Month: February 2010
Cory Booker is my hero and our future President of the United States
If you don’t know who Cory Booker is, that’s okay.
Honorable Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. If you are unfamiliar with Newark, New Jersey, that’s okay too. You are not alone. I only know of Newark — well New Jersey — because I lived in Manhattan. But if you are here, reading this, politics, government, and POTUS (President of the United States) is somewhat of an interest to you…right? RIGHT? (Just nod your head yes.)
Well, our country is in deep sh*t and Mayor Cory Booker gives me hope. He makes me believe in politicians again. So what makes me believe he should be our future president? He is different, and here is why:
1. Who
The man is well educated, yet aware of the realities…well aware, as in, first hand. Who else grows up in an affluent area, attends Stanford University earning a B.A. in poli sci, an M.A. in sociology, studies abroad at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, obtains a law degree at Yale, then chooses to live in notorious projects How do I know it wasn’t for show? He remained in those projects after he was appointed to the respective positions. People. That is over ten years of living in the ghetto, by choice. Then…THEN moves into another decrepit area (well, straight hood) after his resident projects were torn down. Who does that? Cory Booker does.
2. What
He has all those academic accolades, so what? Well this is what. In one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., Newark, where the high school dropout rate was 60% and a poverty level of 30% and all sorts of unfathomable statistics, he ran for mayor. Lost. Did a lil of this (and I say that lightly.) Ran again. Fought a political battle, and won the mayoral race. Once in office, he drops the crime rate more than 30% among countless achivements. (latter is PDF)
3. Why
Mayor Booker cares — truly cares. He is the real deal. How do I know?
– He showed up to a constituent’s home after reading a complaining Tweet and shoveled snow (source)
– Holds monthly office hours sessions for residents (source)
– Goes door to door to educate the people in his city about their options. (source)
– Performs customer service and interacts one on one with his constituents. (source)
– Not just against political corruption but fights it. Like, cracks down. (source)
– Maintains his own social networks (by choice) — his Facebook is pretty awesome — to have his own voice heard. [sidenote: Mayor Booker, please update your blog!]
– Declined offers for political fast track. A 2002 Senate seat — which would’ve put him two years ahead of President Obama as the only African American man in Senate at that time — and turned down President Obama for a role in the White House to continue his efforts in Newark. The White. House. For Newark. Really? REALLY? WTF. And I’m not in disbelief only because I hate New Jersey.
The more I Google, the more articles I read, the more I get to know the man, I cannot believe a legit politician like him exists. We need more citizens like him in office.
No.
We must want people like Cory Booker to lead and represent our country. It is our responsibility — we the everyday people — to elect officials like the Honorable Mayor Cory Booker into national government. And I truly hope, one day, Mayor Cory Booker will be President Cory Booker.
…I hope.
Connect with the Mayor:
+ On Twitter: @CoryBooker
+ On Facebook: http://fb.me/corybooker
+ His official site: http://corybooker.com
Dear New Jersey, I don’t like you
New Jersey. Ever been?
If you haven’t, that’s okay — most only go to the airports. Heck, I was one of those too. Newark International Airport is so close to Manhattan, when I lived in The City, I used to fly out of Newark a lot — more often than I can remember. I’ve only been through the actual city of Newark once, only because I was lost. It was around 2003 when I just moved to the East Coast from California, and I still remember the sad sights, the racial slurs, and how terrified I was. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could and never ever return.
Along with my Newark trauma, it took almost a year to adjust to East Coast life. You see, I was guilty of living in the California bubble — for a lack of a better term — and realized how rainbows and butterflies California is after I lived out of state. I rarely experienced racial divide. I am Asian (Japanese), and in California —especially in the SF Bay Area— blatant racism is non existent. People never outright called me names until I got to the East Coast. Why people thought it was ok to say “go back where you came from” or call me derogatory names was beyond me. I couldn’t understand why strangers hated me so much.
Another huge adjustment was witnessing socio-economic divides on a daily basis. In California, our cities are separated —or shall I say segregated— and the socio-economic lines are rarely blurred. Ghetto? What ghetto? Oh, urban areas I mean; don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable by being politically incorrect.
