Deep thought...

I unlocked 2 Xbox Live achievements in Karaoke! http://t.co/fNOCzihJ5S

Deep thought...

I am playing Karaoke. http://t.co/pPR3EkiUAJ

Deep thought...

In a room full of Stanford fans rooting for ASU, pretending to know about football.

Deep thought...

A few hours with no kid (at @TopNoshCafe w/ 2 others) [pic]: http://t.co/Y8nDAj4Ke4

Deep thought...

Rocking KitKat on my Moto X. Feels weird having an Android phone that's actually up to date

You can change the context, but you can’t change human nature

Today’s New York Times has an interesting story about employer bias about long-term unemployed. It’s a cruel Catch-22: not having a job in itself becomes a top barrier to getting one.

Economists have long thought that the strain of unemployment, plus the erosion of skills and loss of contacts that naturally occur, helps explain the “structural” unemployed in a nation’s work force. But new evidence shows that bias plays a much larger role than previously thought. Some of the long-term unemployed might never find work because businesses simply refuse to hire them.

In a recent study, Rand Ghayad a Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern University, sent out 4,800 dummy résumés to job postings. Those résumés that were supposedly from recently unemployed applicants with no relevant experience were more likely to elicit a call for an interview than those supposedly from experienced workers out of a job for more than six months. Indeed, the callback rate for the long-term jobless ranged from just 1 to 3 percent, versus 9 to 16 percent for newly unemployed workers.

Unemployment becomes a “sorting criterion,” in the words of a separate study with similar findings. It found that being out of a job for more than nine months decreased interview requests by 20 percent among people applying to low- or medium-skilled jobs.

While the story presents this trend as a new phenomenon, I always assumed this to be the case; it’s easier to find a new job when you don’t need it.

Apparently, the conventional wisdom goes back further than I thought. Just yesterday I came across an uncannily relevant passage in E. M. Forster’s 1910 novel “Howard’s End.”

Again the Olympian laugh, and the lowered voice. “Naturally the man who’s in a situation when he applies stands a better chance, is in a stronger position, that the man who isn’t. It looks as if he’s worth something. I know by myself—(this is letting you into the State secrets)—it affects an employer greatly. Human nature, I'm afraid.”

Or as David Byrne might put it, same as it ever was.

Deep thought...

Hobbled by wife's old iPhone while I wait for new Android to arrive (The S3 died; one too many drops). But rocking purple Surface keyboard.

Giving up the quest for the perfect tablet

Since the early days of the Internet, I’ve been on a quest for the perfect mobile device. One device to rule them all: one device to connect, consume, create —and carry around. While the urgency of this quest has faded since I got out of journalism, I’ve never quite let go of the idea that somewhere, someday I’d find the perfect all-in-one gadget.

Until now. After several purchases — some wise, some not so wise — I’ve come to the conclusion that most people just need different devices for different purposes.

For me, the Microsoft Surface has come closest to this all-in-one ideal. I can use it as a tablet, and because of its excellent screen, wide-screen ratio and stereo speakers, watching video is more pleasant than on TV or even the iPad. The snap-on keyboard makes typing easy, and while the list of touch-specific apps is woefully short, I can use all of my old Windows applications.

But even this has shortcomings. As a reading device it suffers from a poor implementations of digital magazines and newspapers, heavier-than-practical weight, and half the battery life of most tablets. As a writing tool, it suffers from its unusual form factor and screen resolution, which makes working with most standard PC software awkward. Its top-heavy form is difficult to balance correctly on my lap. And while the keyboard is better than trying to type on screen, it’s not the greatest. (Reportedly, this has been improved with the soon-to-launch Surface 2 accessories, which I can use on the original Surface.)

I’ve ended up getting different devices for each use. A Nook tablet for reading books at night. A Nook e-reader for reading outside. (Yes, I have a habit of always picking the loser in a two-horse race.) An iPad for reading daily news. None of these is perfect, and carrying around multiple devices is a pain.

If I had to choose just one, I’d choose the Surface. It does a little bit of everything, and by all accounts, version 2 is better. But it’s a compromise. And I’m still not sure what the best approach is — trying to “tablet-ize” a full-fledged PC, like Microsoft has done with the Surface, or adding a third-party keyboard to the iPad.

Okay. Deep inside, maybe I haven’t given up the quest after all.

Deep thought...

I unlocked 5 Xbox Live achievements in Kinect Sports Season 2! http://t.co/fNOCzihJ5S

Deep thought...

I am playing Kinect Sports Season 2. http://t.co/pPR3EkiUAJ

Deep thought...

I unlocked the Golden Jubilee achievement in Karaoke! http://t.co/fNOCzihJ5S

Deep thought...

I am playing Karaoke. http://t.co/pPR3EkiUAJ

Deep thought...

Its about to rain on my parade. Literally. http://t.co/hNbLvT5syG

Deep thought...

Woo-hoo! I'm rich! (Not really.) http://t.co/Wx4IDAovUX

Deep thought...

