Thoughtless

The iPod Social

Justin Ng — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:39:00 +0000

One Saturday night, I found myself looking up from the text message on my cellphone to the frail old woman in front of me; and it struck me—I just might have been given the wrong address.

Hearing the sounds of quiet conversation next door I headed over and knocked on the door. It was answered, and I saw a bunch of people sitting and talking over some wine at the table. The fireplace flicked and the mood seemed very somber. The person standing there shook his head. “Sorry, no, he doesn’t live here.”

A few houses over, I was ready to give up, when I heard something. The thump of bass, muted only by the brick wall it had traversed. Following the sound, as seeing the reversed “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” sign in the window, I was confident that I was in the right place. Barely a knock before the door opened and I was greeting by music and dancing and laughing. I was pulled into hugs and high-fives before everyone dispersed back to their social activities, and somehow through all of that confusion, I found myself already holding a glass of champagne and wearing a large smile.

It was a small, modest bungalow in Cap Hill. Cheap chairs surrounded a television which seemed to like to flicker the red component of its color on and off at random times. Christmas lights were strewn about to form the only décor and the wallpaper on the wall peeled. People drank wine from plastic cups while someone was drunkenly trying to demonstrate that he could break dance. He almost knocked over a girl who was hunched over what looked to be a large speaker. Avoiding the break dancing guy, she pouted right into the arms of her boyfriend, revealing what the large speaker was.

The smile from my face faded when I saw the setup—an iPod Hi-Fi surrounded by about six or seven iPods from every generation, ranging from iPod color to iPhone. The pouting girl finished the playlist she was making and replaced the 160 GB Classic with her red Nano and on came Bon Jovi blaring through the speakers. The floor rumbled and groaned as everyone at the party jumped and danced, arms in the air, and a dozen voices yelled “SHOT THROUGH THE HEART!!” in unison to the lyrics.

I was broken from my reverie when my friend, the birthday boy, introduced me to an attractive girl while giving me a smirk that indicated his design for me to flirt with her. He mentioned that I worked on a cool new MP3 player called Zune. She had never heard of it. I explained to her that it was a media player that Microsoft had made, trying to bring great music listening experiences to people like her. She stared blankly at me, until I conceded. “It’s like an iPod, but much cooler.”

Her eyes lit up with recognition and she demanded to see one. I shyly pulled out a red Zune and handed it to her. “Wow, it’s classy,” she exclaimed, as her lips widened slowly into a pretty smile. She played around with it for a couple of minutes, demoing me the cool things she saw as if I had never used a Zune before. Then she saw a song by The Shins that she liked, and without hesitation, turned around and tried to put it on the iPod Hi-Fi.

As she struggled to get it to work with the iPod dock, I found myself smiling again.

Why Does Britney Cry?

Justin Ng — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:54:00 +0000

As Ms. Spears' estate was placed under temporary conservatorship and Attorney John Eardley fought with father James Spears over if James Spears should be allowed to continue with taking control of her financial assets and physical custody, it is easy for us to feel distaste for this Hollywood starlet, that was simply once just a young girl from Mississippi.

It is easy to be cynical about Ms. Spears' recent decline, an more than one writer has commented on how many millions of dollars this rich lady may have lost now that her celebrity xrank has dropped from first place, to a mere second to Jennifer Lopez. It begs the question: what has Lopez done recently?

It has become normal to send barbs in Ms. Spears' way; "the entire thing is just a publicity stunt"; "they manufactured her to be able to cry, too?"; "going after the paparazzi is biting the hand that feeds"; "I bet she sure is upset while swimming in her pool of millions of dollars".

Since when did money buy happiness? Is there some sort of life-changing event that occurs which you reach the depths of celebrity that the high priests of celebrity will present the keys to the garden where happiness grows on trees? Certainly not. In fact, economics tells us that there is a decreasing marginal utility of money as someone makes more and more, so if happiness is in fact purchasable, shouldn't the poor be at best position to buy it?

But I digress. To really understand Britney Spears, I think we need to look at another depressed celebrity. This woman was someone who was loved and revered worldwide. Many thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, and she was legendary for having romantic ties with actors and presidents alike. To the surprise of everyone, she was also insanely depressed. I am, of course, talking about Marilyn Monroe.