I was raised in a wealthy area and my friends and I were taught to stay within our city and area limits. Everyone abided except me. I’ve spent time in Hunter’s Point, EPA, and the Mission — areas that are predominately Black, Mexican, Samoan or Tongan, and was never afraid of walking down the streets. Scared, maybe, but never afraid. On the East Coast, there are parts where I am terrified of my well being (i.e. deep in Brooklyn or New Jersey.) The more states I visit, the more I realize California is a very special place
So coming from that, the cross country move was a huge adjustment and the East Coast felt like a whole ‘nother world. I was baffled, angry, then frustrated by clearly affluent people turning blind eyes to their surroundings. I went through a phase of yelling my disgust at the limos and town cars (in my head) shuttling privileged people who only care about themselves and their personal wealth. Granted, it’s not their faults, as capitalism is what our country is built on but I just couldnt help but wonder: Wtf is wrong with you? Our country is falling apart, why aren’t you helping to fix it? Why don’t you care? To me, the ignorance is equivalent to flipping off our country, everything it stands for and inadvertently disrespecting what our ForeFathers fought for: Freedom. Liberty. And justice for all. Then after I adjusted to life on the East Coast, my anger turned into sadness. I couldn’t and still can’t understand why so many people simply do not care.
But I digress. Where was I? Oh. New Jersey.
Wow. New Jersey. Where do I even begin? After my first encounter with Newark, I’ve been back to various cities for several reasons. Nothing prepared me for the sights of Camden, Trenton, Jersey City (the otherside of the Turnpike) and Newark. Don’t get it twisted, I have seen my share of the ghetto. I’ve been to the heart of Baltimore MD. You know, The Wire? Have friends residing deep in predominately Black areas of Brooklyn, where the only Asian person runs the local Chinese restaurant behind bullet proof windows. I’ve been down South — New Orleans, South Carolina, and a few other states, as well as Detroit — like the hood of Detroit. Even after all of my visits to different parts of the country, New Jersey, is the only state I never want to return to.
Am I making you uncomfortable? Are you judging me? Do you think I am being dramatic? Well, take a look at those cities in Google Image Search. Here we have Camden, Trenton and Newark – photos don’t lie. I haven’t stepped foot back in those three cities since 2005ish and the images are still burnt in my mind.
The cities (outside of downtown) were mostly flat, and rundown buildings were stretched for miles on out. When I close my eyes and picture the streets, I still get overwhelmed by the sadness and helplessness — almost like claustrophobia from the thought of being stuck, as the same questions circle in my head: How is it okay the streets are scattered with broken glass, flat tires, garbage, and…filth. Why do the citizens hate me so much they think it is ok to call me racist names? And what about the children? Do the kids know there is a whole world, just waiting to be explored by them? That they can achieve anything they put their minds to?? How do the residents…find hope?
On and on the questions continue and it is frustrating how there are no answers. So it’s not really New Jersey I don’t like. It’s our people, our government, and the state of this country that I really don’t like. And the worst part, is that I don’t know how to make it better.
6 Reasons Why You Should Read Engage by Brian Solis #smartersocmed
via briansolis.com
Brian Solis’ book is out and instead of just megaphoning “GO BUY HIS BOOK!” I’ll give you six reasons why we should…well, GO BUY HIS BOOK!
- Brian is thorough and shares invaluable information. His posts normally answers the five Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) and takes it a step further by telling us how. Two posts that illustrates that: “The Science of ReTweets on Twitter.” — in which he breaks down the art of ReTweets (with pretty graphs) and how we (company, individual, or brand) can achieve virality. “The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business.” where, well, it is just as the title reads. ;)
- Beyond the conversational aspects of social media, Brian teaches us other stuff — for a lack of a better term. Like how to optimize our social content — or in plain English, how our social media efforts can be rewarded by search engines (Google.) “Social Media Optimization: SMO is the New SEO – Part 2” is a good beginner piece I recommend to everyone.
