Blog
7/12/2009
Working at Palantir Technologies this summer. I wanted to get a feel for life at a tech startup, although a lot of people say Palantir is hardly a startup anymore. It's a pretty sweet place -- a cool place to work and a great product. MUCH different from Intel. The people and protocols are much more relaxed and the employee hierarchy is not nearly as stringent or well defined. Overall, I definitely like it better.
Also, trying to learn how to play poker seriously. I made a deposit onto Full Tilt a long time ago, but was doing pretty poorly. Ran my account down to $140 from $200, but since the start of the summer, I finally feel like I can beat the games consistently. Here's a fun results graph from June til now:
-Carlin
Back to home
4/12/2009
If you reached this page because I asked you for help for an assignment, then I owe you many thanks. I'm currently taking Stats 252 Data Mining and Electronic Business, and we're supposed to look at and discuss different tools for web data analytics. By visiting this web page, you are contributing to the data I'm trying to scrape up.
Also, if you're a senior, check out the new Facebook page dedicated to the class of 2009. We're trying to create a centralized location where seniors can easily access stuff like pub night information, as well as informally discuss upcoming events (think fountain hopping, sloshball, and so on).
-Carlin
Back to home
3/31/2009
Musings on the New Facebook Layout
On March 13, 2009, Facebook once again changed its front page and its layout. To no one's surprise, millions of users instantly protested. People formed groups pleading for a reversal, and statuses recounted horror stories of navigating the "hideous" new layout. Given the uproar immediately after their last layout shift in September 2008, Facebook certainly anticipated this outpour of vehemently negative feedback. Shortly after the change, a rather humorous "New Layout Vote" application was created. Last I checked (March 31, 2009), nearly 1.3 million people voted "thumbs down" to the new layout, compared to a paltry 82,000 people voting "thumbs up". Comments like "I hate it. It's ugly." and "I can't find anything!" and even "It's soooo slow!" fill the application's front page. What Facebook, as well as most social networking pundits understand, is that the clearest indicator of the success or failure of the new layout is not people's knee-jerk reactions (people tend to dislike change), but their usage patterns. Will all those people who complain about the new layout actually start spending less time on Facebook? I don't know for certain, but color me skeptical. I personally don't find anything offensive about the new layout, and I'd like to outline some of the reasons why I believe Facebook changed their layout, as well why I think some of those changes are valuable.
In the days immediately following the new layout shift, many people made the observation that Facebook was trying to mimic the look of Twitter. The home page is now a continuous stream of updates, which throws out tidbits on each and every one of a friend's actions. One of my friends mused, "Guess if they can't buy twitter, they're going to MAKE one." The new layout also coincides with another major update from Facebook: the transformation of fan pages to look more like personal profiles. Fan pages allow musicians, writers, artists and businesses to create custom pages with all sorts of information, interactive content, and media. Businesses can also create targeted advertisements that link directly to their fan pages. As regular users, we are encouraged to "Become a fan" of these pages. Becoming a fan of a page is akin to becoming someone's friend. In some cases, fans have access to otherwise hidden information like special promotions, but more importantly, people now receive updates on a page's activities, just as if the business were any other friend. With a Twitter-like flood of updates filling the home page of each user's Facebook page, businesses with fan pages now have direct access to some of the most precious real estate on the entire Internet. This dramatically increases the value of Facebook advertising, and as businesses begin to realize it, they will be willing to pay more for it. Money in the bank for Facebook.
So if the layout shift was motivated by profitability rather than usability, why should we, the users, have to bear the burden of familiarizing ourselves with a brand new layout? Because once we become accustomed to navigating it, the new layout indirectly enhances our Facebook experience. I'm sure you have all seen advertisements such as "Test your IQ! How many triangles can do you see?" or "Meet five hot singles in five minutes!" As the cost of Facebook advertising inevitably rises, these irrelevant and annoying ads like the ones I just mentioned will no longer be able to afford ad space. I predict that very shortly, all these ads will disappear, with relevant and useful advertisements taking their place. To me, an ad for a previously unknown good or service that I find pertinent to my interests contributes infinitely more to my Facebook experience than a garbage ad taunting my status as a single man. Despite the deluge of objections to the change, I would be shocked if Facebook decided to revert to its previous state. The new layout simply offers too much potential in terms of dollars and cents. As users, we should realize that Facebook is a business. Their primary goal is profit, and they are free to change their operations in any way to achieve that goal, just as we are free to stop using their service at any time. I hope some of these insights are accurate and/or valuable in helping to understand the new Facebook layout. As a quick disclaimer, other than being an active user and a fan, I am in no way affiliated with or employed by Facebook.