Most cannot imagine how someone so beloved could feed depressed. Certainly Marilyn had more importance and substance than Britney, so why would she fall prey to negative emotions? The answer to this mystery lies in something psychology calls "external attribution". When someone becomes known for something, when Marilyn becomes known for her beauty and Kurt Cobain is known for his music and Paris Hilton is known for simply being famous, these people become targets of praise. Surrounded by yes-men, adoring fans, letters of praise, billboards and magazine shoots, their celebrity becomes bigger than the person themselves.

Imagine the situation of a stunningly beautiful girl at some trendy New York bar. Gentleman after gentleman, (or sometimes a lady), will approach this beautiful girl and likely start the conversation with some compliment to her, whether refering to her beauty or something else. The act of simply cold approaching this girl is a compliment in and of itself. Eventually, this girl is going to learn that people treat her better because of her beauty, and not that they deeply appreciate her unique qualities or her clever sense of humour. The positive comments that are supposed to bring up our sense of self-esteem, for these people, suddenly get externally attributed. Subconsciously, they learn that people are just saying that them because their beauty. Or celebrity.

The same defenses, however, are not built for negativity. They do not learn how to also externally attribute the negative comments, even though there are likely just as many negative things said rejecting the beauty, fame, celebrity and success. And that is why Britney Spears, like Marilyn Monroe, is deeply depressed right now.

The Weight Of The World

Justin Ng — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:16:00 +0000

As I walked home, in one of those peculiar moments that MP3 players will give you when on shuffle, it decided to take me from the mellow sounds of Death Cab to a random Dane Cook bit:

"And then you get a tap on your shoulder. And when you turn around, who's behind you? The world. Right on your shoulder going: Hey what's up."

He explained to me in graphic detail through my headphones the steps that we go through when we go through when we need to cry. A deep, soulful, emotional cry. As a person who's had things piling up in my life and giving me probably more excuses than I need to cry, strangely, his description made me laugh.

Objectively, it's probably easy to prove that I'm have been in a tough situation as of late. There is increasing tension as I try to figure out what is going on with my career. I've been without a girlfriend since last summer. Revenue Canada seems to think I owe them more money than I currently have in the bank. I'm trying to save money but somehow the bills are never as small as I need them to be. And the little things, getting a dentist, a doctor and getting my Washington state driver's license, all have been falling through the cracks.

As I walked and happily enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my face, I wondered why I wasn't depressed, or upset, or ready to let the weight of the world get me down. Am I holding it in? Is it repressed? Am I just jaded? What was wrong with me?

That evening, I sat in my living room, by myself, smoking a hookah by the fireplace with a glass of wine in hand. I read a misogynistic yet strangely insightful book called "An Average American Male" while music played to the Decemberists. Colin Meloy declared passionately: "They'll never catch me! No they'll never catch me now! We will escape somehow...somehow."

And I smiled. I would not rather be anyone else.

Life is good.

the delicious caper

Justin Ng — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:48:00 +0000

Earlier this year, I decided to write and film a little short film called The Delicious Caper. It was a lot of fun to make and for a production written, filmed and edited complete with custom music, it was amazing we did the entire thing in about a week, while still working a fulltime job. Check out the script here: The Delicious Caper. (The video itself is only available to my friends on Facebook.)

Fresh Pasta

Justin Ng — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:58:00 +0000

I got it in my head this weekend that I really wanted to make some homemade pasta. Perhaps it was the tasty fresh pasta I tasted in my last visit to Toronto at Cucina, or just watching Hell's Kitchen and seeing Chef Ramsay yell and scream at people all day that got me in the mood.

Either way, I went ahead and did my first attempt at it. I got a pasta press, some semolina flour and some eggs. I love the simplicity of it all, simply turning the two into a dough, letting it rest, rolling it out and flattening it with the hand-cranked machine. The machine also cut the pasta into beautiful noodles of linguine, and let it dry for an hour. It cooked really fast, giving me perfect al dente noodles in about four minutes.

I teamed up with Kostas who made a fresh pesto the old fashioned way, grinding up basil leaves, romano, parmesan, pine nuts and olive oil by hand to make a very pungent and delicious pesto. Having some extra pasta leftover, Kostas then made another sauce with San Marzano tomatoes and ripped basil leaves, putting some very creamy and fresh mozzarella at the end. It was delicious, the tomatoes form San Marzano are so incredibly sweet and tasty, and they alone could form a delicious sauce with nothing else needed, unlike the standard tomatoes I cook with which normally take a long time to cook into something sweet and not too acidic.

