coolguyphil

New Blog!

2012-01-06T20:54:47Z

Thanks for reading!

For more, please visit my new blog.

Blog Numbers

2011-12-29T06:23:23Z

Know it's been a while since I've posted. Not going to say 'I've been busy' because aren't we all?

People usually look at me as a numbers guy. That's cool but a large part of that impression is built on what I've done. Looking forward, I want to develop other skill sets such as being more creative and strategic.

That said, I'm increasingly convinced that you can never get away from the numbers. The blog template for this site provides some basic statistics on the number of visits, but I decided to track these on my own so I could manipulate the data a bit. Don't worry, this is basic stuff.

For roughly a month I tracked average visits per week (in blue) and per month (in red) as seen in the chart below.

My simple hypothesis was that blog posts would drive increased traffic. As you might expect, this turned out to be true for the most part. The black lines above indicate dates after a previous day post. On a side note, I had to manually input these lines as Excel would remove everything else if you tried to use a filter.

An interesting observation is that towards the end I could start to see an uptick in traffic despite not posting. Having sufficient content to build momentum doesn't hurt. That has since changed as I have not quite kept up but I did see a spike on Christmas day.

Breezy in Pasadena

2011-12-06T06:58:55Z

You might have seen a couple of news reports about the strong winds in Los Angeles last week. Since last Thursday, I snapped a few pictures of my own that show the destruction that these winds caused.

Walking to my car:

Outside the apartment:

A block away:

Poor car. Rear window was smashed:

Who would've thought?

Real Estate - Take Away Show: Green Aisles

2011-12-02T03:35:59Z

So good. Music starts a little after a minute in. Thanks to Mateo for sharing:

The End of Black Friday

2011-11-28T23:16:35Z

I'm just going to say it. We need to get rid of Black Friday.

Before you close your window and never return to read my blog again, let me add that we need to get rid of Black Friday as we know it. Specifically, we need to stop with the door-busting deals at retail stores.

What started as a great idea to drive sales and provide value to consumers has gotten out of hand and spiraled into a mess of chaos. Exhibit 1 is a video that has been shared widely showing shoppers at Walmart fighting over $2 waffle makers.

I kind of think of it as a game of chicken. On one side you have retailers trying to lure customers with ridiculously low prices.

On the other you have customers trying to brave all obstacles to buy these items.

Who is crazier? Which side will be smart enough to stop this madness?

Let's take a look at some of the numbers involved:

Black Friday
Wait in line/ camp out for 8 hours (estimated)
Select discounted items for purchase (did you even get what you wanted or did they run out of limited quantities?)
Wait in line to buy the items (additional time drain)
Feel good about yourself for how much you saved ($50? $100? $500?)
Go home and pass out

Consider how much you money you earn in a day (estimated 8 hours).

Was it worth it? I may not be the best example given my current situation, but would the amount you saved have been covered by one day of work? If so, why not just spend what you earned in a day instead of trying to save it waiting around?

Now let's include some unquantifiable factors. For the sake of comparison, let's look at it from the perspective of not engaging in Black Friday.

~~Black Friday~~
Sleep cycle isn't ruined from staying out to wait in line
Don't risk getting pepper-sprayed
Reportedly in self-defense due to the risk of getting trampled
Don't risk getting shot
Less likely to get sick (from staying out in the cold)

Is it worth it now?

If only there was another way to get Black Friday deals... oh wait, there is.

Buying online. Using that thing called the Internet.

UC Davis Chancellor Apologizes

2011-11-23T17:52:01Z

My alma mater UC Davis has been making quite some noise in the past week. For those that haven't heard or seen, the police pepper sprayed student protestors that were sitting (non-violent).

There appear to be differing accounts of whether the UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, authorized force and/or defended the actions of the police or, in more recent news, defied her orders by using pepper spray. In any case, the incident naturally caused an outrage that led to demands for the chancellor's resignation as well as a quite powerful silent (but again peaceful) protest by UCD students as the chancellor walked to her car.

