Jed Cohen's Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Not Acceptable

Jed Cohen — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:47:32 -0000

Fitting, I think, given the inevitable comparisons to Hogwarts that arise when I explain the Island to people whose only exposure to prep schools has been from fiction.
Of course, the fact that Loomis Chaffee even has a nickname like "the Island" may not help in that regard.

Re: Not Acceptable

Chris Gabriel — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:34:00 -0000

“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.” -JK Rowling (yes, really)

Re: Twitter, the Psychology of Reciprocity, and Self-Reinforcing Micro-Networks

DIANABOL — Sat, 28 May 2011 00:43:31 -0000

twitter certainly has many psycho users.

Re: Twitter, the Psychology of Reciprocity, and Self-Reinforcing Micro-Networks

psychologist perth — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:58:00 -0000

You have so many things that you can learn when browsing and using the Twitter. Because it gives you the benefit to follow the sites that you like.

Re: Google’s Own Area Code?

Jed Cohen — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:27:31 -0000

Thanks for the comment Virginia.

The issue is that it's not so fun when you move and have to tell everyone your new phone number. I have friends from high school, college, work, and family members that know my cell phone number right now. If I set up a Google Voice number where I live now and tell everyone, I'd just have to give everyone a new number if/when I move (assuming that I want people to think I'm local). The benefit to a digital area code is that it reflects the fact that location isn't as important as it used to be.

Re: Google’s Own Area Code?

Virginia — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:54:30 -0000

Just create a new gmail account, and get a new phone number with your new area code when you move.... ??? avoid the $10 change charge. Or try and reserve the same last 4 digits now, and just don't use it.

Re: How I Would Change: Netflix

Jed Cohen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:54:17 -0000

Well, there are positives and negatives to that. They're easier for consumers to access, but also have a large initial cost and subsequent smaller costs for the management of each of the kiosks. I certainly look forward to Netflix improving their streaming service, and could one day see myself opting out of receiving physical DVDs entirely if digital releases occurred on the same time frame as physical ones.

Re: How I Would Change: Netflix

Edward - Entry Level Dilemma — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:17:22 -0000

I also wanted to suggest, instead of physical brick & mortar stores, maybe Netflix could expand into kiosks like Redbox has. That would be lower overhead than a store, which is one of the things that is killing Blockbuster while still giving people the option of access today of new releases, which I have noticed aren't all that present on the Netflix streaming service.

Re: How I Would Change: Netflix

Edward - Entry Level Dilemma — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:40:01 -0000

Jed,

I agree that most people will want to watch any longer formatted video on a tv vs a computer. I have a modded PS 2 that I use primarily to view downloaded content on my living room tv, it has almost 20 times more screen real estate. I've been trying to figure out a way of getting streaming content onto it. My point is that using an embedded linux kernel with a lite HTML5 compliant browser would be much simpler, and most likely cheaper to create and support than a raft of proprietary technologies.

Netflix is streamed on the 360 via the Zune Video service while the original xbox uses Silverlight,

Re: How I Would Change: Netflix

Jed Cohen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:45:16 -0000

Welcome back Edward! Great to hear from you again.

I agree that HTML5 does seem to be the most user friendly option for video streaming, and it's great that sites like YouTube are jumping onboard. There are parallels to be drawn to Adobe AIR as well, given the multifunctional nature of the technology.

I confess to being unsure as to what technologies the various devices use to stream Netflix to a television. I don't know that I see the computer continuing to be the primary device in the Netflix ecosystem however. We may soon reach a point where the term cloud computing defines not just storage or processing power, but also how we interact with computers - in every aspect of our lives. As a (relevant) example, TVs are coming with built in internet capability (and more and more boxes that we connect to TVs are capable of the same). So who says that we need to keep the traditional computer as the dominant device for a service that originated in another format entirely? Sure, people will want to stream content to their laptop on the go, but do they want to do so when they have the option of watching on the much larger screen in their living room? I certainly don't.

Re: How I Would Change: Netflix

Edward - Entry Level Dilemma — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:26:51 -0000

Netflix needs to move away from Silverlight to a more widely supported platform. Silverlight has to be completely rewritten for each browser and OS. It is supported in IE, Firefox, and Safari for Windows and OS X, but not for Opera or Chrome, and Linux is only supported via an open source plugin from Novell that only works in Firefox. HTML5 is the future. Even Flash would be better than Silverlight. But HTML5 would enable Netflix streaming just about anywhere. iPhone, iPad, netbook, Windows, Mac, Linux.

Re: Untemplater Manifesto

Jed Cohen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:13:28 -0000

Thank you Cody! I look forward to it as well.