It seems that most of the recipes I've seen use all-purpose white flour, and yet it seems clear to me that pasta is traditionally made with semolina flour. I used completely semolina, but I have also heard of the two flours being mixed together for ideal results. I think I also made the pasta a touch too dry, causing the texture to not be as smooth as I would have liked. I'm going to have to play around with different amounts of olive oil and different types of flours to see what effect it has on the final pasta.

I'd also like to find a guide to different thickness of pasta and how that affects what the ideal sauces are for the noodle. I think there is a lot of interesting knowledge handed down from chef to chef, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I want to approach this from a scientist's point of view and understand the theory of food. What effect does salt have on water, and why do eggs come out mushy if you add them before cooking? Why will a wet fish end up being steamed unless you cover it in salt initially? To me, these are truly the most interesting questions in cooking.

It's strange that some reality show on cooking has the effect of inspiring me to attempt to cook, but Chef Gordon Ramsay talked about food with such love and such passion that I can't help but get excited over the preparation of food. It makes me regret getting an apartment with such a small kitchen. At the time of decision, it wasn't so terrible an idea; just over a week ago, if you opened my fridge, it was completely empty except for some bottles of vodka! At least now there are some eggs in there. :)

All in all it was a great experiment with great results, and I will definitely be making more homemade pasta over the next few weeks. It really is remarkable the difference that it makes to use completely fresh ingredients and make something from scratch. Everything just tastes so much better, it is so much cheaper, and you can completely design and make the meal to fit exactly what flavors you enjoy. Who knows, maybe my next big thing is learning to cook!

Twenty-third

Justin Ng — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:45:00 +0000

I'm 23rd in line at the Bellevue Apple store for an iPhone. I wasn't sure I was going to be here just a few weeks ago, seeing as it was a lot to pay for just a mobile phone. The iPod features won't change the fact I'm having a better time with the device and subscription service I have now with Zune. But then I realized that this would be a full web browser taken with you anywhere and I was sold.

The first guy in line here got here at 5pm yesterday. Anyway a guy just came by and asked what line this was. Someone piped up: "this is the line for Ratatouille." This is going to be a fun day.

Update 10:02am: They handed us all Smart Water at about 9:15am. Very nice of them. There seems to be someone who's job is just to talk to us and make sure we have a good time. The woman just said she's going to get us some coffee. Cool. There are 49 people in line right now.

Update 11:57am: Free coffee from Starbucks is here. They're also letting people in line use the backroom restroom in the Apple store. Someone also strung out an extension cord, but there's only three plugs. I'm gonna have to fight for one of those later. The Starbucks girl to #4 and #5 in line: "how long have you guys been here??". Them: "Five PM yesterday." She's like: "For a phone??! A phone! Really?" #4 and #5 are highschool kids, why is she flipping her hair and flirting with them?

Update 2:36pm: The black curtains have come up, and the store is closed. Looks like they're going to revamp the store interior in the next four hours.

Update 5:27pm: They took down one of the curtains, revealing the iPhone doing a countdown until the store opens. Ridiculous how much effort they put into this launch. I feel like we're in line for the cure for cancer or something, the hype is in almost stupid levels that I'm kinda not digging this anymore.

Epilogue: They let us in 15 people at a time. They had 10 people just standing in the front of the store, cheering and high-fiving every customer as they walked into the Apple store. I purchased my iPhone without incident and left. I've been playing with it ever since. It's true that the weakest point for the iPhone is the slow AT&T network, but it is a great device otherwise. There are other flaws with it, but nothing so major that made me feel this wasn't a revolutionary product. Kudos, Apple.

On Delight

Justin Ng — Wed, 02 May 2007 23:46:00 +0000

Wonderful consumer applications often will present the user features that create delight. Delight is one of the most important concepts to understand, and one of the least understood by engineers, especially in the software profession. Software engineers bathe themselves in objectivity, practicality and scientific analysis.

If it isn't measurable it simply isn't important.