Bob Ostertag, a professor at UC Davis, wrote an eye-opening article about the militarization of campus police that was featured on the Huffington Post. And the cavalier attitude of the cop doing the pepper spraying has made him the focal point of an Internet meme.

But, on to my point. Chancellor Katehi made some very critical mistakes during this incident but after reading this article about a general assembly on Monday, it seems she is taking some steps in the right direction.

She apologized - the easy thing to do would have been to say 'I didn't do it' and point the blame elsewhere, but Katehi took full responsibility for what happened

She kept a promise - the chancellor promised to attend the protestors' general assembly and she showed up

She didn't expect special treatment - at the assembly, she waited for her turn to speak and only spoke briefly to comply with the request of a 1 minute limit, indicating that her voice wasn't more important than everyone else's at the assembly

She related - Katehi drew on her own experience with student/military tensions in Greece and expressed a desire to understand the students better

Katehi also indicated that she would not resign. If you were in her shoes, would you? I know I wouldn't. I would want to make things right, and it looks like she is starting on that path. The Monday assembly was followed by a town hall on Tuesday where Katehi defended herself. Stating facts is fine but this can come awfully close to pointing the finger. There is a long road ahead.

It's unfortunate that this is what is putting UC Davis 'on the map'. I am proud of the way the students have reacted, and what they need most now is what was missing during the crisis - true leadership.

Want More Reviews?

2011-11-21T19:32:47Z

Wanted to point my readers (dare i say fans?) to some additional resources. If you've read more than a few of my posts you've likely noticed I cover a broad range of topics.

If you like my movie reviews such as Oldboy, check out Shinsanity's blog for more comprehensive and current movie reviews.

If you like my app reviews of Yelp and DerManDar, check out Hongover's blog.

Disclaimer: these are my friends blogs but are more focused on their respective categories.

Enjoy!

My Store Launch

2011-11-19T18:09:06Z

I was looking at some startups and came across styleowner, which allows people to easily set up and select items for their own online apparel and accessories store. When purchases are made from your store, you get 10% of the sales.

This sounded interesting but the product is in beta so I had to make a request to register. Not long after I had my verification code and was set to go. The setup process allowed for sharing after setup but I chose to pass on that option so that I could promote and launch my store here. Without further ado, please visit my store.

Here is a screenshot of my storefront:

What I like:
The setup process is simple as it is guided step by step. There are many diverse brand options to select from, many of which I've never heard of. Styleowner continually seeks feedback to improve their site and offerings through a forum and newsletter. There is also an option to donate earnings to certain charities and the security looks tight, as they also send and require verification codes via text.

And not so much:
Although there are many brands to choose from, selection is something that can be improved whether by number of products per brand or by adding more familiar brands. The selection also doesn't really cater to the budget shopper as there does not seem to be any 'discounted' items. The site is geared towards both the female store owner and shopper. These constraints limited my options on my first pass at filling the store to only 4 items.

It will be interesting to see how this concept progresses as styleowner officially launches. In the meantime, feel free to check out my store!

Now I Know (A Good Song)

2011-11-16T15:09:00Z

Now I Know is a site that features short clips of 'discussions with entrepreneurs about their successes, failures, and lessons learned'. No two paths are the same but the site serves as a great resource for people interested in entrepreneurship.

In my case, it was also a resource for discovering a new song. Towards the end of one of the discussions is some catchy music and after quickly employing the help of Shazam, here it is:

After a few plays I decided to pay attention to the lyrics which are quite funny. If you like it, there's a free download on YouTube.

Buy Low, Sell High, Hire Me

2011-11-15T17:28:33Z

We've heard the common wisdom before. Buy low. Sell high. Make money.

Unfortunately, we also know that it's not that simple. Human emotion interferes so that when we should stay calm and recognize opportunities, we panic and sell; when we should realize a gain we continue to ride the roller coaster high until it comes crashing down.

