Author Archives: Ray
6.6 degrees of seperation
Frank pointed out some clever research at Microsoft Research. Eric Horvitz and Jure Leskovec parsed through one month of MSN messenger communication, or about 1 billion conversations a day. Among the 240 million users, they discovered an average of 6.6 … Continue reading
Posted in computation, networks, social networks
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the frequency of a word: Awesomeness
Figure 1. Frequency from 2/2004 to 2/2008 Figure 2. Frequency from 4/2005 to 2/2008 Every once in a while, I get the inclination to try to do a little math. It’s a dangerous endeavor, but sometimes I can’t help myself. … Continue reading
Posted in networks, social networks
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Regional social networks
I have IM accounts on AIM, iChat, Yahoo, MSN, Gmail and Skype. (Years ago, I once used ICQ and IRC.) I always find it interesting, how certain services are popular in specific countries. AIM is most popular in the US, … Continue reading
Posted in design, networks, social networks, telecommunications
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March is the month of magazines
Image source: Style.com and Vogue.co.uk When March rolls around each year, fashion magazines present their Spring/ Summer fashion issues. This usually means issues of a US-published magazine such as Vogue are hundreds of pages thicker than others times of the … Continue reading
Posted in information, marketing
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My First Songchart: The Directly Proportional Relationship Between Money and Problems
Brian hooked me up to this great Flickr group, Songchart, which combines pop culture references with graphs and charts. So, I gave it a go. Try to guess the song. Enjoy. Update: Link to the reference.
Posted in design
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Gary Gygax died on Tuesday.
Images source: Wired.com I was sad to just find out that Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons died on Tuesday. I haven’t played D&D in about twenty years, and when I did I was never particularly very good … Continue reading
Posted in gaming, innovation, micro-celebrity
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Rebuilding monuments
On February 10th, just a few blocks from my hotel, an arsonist burned Namdaemun or “South Gate,” in central Seoul. It was one of the oldest original structures dating back 600 years, and had survived the Korea War as well … Continue reading
Posted in design, innovation
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I hate Santa, bunnies, and spring.
Last weekend, I caught up with Brian, an architect, for breakfast and our usual discussion of Japanese design and culture v. the US. Japan usual wins, and I end up with an urge to visit Tokyo. Afterward, we were both … Continue reading
Posted in social protocol, taste
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Long overdue… but I’m back.
Well, I am finally posting. Work and life got a little crazy, and something had to give. That something was side projects, like blogging. However, I’m back from a week in Seoul and I’m almost adjusted to this time zone. … Continue reading
Posted in information, mobile
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OT: Murder rate of zero.
Image source: New York Magazine This week New York Magazine cover story is about New York’s dropping murder rate, and asks the question, what would it take to get the rate down to zero? My only response is, didn’t that … Continue reading
Posted in off topic
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