Taken to an extreme, we get to the world of Linux, where the ideal text editors have cryptic memorized commands to simply navigate your document. Pressing 'j' and 'k' move your cursor up and down, and 'h' and 'l' move your cursor left and right. The reasoning for this? When you type, your hands are supposed to stay on the home keys. Since moving the cursor is something a user will do often, they map keys on the home row to movement so that the user does not have to move her hand away from the home row. Once a user becomes an expert at all of the cryptic commands, they become far more efficient at text editing than on any other editor.

The critics of Cover Flow in iTunes complain that it is superfluous, unnecessary, and an inefficient way of navigating through your library of music. Perhaps all of these things are true. But they are missing the point.

Cover Flow creates smiles.

There are little features that create delight for a user. In one of the first few posts on this blog, I described my experience unboxing my first iPod:

Well, finally it is in my hands, and I have to say that this is one of the coolest toys I have ever played with. If first impressions are everything this has won me over already. It is housed in the best packaging on any product ever that I've ever opened. It may sound silly, but opening the iPod box is really an experience. Everything slides open, folds open, fits perfectly, and is overall very slick. You can tell the packaging was really well thought out.

And there it is. If the experience of opening the box of a product gets someone giddy, something powerful is happening there. Human beings are emotional creatures, and emotions can override objectivity and practicality on a daily basis for everyone–except engineers.

Engineers, scientists and generally those in technical professions are trained out of style over substance, and instead are laser focused on metrics and objectivity. There is important for a few reasons, least of which is that you certainly hope that bridge builders care more about stability than aesthetics! As long as product designers are not killing their users, they should focus on the emotional effect of the product itself.

If users are delighted enough, they will actually overlook flaws in your product. I remember I debate I was having with coworkers over the iPod spin wheel thingy. They argued that it was impractical and impossible to hit exactly what you want in the UI. I argued vehemently, stating that it was possible with the right amount of practice. I exclaimed that I had been using iPods for years and could hit exactly what I wanted every time! So of course, I was challenged to prove myself. So I whipped out my iPod and did a demonstration. And as I bounced up and down trying to hit the menu item I was looking for, quickly my smug look faded away as one appeared on my colleague's face.

This is not an isolated incident. When enough delight is built into a customer's experience, they will march with you until the end of time. Delight creates emotional experiences. And once emotion is evoked between a user and a product, only then can a user fall in love.

Dare on Copyright

Justin Ng — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:56:00 +0000

Dare Obasanjo has just made the best post I have read on Copyrights and a great argument and explanation as to why those who are anti-Copyright simply have a ridiculous case on their hands.

It's a topic of particular interest to me, since not only do I make my living on the creation of thought and its protection, but also on the business model dependent on copyright of the songs we peddle.

Deep Conversations and Coast Hopping

Justin Ng — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 01:40:00 +0000

I had a wonderful conversation with a wonderful friend of mine last night over dinner at a homey, rustic little restaurant. I've been grinding so hard to write code day in and day out that I forgot what it was like to just have a great time with friends. Having lived in Toronto, Mountain View, Waterloo and Seattle, I've managed to pick up friends all over North America, and an even larger set of acquaintences from the increasingly large list of places I've visited throughout the world.

Are friendships fleeting? How does one nurture these things? Or do we expect them to just come and go like the wind?

Do we really have to pick and choose what people we have time for in our lives?

There are varying degrees of laid-backedness I've experienced, and people are definitely more stressed out on the East coast. On the West coast, things are a lot more relaxed, and Microsoft is very, very good and presenting a good work/life balance. My problem, then, is that I love my job. I am so passionate about my job that I spend so much of my time thinking about it and working on it, and I can tell that my own manager has concerns that I might just burn out if I keep going at this rate.

Friends are important. We need to spend the time to nurture our social lives because we are social creatures who need love and attention and friendship. I guess I'm going to try for a better balance in work/life and see if I am capable in reconnecting with those people that are important to me.

The beginning of Zune Marketplace

Justin Ng — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 08:16:00 +0000

This is a picture taken about a year ago when there were only four people on the Zune Marketplace team. I was the first and only developer at the time. My how things have come a long way since then...

Increasing Customer Value

Justin Ng — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 18:36:00 +0000

I read a well-written article entitled An Economic Explanation For Why DRM Cannot Open Up New Business Model Opportunities. The thesis is simply that successful business models depend on creating value for the consumer when dealing with non-scarce goods. The article describes taking raw ingredients and producing cooked food as a classic example of increasing customer value. Then he concludes that DRM is not a viable business model because it opposes this, reducing value for consumers.