Much like the stock market, there is a general prevailing concept of taking risks when others are pulling back, and when everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, perhaps it's time to look for the exits. Despite this understanding, our instincts get in the way and our decisions don't reflect this calm rationality.

This has been my experience with the hiring process as a career-switcher looking for job opportunities post-MBA. Granted, there are likely a number of reasons companies can point to for their selection process. But what I have noted is an unwillingness to look past direct experience deficiencies to identify potential talent. Looking at x years of experience translates to a safe bet in the eyes of most companies.

But by limiting themselves to these 'safe bets', these companies could potentially fare worse. If a job seeker wants to transition into a different field but doesn't have the desired years of experience, he may revert back to an area that fits his past experience. If he is hired, that company has now selected someone with the experience they wanted but likely has lower motivation and passion. This is a less desirable hire than someone who is excited about what they are doing.

Or, maybe the job seeker isn't good at what they are doing and wants to find something that better matches their skill sets. But the collective 'safe bet' hiring practices influence them to stick with what they are doing.

Fortunately, not all companies are unwilling to take calculated risks. HubSpot, in particular, is a company that (at least in the sales department) seems to look beyond the direct experience factor with a focus instead on past success in any field. Roughly 20% of their sales team hires didn't have sales experience, and their staff includes past professional comedians and Olympic gold-medal winners.

Here is a graph of HubSpot's customer growth:

Photo Courtesy

Their revenue growth is supposedly even greater because revenue per customer has grown over time. This can naturally be attributed to many different factors, but the company is doing something right.

There is a lot of talk about the importance of the people that make up a successful organization. Maybe it's time to take another look at who these people really are.

Are the 4 P's of Marketing Really Dead?

2011-11-14T21:45:54Z

Or, rather, are 3 of them dead and there is only one that matters? According to this article, yes. At first read, the authors had me in agreement. A marketing framework from 1960 deserves another look to determine its relevance in today's market. Many business schools continue to drill this framework as fact and perhaps some of the more innovative programs add other frameworks to provide a set of tools to be applied as appropriate.

However, to say that 'Product' is the only P that matters is an oversimplification. Spending money and effort on improving a product does increase user value, but if you divert all such money and effort from marketing how do you communicate that value to your customers?

The article does make good points - a lot of commerce is moving online, pricing efforts are influenced by comparison sites, and there are companies that don't rely on large advertising budgets. But to point to these changes within the 3 'dead P's' as a basis to completely discredit them is an unrealistic leap. One could argue that pricing strategies are even more important in such a competitive environment and the onslaught of daily deal programs is just one example of the role that promotion continues to play.

Don't get me wrong - there is room for improvement to the 4 P's and its relevancy in today's market, but it continues to have use as a framework for organizing marketing efforts. Companies should strive to add value by creating an emotional connection with their customers (as the authors position), but doing it through product alone is not the cure-all answer to engage these connections.

Controlled Intensity

2011-11-08T15:09:00Z

Recently I've been watching The Tudors, a TV series produced for Showtime that originally premiered in 2007 and is loosely based on the life of King Henry VIII of England. Currently watching season 2 and I think it is King Henry, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, that really makes the show.

Most of the time, Meyers' character is confident, in control, and sure in his decision-making. He is also somewhat erratic, and in each scene I am waiting to see if he is going to fly off the handle. The sense of self-entitlement coupled with his ambitions to leave a legacy amidst a number of complex characters naturally make him an interesting character, but it is the intensity with which Meyers embodies the role that makes the show so captivating.

Photo Courtesy

This picture sort of captures the intensity but believe me he really dials it up when he starts yelling things like:

I AM THE KING OF ENGLAND!!

or

YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND!!

