This one is subtle, but very important to be aware of. Until recently, once a user added their location to a photo they were posting, Instagram would take this as their default preference for all future photos they would post. That is, Instagram would tag all future photos with the location from which they were uploaded. This alone isn’t really the problem. The problem is that Instagram did not…
We’ve often talked about Minority Report and how it demonstrated predictive law enforcement — that is, to statistically predict when a crime might occur based on pattern–matching with previous crimes. For example, there might be a statistically increased chance of a burglary in your home on the nights before Christmas, and more so, in area X and at time Y. Predictive law enforcement makes for a…
You are a high-risk patient. Your heart is beating normally. Apple Watch knows this. Your heart starts to beat irregularly. Apple Watch knows this before you do. Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain in your arm and chest. You’re having a heart attack. You fall to the ground. Apple Watch senses the fall. Your pulse is weak. Apple Watch detects this. Your not moving. Apple Watch senses this. Apple Watch…
People are refreshing their feeds, but there are no new tweets to show. So, what does Twitter do? They bag up an imitation product, dye it blue, and call it New Twitter — but, perhaps there’s a side to this no one has considered. Earlier this week, I questioned Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo about Twitter’s new feed algorithm. He explained that if a user pulls-to-refresh when there are no new tweets,…
I would like to share two short anecdotes about Jimmy Iovine, the founder of Beats by Dre and Interscope Records. Both stories emphasize the tenacity required to build future empires in the face of past failures. Bono’s Yacht # In 2008, a friend of mine worked as an assistant to Jimmy Iovine. While on board Bono’s yacht, Iovine passed Bono a pair of Beats headphones which he encouraged Bono to…
Loren Brichter integrated the scroll and refresh events into one single action, and so pull-to-refresh was born. At the time, pull-to-refresh was regarded as an innovation, but has it lost its purpose? and worse, has it inadvertently produced a nasty side-effect that could change Twitter forever? Personally, I never quite liked pull-to-refresh. It makes me feel uneasy. Just look at the top of this…
When assembling a team, you should be primarily concerned with finding excellent people you are very happy with. Because if you are not happy, you will never be, and here is why. People rarely change, and this works both ways. The person you are unhappy with is unlikely to change, and the things which make you happy are also unlikely to change. This creates a dysfunctional stalemate. The right…
This is not normal, yet somehow it is. Cameras are these amazing devices that can capture the life of a moment, yet, we refuse to use them as such. Let me explain a little more. I’ve thought about this a little more; I’ve taken time to research it and I’ve even talked to my Grandmother about her first memories of being photographed. She is now in her 80s, but clearly remembers gathering in front…
This is one of the easiest and most under appreciated negotiation techniques I know. I’ve used it to get into celebrity parties and to negotiate better salaries. It works for anything whereby you need to get something beyond what is initially on offer. So you arrive at the picture framer. Walk directly to a member of staff who looks qualified enough to issue discounts but inexperienced enough to…
Earlier today, I Tweeted this: I would like to purchase a small amount of @Bitcoin instantly. Like, right now. Anyone selling? I can settle via Paypal. — Youssef Sarhan (@ys) February 7, 2014 No reply, so I Googled “Instant Bitcoin”, which lead me to LocalBitcoin.com . At first, I thought their site looked a little rough around the edges, so I proceeded with caution. On Local Bitcoin there’s a…