"She mistrusted the periods of quiet that are essential to true growth" http://t.co/qasGpnTLGI #NOOK

Deep thought...

Finds it so odd how defensive gun nuts get after a mass shooting.

Deep thought...

My 5-year-old daughter's latest grievance: "We never go to dance parties."

Deep thought...

I'm a little concerned that one of the teachers at my daughter's school just said her classroom is near the "libary."

Deep thought...

Testing my ITTT recipe.

Magic Feathers

When I was a kid, I once saw a red flare burning at the scene of an auto accident. Two wrecked cars idled in the middle of the intersection as police investigated the collision and directed traffic. With the traffic lights flashing yellow, I naturally concluded that the flare was the burning ember of the red stoplight, which had somehow fallen out onto the street, resulting in the confused drivers colliding. Encyclopedia Brown, I was not.

We humans are uncanny in our ability to find patterns within randomness — as if trying to tame chaos by making it a knowable, a predictable mental model that explains arbitrary events. We see correlated events and reflexively assume cause-and-effect relationships.

I think that tendency helps explain “magic feather” syndrome. If you’ve seen the Disney animated classic Dumbo, you know what I’m talking about: Timothy Mouse, desperate to convince Dumbo to fly, gives him a feather that supposedly allows the elephant to soar above the ground. In one sense, the feather works, giving Dumbo the confidence he needs to try. Still, he sees the feather as the cause of his newfound abilities. Only later, when he loses the feather, does Dumbo realize that he had that power in himself all along.

Sometimes I cling onto my own magic feathers, looking for someone to validate my talent, appearance, intelligence, and so on — basically, my sense of self-worth. Without the magic feather of recognition and admiration, I begin to doubt myself. Or worse, I jump through hoops to gain the approval of someone I hope might give me that validation. I see my worthiness as the result of someone deeming me worthy rather than my worthiness being the cause of their acknowledging it. When you feel worthwhile only when other people affirm it, you’ll do anything — break boundaries, lower your standards, betray others — to get it.

That’s a lot of power to hand over to other people. I’m slowly recognizing that weakness. The irony of ego-stroking: those times when I was drunk on others’ affirmation were the times I grew the least, or even reverted. Personally, professionally, spiritually — you name it. While I don’t blame myself for not realizing it at the time (you rarely sense growth or regression when you’re in the midst of it), I do intend to use that knowledge moving forward.

Dumbo didn’t need a magic feather to soar. Neither do you.

Companies love those likes

My latest for IBD. How companies are using data from social networks to figure out what you’ll buy, how much to lend you and whether you’re a right fit for the job.

Book Report: Malgudi Days

I've finally finished reading Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan, a collection of short stories, later adapted into a TV series, about a fictional town in India. The stories are meant to present slices of life in the country — the various personalities, struggles, family dynamics that, while set in India, are universally human. The show became a staple of TV watching for a generation of kids — something like India's "Little House on the Prairie." Or so I'm told.

At first, the short stories seemed innocuous, cute morality tales capped with a surprise twist. But the narratives seem to grow darker and more melancholy as the book progresses. I'm not sure whether the stories are presented in the order they were written, suggesting Narayan's growing world-weariness, or purposefully ordered to create the same effect. Either way, the change is subtle but real. The final story — which depicts a man in the autumn of his life growing faintly aware of his past wrongs and attempting, feebly, to right them — breaks your heart.

While I wouldn't rank Malgudi Days among the great works of English literature, the stories present interesting character studies and do a fine job of entertaining, charming and gently challenging the reader. The short-story format provides easy-to-digest chunks (must...refrain...from Indian food metaphor) that make the book easy to put down and pick back up again later. If you've ever wanted to read about India from an Indian point of view, the imaginary but oh-so-vivid locale of Malgudi is a good place to start.

The New Yorker finally comes to Windows 8

After months of promises, Next Issue has added The New Yorker to its stable of magazines. And that means I’m one step closer to being able to leave behind my iPad and use the Surface Pro as my only tablet.

Not that I have anything against the iPad, mind you. The iPad is great for consuming content, but I need an actual PC and and would rather carry around two devices (a phone and tablet) than three (phone and two tablets). And I’ve always believed that the more familiar you become with a tool, the more useful it becomes. I’ve been using my Surface a lot this week for freelance work and have found it becoming instrumental to my routine.

The two big pieces missing from the puzzle are better versions of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Both of these apps look great on the Surface, but neither has offline access, and the WSJ seems not to have all of the stories in the print and iPad versions — the daily A-Hed feature is missing from the Windows version on most days, for example.

Now, if only Microsoft would take my previous suggestion to heart.

Paying Attention

Yoda: He is not ready.

Luke: Yoda! I am ready. I... Ben! I can be a Jedi. Ben, tell him I'm ready.

Yoda: Ready, are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained! A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was, what he was doing.

—The Empire Strikes Back

The old cliché that time is money isn't always precise, but it hints at an idea that I'm increasingly convinced is true — human attention is the most precious resource we have.