I think that this intensity could be appropriately applied to our own lives, albeit without the bordering on madness aspect - call it controlled intensity. Intensity is generally driven by passion and with the right mindset, we can infuse it into our every day activities. I find that applying this mindset is working for me whether it has been through work, working out, or more subtle things. Whenever we make it a point to add intensity, it forces out the lackadaisical attitude we generally have towards more routine efforts and gives us a sense of purpose that ultimately makes us more effective.

Amazon's Kindle Lending Library

2011-11-07T18:21:18Z

I realized that a fair amount of my posts are about Amazon. Their service updates always seem to me to be quite innovative and impact me personally. In this case, I was excited to learn about their new Kindle Lending Library - a program that allows Amazon Prime members to borrow one free book per month. This would have saved me a few bucks when I recently bought and read Kitchen Confidential

I was particularly excited because I had been looking forward to reading Fast Food Nation

When I got around to downloading the book, I found that the process wasn't the most intuitive. Then I realized why - I had missed a really important part of the lending program. It is only for Kindle owners - NOT for Kindle apps - and as such qualifying books had to be downloaded through a Kindle device. In much the same way that Apple ruled that Amazon had to drop its in-store button on the iPad app earlier this year, Amazon is building its services around its own content platform. Given the intersection that is being shaped by the competitive landscape these companies are building, it is understandable although disappointing for consumers like myself that aren't able to gain access to the best of both worlds through fewer devices.

On the plus side, as I was doing some research for this post I did come across information on lending Kindle books between individuals that does not require that the borrower own a Kindle.

Is a Video Resume Effective?

2011-11-03T00:14:56Z

Does anyone have a video or visual resume? Or know anyone that does?

Really curious as to how effective these are and what people's experiences with them have been. Watched a few on YouTube - some I couldn't tell if they were joking and others were a bit bland but still got up to the thousands in views.

This is still the best how-to and video resume I've seen:

Custom Twitter Background

2011-11-01T21:49:10Z

Updated my twitter background - you can see the new look here.

Happened to stumble across an entrepreneurship blog that provided instructions and a template for creating a custom background using Powerpoint. The resizing didn't work out that well for me, but I was able to tinker with it until I was satisfied with the placement through some simple trial and error.

Review: Sentinel 3: Homeworld (for iPad)

2011-10-31T21:58:18Z

Photo Courtesy

First game review!

Bought this game app on a recommendation from a friend. It cost me $2.99 and is the second game I've paid for (the first was AirAttack for $0.99). As the name suggests, this is the third installment of a series, of which I did not play the first 2.

Sentinel is a tower defense game with 3 modes: campaigns, endless, and classic. I have only played the campaign as it is the mode where you earn additional weaponry, split into two categories of ground units and sentinel weapons.

Sentinel is essentially a strategy game, made more complex with the addition of a commander that can also be used as a weapon and upgraded with abilities such as barrier repair. Here's a screen shot of some of the action:

Photo Courtesy

There are 20 campaigns before you have the option of buying more. This game quickly became addicting with 4 levels of difficulty that you can adjust accordingly. The enemies come in waves, and as you can see from the above screenshot in the upper right, this was captured during wave 60 of 60. The game is frustrating when the enemies break through your last barrier on wave 49 of 50 or 57 of 60 and you are required to start over. One way to speed things up during the initial stages is to click the double arrow button in the top left, highlighted in blue above. Then as things become more intense you can unclick it to more closely monitor the action.

Another tip that came in handy for me was the pause button, and the realization that you can make changes while paused that will take effect when unpaused.

Fun and addicting game.

Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

2011-10-28T18:09:25Z

Tried to embed this video for ease of use but something isn't working right. Here is the link instead.

I mentioned in a previous post that I recently moved but didn't note that the new place is much smaller than my last apartment. I happened to catch the TED talk by Graham Hill at an appropriate time as I was contemplating how all the stuff I had accumulated would fit into a smaller place. Things worked out, but I did end up stowing away a couple boxes in the closet without unpacking them. I realized that not only did I not have the space to unpack all the boxes, but also that I didn't need what was inside them as much as I thought.

