked by the app developer or the ads,' some free apps are even 'Ad-free.' Not only that, some apps on tablet or smartphone can do jobs as well as some laptops software( or apps), which you often need to buy. For example, the video cutter apps on Android are free (with ads) to download; but the desktop version video cutters will cost around $30 and it's free version often has expiration dates. So if I want to edit some home videos, now I just connect Galaxy S4 with my laptop, switch video files for editing or cutting, then switch back. Those bulky home videos "are not supposed to be" in the iTune/iPhoto library to be 'transferred' to iPhone or iPad because they are on my home media server. Apple's "sticky strategy" to make users can only stay with iTune does the opposite: it expelled me to Android.
However, as a teach-savvy person, this type of control not only irritate me also feel 'being controlled'. When I need to transfer files for some iOS app from/to my laptop, going through iTune or iPhoto means I have to add files and delete files on iTune or iPhoto library all the time, which take triple times of effort to do a simple file transfer. Don't forget, if you don't delete files on iTune or iPhoto correctly, those files are still in your library like 'ghosts' and it will take many painful steps to clean your iTune or iPhoto libraries. If I don't do add-and-delete, my Macbook Pro laptop's hard drive will be full. You may challenge again that: "why don't you upgrade your hard drive or laptop?" My answer will be "My laptop is fine and why do I have to spend $$$ to upgrade to some works that I just want transfer between my smartphone/tablet and my laptop? The key point is: I REALLY don't want to keep those file on iTune or iPhoto library because I don't use them on iTune or iPhoto.
The technology has proved that smartphone can work like a small computer and the file transfer or utilizing other functions on smartphone (or tablet) does not need to be 'so painful' for the users. As many users have more and more music/video/movie files that they want to easily transfer between their computer and mobile devices, I see a big mistake that Apple's strategy is making.
For tech-savvy people like me, I bet many of them will jump from iOS to Android. For those who don't want to or cannot do complex techy works, yes, Apple's iOS is a cozy platform to play with as long as they can afford to pay pricy Apple products.
You may wonder whether I stop using tablet since I don't want to pay for repair or buy a new iPad. Well, I found a cheap 10" Android tablet, which only costs half of Apple's screen repair cost. The specification of this Android tablet cannot compare with iPad Air (or even my iPad 2), but I also realized that this cheap tablet is good enough for all things I expect from it.
How painful was that switch? I would say, it takes time to get used to it because all command, interfaces, and applications are different. I experience 2 months of time of low usage on my Galaxy S4, and most of 'missing usage' are the game time on my iPhone 4 and txt messaging. Before, iPhone or iPad did provide me a good time in gaming and reading. I have used iPad to read ebooks and PDF files intensively and that was the part I 'felt lost' in the beginning when my iPad died.
After 5 months, I realize that there are some changes in my smartphone and tablet usage.
I started to use Galaxy S4 like a small computer because of its power, which my iPhone 4 could not offer. You may say it's because I still use old iPhone, not the newest iPhone 5s. But I hate Apple's stingy screen size even on iPhone 5s. But small screen size is not the only turn-off. Why is that the case? Apple's iOS does have more and better quality applications than Android at this moment after looking for substitutes right following my switch. But the interfaces between my Macbook Pro laptop with iPhone 4 can only go through iTune or iPhoto, and this is really the deal breaker between me and iOS. Definitely Apple has its strategic concern in this part, because it wants all users use more iTune and buy more apps or musics from Apple. But if you have many musics, photos and videos like me, your iTune and iPhoto library probably have grown so big such that they slowdown your laptop significantly.
Another thing you may notice that many mobile applications now are 'free' and they are pretty powerful. Some of the free apps you will 'pay' by 'being tracked by the app developer or the ads,' some free apps are even 'Ad-free.' Not only that, some apps on tablet or smartphone can do jobs as well as some laptops software( or apps), which you often need to buy. For example, the video cutter apps on Android are free (with ads) to download; but the desktop version video cutters will cost around $30 and it's free version often has expiration dates. So if I want to edit some home videos, now I just connect Galaxy S4 with my laptop, switch video files for editing or cutting, then switch back. Those bulky home videos "are not supposed to be" in the iTune/iPhoto library to be 'transferred' to iPhone or iPad because they are on my home media server. Apple's "sticky strategy" to make users can only stay with iTune does the opposite: it expelled me to Android.
However, as a teach-savvy person, this type of control not only irritate me also feel 'being controlled'. When I need to transfer files for some iOS app from/to my laptop, going through iTune or iPhoto means I have to add files and delete files on iTune or iPhoto library all the time, which take triple times of effort to do a simple file transfer. Don't forget, if you don't delete files on iTune or iPhoto correctly, those files are still in your library like 'ghosts' and it will take many painful steps to clean your iTune or iPhoto libraries. If I don't do add-and-delete, my Macbook Pro laptop's hard drive will be full. You may challenge again that: "why don't you upgrade your hard drive or laptop?" My answer will be "My laptop is fine and why do I have to spend $$$ to upgrade to some works that I just want transfer between my smartphone/tablet and my laptop? The key point is: I REALLY don't want to keep those file on iTune or iPhoto library because I don't use them on iTune or iPhoto.