- So what’s the difference between SMO and SEO? Well, there you go. Reason number three we should read that post and his book. Thing about the Internet is, things are constantly changing and we must keep learning.
- He recommends resources, backed with data — personally, I am partial to recommendations with analysis conducted by Dan Zarrella* i.e. “The Top 100 Twitter Publishing Tools and Services.“
- Brian also writes pieces that a lot of people in social media don’t take the time to think about (or even care about.) One of my favorites is “The Information of Divide: The Socialization of News.” where we — everyone who participates in any social media service — should read and consider. And not because I’ve been harping about it forever.
- The final reason is for the name droppers. Brian guest posts for Mashable OMG!!!!!!1111 (Mashable is the ultimate collaborative social media resource out there — just in case.)
…ok, so reason number six is kinda sarcastic. But if digital / interactive / social media marketing is your business, this book is highly recommended. Clearly. So what’re you waiting for, you can buy the book by clicking on any of the logos below:
Sorry Brian — totally stole the code from this post! :)
*Dan Zarrella is a social media scientist who writes some pretty rockin’ posts. Like this one. Actually, I haven’t read a junky post from him to date. That he shares. For free. FREE. Can’t believe it’s free.
How Google’s Algorithm Indexes Real-Time Tweets #thegoog
One is real-time search, eagerly awaited since Page opined some months ago that Google should be scanning the entire Web every second. When someone queries a subject of current interest, among the 10 blue links Google now puts a “latest results” box: a scrolling set of just-produced posts from news sources, blogs, or tweets. Once again, Google uses signals to ensure that only the most relevant tweets find their way into the real-time stream. “We look at what’s retweeted, how many people follow the person, and whether the tweet is organic or a bot,” Singhal says. “We know how to do this, because we’ve been doing it for a decade.”
Excerpt via Wired Mag’s phenomenal piece: “How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web.”
Also, check out this neat graph of Google’s key algo advances: 
Holy Epic FAIL.
Just remembered I never finished my tech predictions for 2010. #fail Maaaaan and my predictions are usually really good or straight on point. But I do know one prediction that was debunked way earlier than I thought: WinMo. Boy was I truly blown away. Microsoft’s WinMo team deserves major props for executing a social centric data driven OS overhaul. Too bad they didn’t make launch at the same time as iPhone (2G at the least.) I hope they are not too late to play catch-up. Also extremely curious as to how the browsing experience is. I would not want to be locked into any of their (sh*tty) products: Office, IE, and Silverlight, specifically.
Latter is the reason I am going Android. I really want to wait for the third iteration of Android but I am sick of my iPhone and most of all, sick of AT&T’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad service.
NexusOne baby, I’m looking at you!
…why I woke up at 1:20am and felt compelled to punch this out is beyond me.
Petition to make 10 ^ 27th power called “Hella”bytes. #word
via crunchgear.com
“Point your little browser toward The Official Petition to Establish ‘Hella-’ as the SI Prefix for 10^27 if you want your storage space in 50 years to be measured in hellabytes and the universe’s weight in hellagrams.
[…]
A hellasecond would be about a two and a half million times the age of our galaxy. So really, there’s no danger of people who don’t like hella having to say it all the time. Come on people, let’s do this.”
via the ever so wonderful Oz (@ozsultan)
Transparency.
Oh, well hello there emo blog. What in the world got into me this weekend? My first thought was to delete (or make private) all of these personal posts. Seriously. What was I thinking? In two days, I managed to word vomit all this stuff… and then some. Oh, well. Maybe I will make this a regular practice. As in, weekdays equals nerdy posts, weekends saved for my personal crap? Or perhaps I should make another blog? Oh, I know. I’ll just delete the WordPress app from my iPhone. Invest in a moleskin to journalize the old school way? Maaan. All this thinking is too much effort. I’ll knock off the personal junk and keep this blog ‘formal.’
Naaah. I’ll just be me, and PixelBits will remain the same: random bits of pixels. Welcome to 2010 me. I hope you’ll stay. :)
On Love.
Yes. Love.