Re: Untemplater Manifesto

Cody McKibben — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:28:37 -0000

Great post Jed, thanks for checking out our manifesto and looking forward to having your participation in our new little community!

Re: A Social Profile Updater

Jed Cohen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:19:10 -0000

Not being a programmer myself, I don't know what would be involved. I have seen executions of the virtual browser concept (see the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine for an example), although I don't know what it takes behind the scenes.

Although now that I think about it, the fact that Facebook has tried to ban the suicide machine tells me that this kind of service is probably against their TOS.

I'm just guessing here, but I imagine that setting up one mechanism to update a form could be established along side a relational database that says turn module one into field x on website y. Then the program could just move along the database matching the modules to existing content and making changes as appropriate.

Now that I think about it, this is basically an extremely complicated cross-platform implementation of the find and replace function in most word processing software.

Re: A Social Profile Updater

Edward - Entry Level Dilemma — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:46:01 -0000

Jed,

The point I was trying to make with LastPass was the idea of the trouble with a computer identifying what a service is actually asking for. Manually vetting each field gets around that problem, although it is a lot of work (and leads to rather kludged together code). I hadn't even considered the idea of passive updating. It never even crossed my mind that that sort of thing could even be possible.

I imagine it would be possible, if a profile could not be updated remotely, that the service could load the website into some sort of virtual browser and automatically tab between fields. Don't ask me how that's done; I don't have a clue. But I do think such a thing is possible.

I do know a guy (Nick Armstrong - www.iamnickarmstrong.com) who used to be a programmer before he stuck out on his own doing marketing, especially with social networking. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks.

Re: Untemplater Manifesto

Jed Cohen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:45:48 -0000

Thank you for the comment Jun!

I see what you mean about changing the definition of template; it's not the same when we move beyond the concept as it refers to the 9-5 job, 2.5 kids, etc and consider how we've "templated" lifestyles that we don't view as the norm. I think these templates arise as a way of generalizing and classifying the unknown/different; there isn't much of a leap from there to template it seems.

Can't wait to see what you and the rest of the team at Untemplater come up with to help shake things up a bit.

Re: A Social Profile Updater

Jed Cohen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:17:44 -0000

Thank you for the comment Edward.

I hadn't heard of Last Pass before, although I have tried out 1Passwrd, which is a similar service. I don't really think of them as similar to what I'm proposing, as the vision I have isn't really an autofill service. Instead, it's a master control panel for profile information.

I think this could be accomplished as is by developing an application that uses the existing APIs of the services it would integrate with (assuming they have API fields for these items). Instead of replacing the fields already created, the fields could be identified and manually linked to the appropriate modules. This would eliminate the issue you've described above as a human would vet each field for major services. I do agree that an API would be useful for implementation on new websites, but that's may be starting to move towards a Facebook Connect/Twitter OAuth kind of service.

It might help to consider this service as active rather than passive; instead of profiles updating automatically when you change the modules, you'd have to hit the send button to change information. That should get around having external services having to check for updates (the analogy is fetch versus push e-mail).

Of course, none of this answers your original question, which is whether or not these services will let you update your profile remotely. I know that Twitter has its geolocation API, which is technically part of the profile. But I don't know if any of them allow for remote profile updates beyond status streams. That's what I'd need an engineer for. :)

Re: Untemplater Manifesto

JunLoayza — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:29:54 -0000

Hey Jed, thanks for the post review. I really like the Wordle touch! Hahaha, WANT is so BIG.

Are we replacing one template with another?

I think it really depends on how you define "template." I see a "template" as a predetermined state of being that does not allow fluctuations or tangents away from the determined path.

Entrepreneurship is "templated" as well. Most people generalize that entrepreneurs must work 24/7, eat cup of noodles, and raise funding.

"Template" as we define it at Untemplater is the norm that everyone was told to follow: study hard, get good grades, get a corporate job, move up the ladder, retire. To "Untemplate" means to break free from this path.

Good luck buddy and reach out to me anytime to chat.

Re: A Social Profile Updater

Edward - Entry Level Dilemma — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:29:37 -0000

I guess the first question would be, do these services have a mechanism for updating your profile remotely?

The other question involved is how different are field names for for the same thing across services? A case in point, I use a service called Last Pass. Primarily, it is a password repository that allows you to save all your usernames/passwords to different sites and not have to remember all of them. It has the additional feature of filling out forms. The problems with this feature are 1) it misses every drop down box except for state, and sometimes misses that one and 2) it occasionally misses fields or fills in wrong information in a field because it misunderstands what the site wants. Lazy developer leave a field as "Field 1"? Not getting filled in. Label a field for username as name? LastPass will enter Edward Antrobus.