I think the author has a very good point here, but his scope is far too broad. The implementation of DRM on purchase models is flawed, but not DRM in general.

I fully agree, for example, that DRM for purchased music is a completely flawed model. Music is a non-scarce good, and the value of a song, from an LP to a tape, to a CD and now online has been steadily decreasing with each of these generations. An LP used to contain rich content and extras like stickers and liner notes and other goodies. Now you buy a song online and you are completely restricted in its use; DRM is decreasing customer value.

However, DRM enables many non-purchase scenarios that create a tremendous amount of value for the consumer. For the cost of a single CD a month, users can have access to the entire catalog of music available on an online store. The first time I tried a subscription service, I was amazed at the freedom I felt when I was given an unlimited number of downloads and could discover and sample any song freely. The only caveat is that the music goes away at the end of the month.

People are generally uncomfortable when they don't own goods. The scariest thing for people is that the music goes away when they stop subscribing. This is because they are not used to renting music. Consumers have no problems with cable tv, netflix, renting movies at the store, yet this model for subscription music is even more powerful because they are allowed to rent the entire catalog at once for a flat fee.

DRM can create value through rental models, but I am convinced that DRM on purchased content is far too restrictive and as it stands today, will lead only to failure unless a dramatic change is embraced by the content providers of DRM content.

The Magazine Trap

Justin Ng — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 18:19:00 +0000

The airport. Everyone's stressed, upset and late. People hate security, checking in and generally lining up. I'm already in the security line, beltless. Shoes in hand, laptop out, it's down to a system for me. Everything falls into place like a Rube Goldberg machine. But then, my cheery disposition falters.

Temptation.

I see it out of the corner of my eye and I refuse to turn my head. I walk by with a brisk pace and let out a sigh as I relax. But not too many steps later I see another one. The brightly-lit haven of print begging me to stop. This time I slow down. I crane my head to see the covers. But I still walk by.

Just when I'm about to declare the crisis averted, to my extreme dismay, there is yet another magazine shop right beside my gate.

So I'm standing in front of the rack, trying to decide what to get. To my left is a guy nervously trying to pick up the FHM with some girl pouring champagne on her bikini. He doesn't want anyone to see, so he's got the Economist in one hand and Foreign Affairs in the other, and he's trying to sandwich the FHM between them discreetly so no one will know. The guy to my right is unfolding the centerfold in the Playboy he is reading.

As I look through the shelves, I'm trying to figure out what to get. Fortune, Wired, or Business Week. GQ, Esquire or Details. Maxim, FHM or Stuff. It is impressive how difficult it is to make the perfect magazine choice. As a matter of practicality, it is unlikely that I'll enjoy a deep intelligent read on the airplane. I'd do better at reading something more graphic like Wired or GQ. But magazines are a point of identity. You can learn more about a person based on the magazines they purchase then anything else on their credit card bill. If I open up a Maxim, the person sitting next to me will have a different impression of me compared to if I open up The New Yorker.

I end up grabbing three magazines, carefully selected to represent different aspects of my personality, and very airplane readable. You could publish papers on the detail I put into the selection process.

I take my seat on the airplane, drop the magazines into the pocket in front of me and fall asleep. I sleep through the entire flight.

I'm in the taxi to my hotel before I realize that the magazines are still in the airplane seat pocket flying back to Seattle without me.

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Justin Ng — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 09:07:00 +0000

As new year 2004 approached, I looked forward. I was ready to leave behind my misery and depression from the previous year and start again. I had just opened up my personality and had already begun my transition into becoming a social person. I was going live in Silicon Valley and learn firsthand of the world of opportunities.

As new year 2005 approached, I looked forward. I was winning poker tournaments and I was on track to finish school forever. I was ready to begin my life, post-school.

As new year 2006 approached, I looked forward. I was on the verge of so much change and opportunity. I would begin to define my life, my dreams and fully become independent and responsible. Anticipation consumed me.