Browsing through the comments on the TED page, there was some criticism that Graham Hill's talk was superficial in that it did not address the 'why' question of our inherent need to accumulate the 'stuff' in our lives and not let go. There is some value to these comments but the 'why' isn't that relevant unless you take this to an extreme, say, if you are invited to be on the TV show Hoarders.

Hill's point can still be taken for what it is. Simplifying our lives by getting rid of the excess clutter we really don't need makes room for what we really do care about, and thus makes us happier. Three easy approaches to deal with what you don't need include:

Sell it: make some money for things of value that you no longer need
Donate it: give to others and maybe even qualify for a tax deduction
Trash it: yes, that really is junk - get rid of it

We all like new stuff but as with most things there needs to be a balance. Too much stuff will eventually make us less happy until we find a way to simplify and find the right equilibrium.

List Mania

2011-10-27T17:34:23Z

There is something that draws us to lists. Perhaps it's the organization or the establishment of an expectation but lists have become a pervasive part of our lives. Whether it's the 7 steps to a new body, the 11 foods you must eat, or the Fortune 500, we see lists everywhere.

Lists are like books - ubiquitous and impossible to consume all of them. In the same way that authors influence which books we choose to read, the creators of lists should also drive the time and importance we attribute to them.

Credentials: Does the creator of a list have the knowledge or background to derive a list of value? Take the lists of top schools or cities, for example. There is no way that one person could have experienced living in all cities or attended all schools so any relevant list would have to be judged and viewed through some set of standard but questionably applicable criteria.

Affiliation: Is there some relationship that we have to the person who wrote the list? This fact alone can conjure sufficient interest in the opinions expressed in a list.

Keeping these elements in mind, we can more effectively concentrate our time when it comes to lists. As attractive as lists can be, it is worthwhile to take a second to evaluate who made them before making it 10 points down a 25 point list and deciding it's no longer worth reading.

Review: Panda Toothbrush Holder

2011-10-26T17:03:09Z

Recently moved to a place that doesn't separate the bathroom toilet from the sink. A few years ago I was horrified to learn that this meant bacteria from each flush could potentially settle within a certain radius, including on your toothbrush. I used to have one of those metal toothbrush holders but that required constant wiping of water residue and it ended up rusting anyway. Tossed the piece of junk when I moved.

While settling in I started browsing Amazon for a new holder and came across this one which you can attach to a mirror via the 2 suction cups on the back. I've only been using this for about a week but it is holding strong. The main draw for me was that tucking my toothbrush head into this panda belly would help protect it. And it's not that I don't appreciate the panda design (which can be substituted for many other animals) but I definitely think it'd be more exciting if I was 20 years younger.

Inserting and removing the toothbrush is easy. The holder is designed so that inserting the toothbrush against the back pushes the sides shut. The holder does require an initial cleaning which can be done with some simple wiping with a wet paper towel. Doesn't make sense to store your toothbrush in a dirty holder. It may just be the panda design, but the sides could shut more tightly. Aside from these minor drawbacks, I am happy with this purchase.

Review: Oldboy (English Subtitled)

2011-10-17T16:08:00Z

There's something about foreign films that I find intriguing. The themes, perspectives, and style are so different from the Hollywood movies I've grown up with.

Recently I've been watching foreign films using Amazon Instant Video. Of those that I've seen so far, I felt most compelled to comment on Oldboy. The movie has high ratings and the central idea of a man being imprisoned for 15 years without a clear cause is such an interesting premise.

I won't spoil the movie. But I will say that this imprisonment is just the beginning of the turns this movie takes that will shock and horrify you and leave you grasping for some deeper meaning. As I watched this movie, what came to mind was a writer that was tasked to come up with the most sick and twisted story he could come up with and yet somehow find a way to make it artful.