The technology has proved that smartphone can work like a small computer and the file transfer or utilizing other functions on smartphone (or tablet) does not need to be 'so painful' for the users. As many users have more and more music/video/movie files that they want to easily transfer between their computer and mobile devices, I see a big mistake that Apple's strategy is making.
For tech-savvy people like me, I bet many of them will jump from iOS to Android. For those who don't want to or cannot do complex techy works, yes, Apple's iOS is a cozy platform to play with as long as they can afford to pay pricy Apple products.
You may wonder whether I stop using tablet since I don't want to pay for repair or buy a new iPad. Well, I found a cheap 10" Android tablet, which only costs half of Apple's screen repair cost. The specification of this Android tablet cannot compare with iPad Air (or even my iPad 2), but I also realized that this cheap tablet is good enough for all things I expect from it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A PR Lesson to Learn in the Modern Time
(4/15/2014) LOL！It only amused some local passerbys. Now they make it a international joke. A great lesson for those who are in charge public relations and communications.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
See the World From the Bird's-Eye View
(4/12/2014) This photographer mounted a camera out of the cockpit. See how wonderful these views are.
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| Redirected from Huffingtonpost.com |
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| Redirected from Huffingtonpost.com |
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| Redirected from Huffingtonpost.com |
Friday, April 4, 2014
Wind Power's Benefits
(4/4/2014) What are the benefits of wind power? According to American Wind Energy Association, "wind power has cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 4.4 percent."
"There are now 61,000 megawatts of wind power installed in the U.S., with turbines in 39 states. Another 12,000 megawatts of wind power are currently under construction, and power projects for which contracts are signed but construction has yet to start are expected to produce another 5,200 megawatts. AWEA says those additional projects should cut another 1 percent of power sector emissions, putting the country closer to the Obama administration's goal of cutting total U.S. emissions 17 percent by 2020."
"There are now 61,000 megawatts of wind power installed in the U.S., with turbines in 39 states. Another 12,000 megawatts of wind power are currently under construction, and power projects for which contracts are signed but construction has yet to start are expected to produce another 5,200 megawatts. AWEA says those additional projects should cut another 1 percent of power sector emissions, putting the country closer to the Obama administration's goal of cutting total U.S. emissions 17 percent by 2020."
GM's Big Trouble
(4/4/2014) GM is really in a big trouble. The recently "admitted" ignition switch problems in some of GM cars has cause 13 deaths. The troubling fact is that GM knew this problem 9 years ago, had a solution (cost around $1) to fix the problem, and decided not to implement that fix. GM's problem does not stop here. GM is facing another quality problem. The airbag issues on some GM models (1.6 millions compact cars estimated) may cause 303 death in the U.S.
In the same time, Chrysler recalled 870,000 SUV's on its brake problems, BMW had around 250,000 X5 trucks recalled due to a fragile bolt, 1.9 millions of Toyota Prius are also recalled due to software glitches.
(5/20/2014) GM's problem continues to escalate. At this moment the total number of GM vehicles recalled has reached more than 15 millions.
In the same time, Chrysler recalled 870,000 SUV's on its brake problems, BMW had around 250,000 X5 trucks recalled due to a fragile bolt, 1.9 millions of Toyota Prius are also recalled due to software glitches.
(5/20/2014) GM's problem continues to escalate. At this moment the total number of GM vehicles recalled has reached more than 15 millions.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Apple Is Losing Its Pricing Grips
(4/3/2014) Apple is knows for its pricing power. You rarely see Apple's products hugely discounted in the retailers. Most retailers have to follow Apple's pricing strategy and cannot give huge discount to consumers. The reason is to protect its long-term interest since slashing prices will decrease Apple products' prestigious images and eventually decrease Apple's profitability. To the retailers, breaching the rule means losing license to sell Apple's product.
However, a news analysis from Dealnews.com shows that Apple's grip on its pricing may get loose now. When retailers start slashing prices, there will be less consumers buying directly from Apple, which is an important revenue source for Apple. Their recommendation to the consumers is: don't buy directly from Apple. Shop around to get the best deal!
However, a news analysis from Dealnews.com shows that Apple's grip on its pricing may get loose now. When retailers start slashing prices, there will be less consumers buying directly from Apple, which is an important revenue source for Apple. Their recommendation to the consumers is: don't buy directly from Apple. Shop around to get the best deal!
Amazon FireTV Great Outperformance
(4/3/2014) In the following video you will find that Amazon's new FireTV set-up-box is really amazing in its searching function. I wonder how could Amazon did it while Apple, Google and other big companies fails to achieve such fast and accurate results.
(12/2/2014) Compared to the success of Kindle Fire and FireTV, Amazon's Fire Phone just does not 'burn' at all. It just surprised me that the Fire Phone failure costs Amazon $170 millions USD.
(12/2/2014) Compared to the success of Kindle Fire and FireTV, Amazon's Fire Phone just does not 'burn' at all. It just surprised me that the Fire Phone failure costs Amazon $170 millions USD.
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