As new year 2007 approaches, I look backward. Everything that I had built toward and wanted, I was given. The best year of my life has just passed. As I try to clutch them harder and harder in my hands, the memories simply slip through my fingers faster and faster like sand. And the blind optimism for tomorrow that kept me safe for years now falters.

can't seem to hold you like I want to
so i can feel you in my arms
nobody's gonna come and save you
we pulled too many false alarms

we're going down
and you can see it too
we're going down
and you know that we're doomed
my dear
we're slow dancing in a burning room
- john mayer

Empty Temptation

Justin Ng — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 01:21:00 +0000

I've just returned from some last-minute shopping at the Best Buy here in Mississauga. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they finally were stocking Wii nunchakus and Wii classic controllers. My sister picked one of each up and I scoured the DVD section looking for the items that I needed.

As I paid for my goods, I looked over my shoulder and saw a cage filled with empty display boxes. I turned back to sign the bill, when it hit me. They wouldn't put empty display boxes inside a cage. I turned back to the cashier and asked the obvious question.

"Are those real PS3's inside that cage?"

She raised an eyebrow and offhandedly responded, "yup, you want one?"

I looked back and eyed the 16 PS3's taunting me, begging me. I looked around violently, expecting a sudden mad rush of people to charge the cage and topple it over. But no one. I scanned for the line of hundreds of people come just to get a glimpse of a real PS3 in person. And didn't see one. A kid walked up and gave them a passing glance before heading over to the Guitar Hero II display.

I turned back to see the cashier eying me expectantly. For one of those long seconds that seem to last for an eternity, I sat and considered. Maybe it might be fun. Yeah, no rumble feature, but the graphics are pretty sweet. I should really check out their marketplace to see how it competes with the video marketplace I spent all year building. I should get one for competitive analysis. Bring it into work. Let people play. I'm going to end up buying one when Final Fantasy XIII comes out anyway right? And I could always flip one on eBay.

"They're going for only seven-hundred bucks each," she offered helpfully.

I snapped out of it. And went home.

Writer's Block

Justin Ng — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:05:00 +0000

So I wanted to write something fantastic here. Something dramatic, succinct and thought-provoking. Something clever with words and a twist ending that would have you gasping for air.

But such pressure leads to writer's block, and I think I've had writer's block pretty much my entire life. I've always tried to write little poems and stories and screenplays, but have been paralyzed by my need to be overly clever. I would try to pack my stories with plot twists and clever symbolic devices, ideas that would make you rethink the nature of reality or intricate ways of presenting a story that perfectly reflects the theme.

I had forgotten what was truly important.

These stories were soulless. They were trying way too hard to be clever without really doing what they were meant to do--tell a story! It comes down to strong characterizations. A story can be extremely interesting even without plot if we feel a connection to the characters. If we relate to their emotions and feel sympathy for their situations, it doesn't really matter what they are doing as we just would like to be in that journey with them. I always told people that if a character is well-written, we would want to see them eat cornflakes because we felt so close to them. Why didn't I follow my own advice?

The same thing has happened to my blog. I've had a few posts why I tried very hard to tell a strange or interesting story in a different or unique way. So I sat here for the last couple of days trying to decide how I wanted to sum up the past year. I'm at home now with my family and I swear that every year the house I grew up in feels smaller and smaller. It's a natural time to reflect and I definitely have been looking at the past year. Yet I sat here with writers block trying to figure out how to show everyone what my year was like and make everyone learn something in the process.

That's me! Thinking I can change the world from my blog. How pompously arrogant. :)

I think I should just return to the stream of consciousness that pervaded my original blog entries. I'm reading Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor and it's a deliciously depressing novel. Strange how depressing stories inspire me and make me happier. It's a cool book and I like reading. And um. It's nice to be back in Mississauga, although I tell everyone I'm going to Toronto. And.. um.. hmm.

I can't think of what to say next...

Connected Entertainment Amplifies Our Friendships

Justin Ng — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:38:00 +0000

As a guy who uses Gentoo Linux, shows up to meetings with a MacBook, is typing this post on a Powerbook G4 and uses Google pretty much across the board, I tend to stubbornly stick to what I feel are the best products despite what the Microsoft kool-aid would have me believe.

That said, there are a lot of exciting things coming down the pipe from Microsoft. I recently installed the latest IDW build of Windows Vista, and, provided that you spend a pretty penny on hardware, I think you'll be pretty happy with it. There's a heck of a lot more polish and fit and finish on this OS than any previous Microsoft operating system in history. I'm also impressed with Office 2007. For years they introduced update after update to the suite which seemed to just add more toolbar buttons that I never knew what they did and had no interest in learning. Dropping the toolbars and drop down menus in favour of ribbons has been the single most important advance in Office since spellcheck as you type.