The reason Facebook Connect and OpenID work (where they work), is because developers have agreed to name certain fields according to what the APIs dictate. I think for this idea to work correctly, you'd have to create a new API and get the developers for Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, etc to sign on for it. And if you could get a few of the big ones signed on, that would probably pave the way for a lot of the smaller services to utilize it, also.

Re: Do Numbers Equal Value?

Jed Cohen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:12:28 -0000

I see what you are saying about using numbers as a proxy for a user's feelings of self-importance. I think there is an argument to be made for that from an analysis standpoint. But we run the risk of misclassifying celebrities or brand representatives if we don't factor in more information. Perhaps we need to expand the data set to include @replies both from and to the user? This should supply more information that we can use to determine who is truly popular and who is gaming the system.

But at that point I'm not sure we're not looking at a heuristic anymore - we're looking at building a system designed to measure the authenticity, popularity, sincerity, or actual importance of an individual in a social network. Which is probably a big part of describing consumer behavior on social media (think of all the Gladwell-esque articles to be written).

Re: Do Numbers Equal Value?

Zoey — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:28:43 -0000

I agree with the idea that people use the follower number as a heuristic for popularity-a restaurant with people waiting out the door will attract more people-however, I do think there are other interpretations of such numbers . My whole point above is that while number convey popularity to many, they may also be cues of insincerity, self-importance etc.

And you are right, despite commercial "misuses" (i.e. companies that are on twitter just to be on twitter...and they make no valuable content contribution), there are definitely interesting conversations going on, mostly between consumers . The challenge right now is how do we track and aggregate such information so that we can describe consumer behavior in terms more specific than "WOM is happening" or "people are talking about xyz"

i still think you should look into my recommendation regarding atlanta

Re: Do Numbers Equal Value?

Jed Cohen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:21:06 -0000

I'd say that people use these numbers as a heuristic for popularity. In the physical world, we can say with much more certainty that the more people you know the more popular you are. But in the digital word, it's not necessarily the same. This user probably mass follows 50 people at a time, then unfollows those who don't follow him back (he's no longer following me for example). It's a simple way to game the system and get around Twitter's requirements to have a certain followers/following ratio.

Many of the users I quoted are internet celebrities, and like movie stars the average individual wants to be close to them, something that can be accomplished through the follow button. There's also the chance to see inside an organization you don't have access too, which is part of why I follow Twitter's founders. Or the opportunity to learn from people you respect. Or to see what content they can find on the web (Guy Kawasaki).

Twitter, like Facebook, can have its serious applications for both professional marketing and personal relationship building. And it certainly has its uses for link sharing and real time trending internet nonsense. Yes, I would agree that a good portion of the Twitter community is marketers, and chances are they're marketing their products to other marketers. But there are also some serious conversations going on. And that's worth looking into.

Re: Do Numbers Equal Value?

Zoey — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:16:25 -0000

interesting article. People definitely use number as a heuristic, although i'm not sure how...Case and point, you looked at the numbers associated with this user suspiciously while others might have taken these numbers to be a sign of authenticity or importance. I've actually been thinking about the twitter "phenomenon," and the popularity of certain users (e.g. the one you quoted) boggles my mind. Ideas? What's the intention behind the user and people who agree to follow him/her? Perhaps some people take twitter to be like facebook, and thus they "collect" followers like people collect friends on facebook. Or perhaps they see Twitter as a genuine information exchange (which I find unlikely for 99.99% of the users out there). And my personal favorite explanation-put eloquently by one of my professors-"mental masturbation".

Re: Threadsy

Scott Kendall — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:49:54 -0000

Interesting points Jed. Better organization of email (and your entire Inbound) is definitely something we're aiming for. We're looking to innovate in this area going forward. Should be fun.

Re: Threadsy

Jed Cohen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:29:37 -0000

Thank you for the comment Scott. I've been using threadsy for a few hours now, and it's been making me consider how the way we access the data stream changes the way we perceive it.

Columns in TweetDeck and Seesmic change the way we see and interact with tweets; the single stream of Tweetie or fixed view of Twitter.com in turn mean different patterns of interaction. The same is true of e-mail clients. Accessing multiple e-mail accounts through a single desktop application is different than using the individual web clients (and different than accessing multiple accounts through one central one). I think that changing e-mail then should not just be about creating new ways to access it - it should be about developing new methods to change the way we organize and analyze the Inbound. After all, if changes don't work across ways of access, then can it really be seen as a change? Something else to consider, I suppose.

Anyway, I look forward to following threadsy as it develops and grows.

Jed