You know, that feeling? I am about to get personal and it’s all Betsy‘s fault. Ok. Fine. It’s not really her fault, she just Tweeted a piece by Tara Hunt and suddenly I felt compelled (empowered?) to write something too. Since that sudden burst of motivation, I’ve been staring at a blank page for about three days.
You see, I am more nerdy than girlie — check out my tag cloud: Star Wars, LEGO, awesome, LOL, FAIL, and Social Networking…? Uhhhh ok. Fine. That is another excuse. Thing is, I am a scatterbrain — or more accurately, a nutjob. (don’t worry, I am ok with my nutjob self.) I am even more all over the place when it comes to this emotional stuff. My thoughts are rarely in order to properly articulate my feelings — emotions, sap, whatever — so I rarely feel comfortable enough to write about it. But Ms. Hunt shared many personal thoughts I too, thought hey, what the hell. So after three days to muster the courage and another three to organize my thoughts, I decided to finally document my two cents on love.
On Trust.
In moments of utter weakness we tend to misplace trust. When we trust the wrong people, shit hits the fan. Then, bonds — no matter how strong — can be broken. Just like that. Relationships are so fragile. From family, friends to even loved ones, one can never be too careful. 2009 was one of my worst years. Even worse than the year my mom died. But as crappy as it was, I learned who my real friends are…and for that, I will be eternally grateful. It’s almost three months into the new year and things are finally falling into place.
2010 and me? I think we’re gonna be really good friends. : )
New on PixelBits: Blurbs
Btw in case you haven’t noticed, I am trying something new. My SEO friends will probably hate me, since these entries are all under 200 words but who am I trying to kid? I don’t even have my own domain registered. Which reminds me, I need to fix that soon. Ugh I can not stand Network Solutions (sorry Shashi) but I digress. Where was I? Oh, trying something new. So ya. Instead of Tweeting or writing drafts in my email I will most likely never publish, I am trying out this mobile blurb thing. Actually, the WordPress iPhone app is pretty sweet!
Wow. The dangers of instant publishing. Note to self: use with caution.
California Love
I’ve been back to California for less than a month. It’s quickly coming back why I dislike this state so much. Perhaps it’s the areas I spend my time — SF and LA, plus the ‘burbs, respectively — but it really bothers me how people, specifically Asians, tend to travel in packs. It’s like a herd of Asians and it’s scary. And I’m Asian!! Of course it’s not limited to California, but the Asian population is so large here, it is more noticeable than other areas.
And when everyone is the same race, same height, same style they look the same. Kinda like Neon Tetras. :(
Age Distribution on Social Network Sites [data viz]
Now don’t write off these stats because the source is Royal Pingdom. That site is like BGR (Boy Genius Report) — not credible until recently. Look where Royal Pingdom pulled their stats. ht @percival
Reliability of Social Media News [infograph]
via briansolis.com
Data compiled from Cision and Don Bates of the George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations, in which they: “found reporters depend on social media sources when researching their stories – but not at the extent to transform an industry over night.” via Brian Solis’s Immediacy vs Accuracy piece. (Great post, highly recommended read.)
Aside from the great points Brian brings up when I look at the numbers, it greatly troubles me. Take a look: “55% of the journalists said that social media was “important” or “somewhat important” for reporting and producing stories…”
Yet, “84% of journalists indicated that information was much less and slightly less reliable than traditional media based on the lack of fact-checking, verification and reporting standards.”
As a person who is not a journalist, I rely on journalists to bring me the most accurate, reliable news — whether on or offline. So if journalists don’t trust digital mediums, where does that leave us?
Another reason why we MUST kick up our critical thinking skills. Must.