But perhaps the most amazing thing are two switches that I've made recently. I love Internet Explorer 7. As a loyal Mozilla and later Firefox user, it would take a lot for me to switch over. It's faster, it has a great user experience and I quite like their implementations of tabs and RSS.

Most recently, the pocket space reserved for my iPod has been replaced by my Zune. I have never been more excited about music than I am at this moment. For a few weeks now, my trusty Zune has never left my side. It really has replaced my iPod for daily use, which is a pretty impressive thing. I have been using iPod + iTunes since 2003 and have been a huge fan of everything Apple. I am so proud and excited of what we have done here with Zune. Our VP, J Allard, always talks about this connected entertainment thing and how it will change the future. I really didn't know really the core of what that was until we started beta testing our Zune devices.

First, I feel much more connected to my device. The iPod feels precious and cold, almost surgical and medical. The cold metal on the back takes the heat from your hand, and I constantly feel the need to polish it, and buy protective cases for it. They focus on beauty and try to convince you to worship the shrine of the iPod. It's a brilliant brand image for the iPod and I marched beside it for a long time. However using the Zune feels so much more comfortable. It's a comfortably weighted device that uses some kind of fingerprint resistant plastic. I throw it into my pocket with my keys and it leaves nary a scratch. I feel like I could have it with me right in the mosh pit. iPod is like sitting on the Queen's couch. You never feel quite comfortable and you're worried your jeans will mark up the leather. Zune is like falling back into a beanbag. It's super comfortable and casual.

I didn't realize how much I would enjoy sharing music with my friends until we all had a Zune. It really does happen, where they'll say, "you have to hear this song, I know you'll love it!" They'll send a song over to me, and we'll trade up. I have begun to influence my friends, and they have definitely gotten me into some new stuff. OK Go, Lady Sovereign, Band of Horses, CSS, I feel like I'm very quickly expanding my musical horizons. My favourite Zune poster is one depicting a guy and a girl laughing, together, and the caption is, "this song reminds me of you."

When I look forward to the path we have for the next five to ten years, and see how we plan to change the landscape of digital music, I'm excited. Connected entertainment is going to happen, and it will change the way that we enjoy gaming, music, video, and how we take it with us. It's an exciting time, to be at the edge of a revolution.

Welcome to the social!

Movie of the year

Justin Ng — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 01:27:00 +0000

I just came back from Snakes on a Plane.

It's some of the best intentional B-movie camp I have ever seen. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard at a movie.

I declare it movie of the year! Go now!

Pre-teens

Justin Ng — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:51:00 +0000

My theory is that girls are socialized at a younger age because of technology. With cell phones, text messages, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, iChat, email, girls are communicating more faster with their friends. As you become socialized, you care more about what other people think and try to fit in and be cool.

This is why girls are learning to dress sexy and be all emo and out there much younger than previous generations.

Missing Socks

Justin Ng — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:18:00 +0000

Okay, I'm pretty sure that at the start of the year, I had two dozen pairs of black socks. I'm also pretty sure that my dryer is eating my socks. I have three pairs of socks now and I'm none too happy.

Wandering eyes

Justin Ng — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 16:48:00 +0000

There are so many things going on when you are at a bar, that it is easy to forget some of the basics of conversational etiquette.

You're watching people incoming, left, right. You monitor that cute girl on the other side of the room, waiting for the logistics to clear up so that you can approach her. You see the girl at the table beside you is giving body language signals that she's not interested in the guy she's with. Your head snaps over to see the bachelorette party on the left being approached by two geeky guys--you lock on their eyes and see that they are giving each other eyecodes that they want to leave.

You're suddenly interrupted from your train of thought by a cough beside you. You snap into focus and remember that you've been talking to this girl for five minutes already.

Her: "So what do you think about that?"

You already begin to feel the effects of the awkward silence between you two and your heart starts pounding as you realize you have no idea what she just said. You are about to look like a fool.

It's easy to forget to give the person you talk to your full attention. Sure, keep an eye on what is happening around you, but make sure you LISTEN to the people that you are talking to. Nothing looks more disingenuous than wandering eyes. And it's just really annoying when it happens to you.