-Carlin
Back to home
Update: Some people have posited that I'm underemphasizing the resemblance of the new Facebook to Twitter, remarking that Twitter's growth has exploded and Facebook is playing a sort of catch-up game. I don't think that's the case. I think Facebook realizes that it's a separate and distinct product, but also sees how valuable Twitter's "live streaming" mechanism is from an advertising standpoint. There's no question in my mind that they ARE mimicking Twitter, but I think their actions are motivated more by the reasons described above rather than a simple desire to attract more users with a Twitter look-alike.
1/30/2009
Bob Dylan is in a Pepsi commercial. Yes, ladies and gentleman, a Pepsi commercial. For those who aren't familiar
with Bobby's commercial exploits, he was also in this Victoria's Secret ad. The legend goes that back in his
"protest song" days, a reporter asked him if there were any causes he'd be willing to sell out for. His reply was
"ladies' undergarments". Nearly 40 years later, he stayed true to his word, and the sounds of "Love Sick" play
hauntingly as he gawks at a scantily clad Adriana Lima. High quality stuff.
Now, Pepsi is using "Forever Young" as the theme song for their new ad, with the slogan "Every generation
refreshes the world." Pepsi, Bobby? Really?!? I'm all for Ladies' underwear commercials, but I really have
no interest in seeing him try and help a flailing soda company reinvent its image. What gives, Bobby?
Also, I'll be fixing up this site with some super sweet stylesheets soon. Get stoked!
-Carlin
Back to home
9/6/2008
My time in Mirrielees is coming to an end. I move into ZAP in two days! I really enjoyed living in the
Lees, but I can't help but feel like I've been locked in combat with the tree hanging over my patio the
entire summer. It offers a nice bit of shade, and it's a lot better to look at than a parking lot, but it also
drops leaves and twigs everywhere. Those leaves and twigs inevitably end up all over the floor of our
apartment. It also spawned a massive number of spiders, which crawl around the patio, spinning countless
webs. I suspect a few of them snuck their way into our room and started biting Paul in his sleep. He woke
up one day, covered in what he originally thought were bedbugs. Lance and I managed to convince him
it was probably spiders, and it was NOT necessary to burn all his possessions. Don't ask me how,
but I managed to escape the blight.
-Carlin
Back to home
7/23/2008
My job is going great so far. The actual work isn't terribly stimulating, but truthfully, it's better than
I expected. The intern program itself is pretty cool, giving us time to meet Intel executives in very
intimate settings. I just had the chance to meet Deborah Conrad, the VP of marketing, and Intel's
former ambassador to Apple.
Although living in Mirrielees is great, I would hate to live here during the school year. Too much small
stuff to worry about, and the potential for roommate friction is so much greater when cooking and
cleaning isn't taken care of by university staff. Luckily, we haven't had too much trouble with that.
-Carlin
Back to home
6/14/2008
One of the best quarters I've had at Stanford so far has finally come to a close. Everyone has left
campus, graduation is tomorrow, work starts on Monday, and I move into Mirrielees on Tuesday.
Here's hoping that summer is as fun as spring was.
In other news, I made the first steps into the dangerous world of speakers and stereo systems. I
ordered a Sonic Impact T-Amp and a pair of Paradigm Atoms. The total damage to my wallet is
just shy of $450. I might have to sell a pair of my headphones.
-Carlin
Back to home
5/21/2008
Got a ton of new toys to play with. New iPod nano, new set of Etymotic ER-6is, some Sennheiser
HD580s, and most importantly, a CAR! WOOOO!!
-Carlin
Back to home
4/24/2008
Got my iBasso D1 back from China! I completely forgot the way they make my headphones sing.
It's criminal that I let it sit broken for so long. Simply beautiful.
-Carlin
Back to home
4/23/2008
After over two and a half years, I finally decided to get back in the pool and do some lap
swimming. I am so incredibly out of swimming shape. I did 1500 meters on monday and
2000 today. It actually felt really good. Who knows, maybe I'll keep it up through the rest of
the year. Sevens rugby is also going to start soon. Ahh... spring quarter is amazing.
-Carlin
Back to home
4/17/2008
I finally got an e-mail from iBasso telling me that they repaired my D1 and are sending it
back. That's a huge relief, since I sent it all the way to China, and was afraid it would either
get lost or tied up in customs for who knows how long. Its also a major plus, since my audio
setup has taken a major beating as of late. I just lost my iPod and Etymotic ER6i's. Ugh.
I really liked the Etys. Maybe I'll replace them with LiveWires sometime over the summer.
In non-headphone related news, the weekend appears to be starting on Wednesday this
quarter.
-Carlin
Back to home
4/15/2008
This is my blog. I just set it up. I will rarely update it, so don't hold your breath.
I'm thinking of writing a Facebook application. Something simple, possibly related to headphones.
I can't program anything complicated, since all I have are a quarter's worth of Java
and 2 weeks of C++, but I figure that's enough to write something better than most of the
terrible applications out there. Wish me luck.
-Carlin
Back to home