Foursquare Gets Lucky (Magazine) And A Deal With Conde Nast
[…]But the meat of the partnership is in a long term deal where Foursquare users can check into stores in Lucky’s coveted “Shopping Directory,” which includes nearly 700 stores in 30 states and 72 cities, and earn the “Lucky” badge. Once users check-in to a Lucky recommended store, users can read tips from Lucky editors about each boutique or store. The idea is to give users editorial insider scoop, a.k.a. incentives, to check-in. User who check-in to these boutiques may also receive discounts and or deals at some locations. Lucky’s long-term strategy is compelling; they want to co-sponsor “boutique crawls” (similar in idea to pub crawls) for users to earn deals and badges.
via techcrunch.com
NYT, HBO, NBCU (Bravo), History Channel, Zagat, and now a partnership with Conde Nast (old media) — major props to Foursquare for being one of the first social networks to successfully bridge old/new media.
Folks, this is history in making.
The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination via Harvard Magazine
” It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
J.K. Rowling’s Harvard Commencement Address — classy and witty.
9 Gmail Tips That Will Let You Take a Long Lunch #productivity
via pcworld.com
Most of you probably utilize all of these features, but just in case!
1. Better Gmail Firefox add-on
2. Create keywords
3. Experiment with Labs
4. Gspace
5. Gmail manager Firefox add-on
6. Step up your searches!
7. multiple inboxes
8. create Google docs right from email
9. filter via optional dots:
Optional Dots
I’ll let you in on a little secret. You know those little dots in your Gmail address–like the one in ‘john.doe@gmail.com‘? Gmail doesn’t recognize them as part of your email address. That’s right, john.doe@gmail.com will receive all mail that’s sent to johndoe@gmail.com, joh.n.doe@gmail.com, and even john………..doe@gmail.com or j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com. It’s an interesting quirk of Gmail, and one that you can use to your advantage.Suppose that you want an easy way to separate business e-mail from personal e-mail, without having to individually label each message. Simply give your business clients the e-mail address “john.doe@gmail.com,” and give friends and family “johndoe@gmail.com.” Messages sent to either address will come to your inbox, and you can set up a filter that automatically labels messages sent to “john.doe@gmail.com” as “business.”
Wow, didn’t think of filtering via #9. Click on the ginormous Gmail image to jump to the article.
Additionally, Google’s Gmail Ninja page has tons of neat stuff, including printable cheat sheets. Love the cheat sheets. Find them here.
Satellites Orbiting the Earth [infograph] #space
via flickr.com
Nigeria has two functioning satellites orbiting Earth. TWO. Looks like the funds collected from phishing scams paid off. On a serious note: 1. check out all the debris the US is responsible for and 2. Russia has a mighty number of defunct satellites just floating ’round.
Wow. Humans are a-holes. No wonder aliens want to blow us up.
Added: Great. Now I can’t sleep thinking about the thousands of debris orbiting Earth, in a gravity well, that’ll eventually fall into the atmosphere. #endofworld
The Ultimate Guide To Airline Fees [PDF]
ultimate-guide-to-airline-fees.pdf (1995 KB)
View this on posterous
Two dollars for a soda? Ten bucks for an aisle seat? If you’re confused about airline fees, we can help. With our Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide, you’ll find a one-stop reference chart for every major airline fee from every major domestic carrier.
Best of all, you can download the airline fees chart in PDF format at no charge. Because unlike the airlines, we don’t make you pay for things that ought to be free.
Free download:
Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide
Also available: Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide—Europe Edition and Carry-On Bags: The Ultimate Guide. Download them here.(Editor’s Note: Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide was last updated on January 18, 2010.)
ht: @mitchelltsai
The Value of Design to Startups (censored piece) by @davemcclure on Businessweek #dmcfangirl cc @christinelu
Over the past five years I’ve consulted with and/or invested in about 50 startups. I’ve gotten to know a lot of entrepreneurs and a fair number of the venture capital and angel investors who are backing these companies, most of which are in the consumer Internet field. And guess what? Probably more than half of the startups, and more than 90% of the investors, have no clue what they are doing when it comes to user experience and online marketing.
[…] So here’s the deal. Hire people smarter than you. […] If we all take this to heart, we might just build a few more useful consumer Internet products.via businessweek.com
“This is an edited version of an article that previously ran on DaveMcClure.com.” <–LOLOL.
But seriously, great article written by one of the sharpest minds in the space…and my hero, Dave McClure. Thank you for this, Dave!!
PixelBits 