Give great eye contact. Listen and focus on what people are saying when they talk to you. Otherwise you look like you have an agenda and people will be turned off you. Don't be constantly looking for the next more exciting group of people to talk to.

Make quality interactions with each person that you talk to and your nights will be much more fun.

It's official.

Justin Ng — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 20:46:00 +0000

Today, Xbox announced a new, holistic approach to music and entertainment. The rumours are true--there will be a device to go with the brand new ecosystem. So I'm finally able to fess up and tell everyone that I'm working on this project. It's good too, because it's tough to pretend I work on Xbox Live when my job doesn't have anything to do with gaming.

The announcement comes in the form of a Billboard magazine article.

This is going to be an exciting year for the digital music industry.

Check out the fun viral site comingzune.com.

The zen of being friendly

Justin Ng — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:24:00 +0000

I was frowning.

I looked left and right like mom wanted, and shook my head. This was not going to be easy. I stepped off the sidewalk.

BEEEEEEEEEEP!

I quickly stepped back up as an angry driver flipped me off at my attempted jaywalk. Just a week ago, I made the longest jaywalk of my life with a bunch of friends. Now I had just barely avoided becoming a street pancake.

"Yeah, I almost got run over by a car," I said sheepishly into my cellphone. I'm convinced that pedestrians should not be allowed to cross streets with cellphones. I once saw a guy miss an alien abduction because he was texting a friend.

As I continued talking on my cellphone, I barely caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. The figure was almost completely upon me before I realized what was happening. Glided toward me, is the term. He was barely in my peripheral vision before his arms were around me in a big fat man hug. Cloth met cloth, skin touched skin, and we were best friends for just a moment, before and he backed off with a simple, "Hi, my name is Neil!" He smiled warmly at me.

I stared at him and could barely say my name back to him over my shock. My mind kicked into gear and I was left desperately trying to form a question involving who, what, why, and strangely, burritos.

But Neil was gone. Glided away, back to his two friends. I vaguely noticed that my cellphone, now at my side, was screaming, "HELLO? ARE YOU STILL THERE?"

I ignored it. I was focussed on something much too interesting that I had just realized.

I was smiling.

Get out and be social

Justin Ng — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 20:59:00 +0000

As the daily grind continues and we spend far too many hours doing and thinking about work, we become more and more antisocial. The reason that we walk around and don't make any new friends is that we stay in our heads. We end up avoiding strangers and respond awkwardly to those around us instead of being outgoing and playful. This creates social barriers, which can lead to negative feelings and emotions.

When you are in your head, you talk to yourself and work through your internal dialogue. Think back to when you last had an animated discussion with someone and you weren't thinking too hard and just shooting the shit--this is the state we should strive to maintain when we are not working. When we talk to strangers, we think that they are more likely to judge us and we become self conscious and inside our heads. But if you talk to your six year old nephew are you going to be self conscious? No. But why should it be different from anyone else?

Get out of your head. Talk to everyone. Get in a talkative mood. Phone your best friends before you go out. Listen to music. Don't even THINK about what you are going to do, just approach random strangers. Be mindless. Appreciate the flowers, the grass and trees around you. Man, that was an awesome song that you just listened to! You take your seat at the bus stop, ready to take on the day.

Then a girl sits to your right. Without even thinking, you turn your head to the right, and, over your shoulder, say, "I've had this song stuck in my head all day. Ever have that?"

Her: a little surprised "Um, yeah."

You: "The funny thing is that it's a really great song. It's been stuck in my head but it pumps me up, I'm in such a great mood. Don't you love how music can really get you going?"

She looks up at you as you say this, and you lock into her green eyes. Beautiful.

Her: "Hahah, yeah totally. I can't get a good workout done without my iPod."

You smile back at her. This is going to be a great day.

Mac Ads Get Spoofed

Justin Ng — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:53:00 +0000

This is a great spoof of the recent PC vs Mac ads by VH1's Best Week Ever.

Mac: But you can't capture your family's vacation on a pie chart.

PC: Right. But a podcast about your favourite hoodies and independent film won't help you pay for that vacation.

Mac: No, that's what my trust fund is for. But that a pretty sweet idea for a podcast!

Congrats Donna!

Justin Ng — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:35:00 +0000

You rock! Four more to go!