We spend eight or more hours a day at work, but we're not really paid for our time. We're paid to apply our skills and talent to a particular set of tasks (projects, customers, problems). Setting aside the myth of multitasking, that means focus. We're paid to pay attention, in other words.

Advertisers spend millions on the hopes you'll pay attention for 30 seconds. People humiliate themselves on national television for the attention. Aspiring actors take on one low-wage job after another in the hopes of a big break that will make them famous.

In our personal lives, attention is the most valuable thing we can give our friends and family. I can't think of anything more irritating than trying to talk someone who's physically with you but on a phone call or texting someone else (I’ve been guilty of this myself). We crave having attention paid to us. Attention is the currency of love.

Paying attention is good for our own well being, too. Whether you call it "mindfulness" or "living in the present," paying attention to the here-and-now is vital to staying centered. As a wise person recently told me: we can't change the past, and we don't know the future. That leaves the present.

And that's worth paying attention to.

Things fall apart

My wife and I got terrible news this weekend that a dear friend of ours has cancer. While she doesn’t yet know whether her case is terminal, it is already clear that the treatment, even under the best circumstances, will dramatically change the quality of her life.

I couldn’t help wondering what I would do under the same circumstances. I don’t think I would be strong enough to endure the treatment. I’ve seen other people fight and ultimately succumb to cancer — and as weak as it sounds, I’d probably jump in front of a train before going through the same thing myself.

But we all die. Our bodies break down, our minds grow dull. My friend’s news was a sharp reminder of the transience of existence and the limited time we have.

Twenty or 30 years from now, will I look back with pride about what I’ve accomplished? How will I define success? Am I taking the best advantage of the time I have now, when I’m still healthy and sharp?

In other words, am I wasting my time? Sometimes, I feel like my last few years have been a series of distractions and missed opportunities. Actually, I’m sure of that. I think I could have made more of my transition out of journalism. I haven’t made the most of my potential. I’ve squandered opportunities for personal growth. And sometimes I fear I still haven’t found my calling. I’m not even sure whether that means changing careers or recreating my life outside of work.

The good news: I’m not dead yet. I don’t have unlimited time, but I do have time. The hard part is figuring out how to make the most of it.

Fascinating article in Investor’s Business Daily

Just kidding. It’s my latest story, a how-to on using NFC tagging.

NFC: short for New Fun Craze.

Blogging as catharsis

In the course of reading about the sad and puzzling life of Aaron Schwartz, the computer programming wunderkind who hanged himself Jan. 11, I’m struck by how poetic and intensely personal his blog posts were. As a New Yorker article explains, he wrote things in his blog that he wouldn’t say to anyone in person, not even his friends. His writing is direct, concise and at times heartbreakingly intimate.

Part travelogue, part confessional, Schwartz’s writing spans everything from movies to air-travel complaints to the meaning of life. In one post he muses about the nature of evil. In another, he laments life in suburbia. In most of his writing, even the seemingly mundane posts, you catch a glimpse of a man who’s smart, funny and thoughtful — but sad and isolated, too. Few of his posts are about himself but most of the reveal a complex inner dialog and rich inner life.

I wish I could say the same about my blogging. Baring your soul so freely, or even part of it, takes real guts. That’s courage that I haven’t been able to muster in the decade-and-a-half I’ve been blogging.

Maybe someday.

P.S. After thinking further about this topic, it dawned on me that one of the reasons Swartz’s writing seems so transparent is that he thought, incorrectly, that he was writing more or less anonymously. Though he didn’t hide his identity on the blog, it somehow rarely occurred to him that his friends were actually reading it. One story — and for the life of me, I can’t remember where I read this (edit: it was Rolling Stone) — recounts a time he was being introduced to speak at an event. The person introducing him mentioned an embarrassing personal story Swartz had detailed on the blog. Swartz was mortified that the story had gotten out, even though he had published it himself.

The incident makes me wonder whether I should create an anonymous blog for my most personal thoughts. Why not just get a private diary? I don’t know. Physical diaries are too easy to find and too tempting for other people to read; and if someone finds it, it’s obvious who those thoughts belong to. Posting online offers a degree of separation. Blogs are almost transient, existing in a digital etherworld. At the same time, knowing that some stranger somewhere might be reading it might make me more disciplined about the writing style. Too exhibitionist? Paradoxically, opening up to people I’ll never meet seems more private than, say, posting the same things to a close circle of friends on Facebook. It’s like the anonymity of a big city vs. the suffocating familiarity of a small towns.

Separated at birth?

Is it just me, or do the choruses of “Feel this Moment” and “Holiday Road” from the movie “Vacation” (a Chevy Chase classic) sound a lot alike? (And yes, I realize that “Feel this Moment” is a hip-hop take on A-Ha’s “Take on Me.”)

I report. You decide.

Feel this Moment

 

Holiday Road

Quick notes on Surface Pro

After using the Surface Pro for a couple of weeks, I have to say I’m really happy with my purchase. This would have been invaluable when I was a reporter.

Here are a few quick impressions:

• I really like the touch interface. While I maintain that the interface doesn’t make sense on desktop PCs, It’s fun to use in tablet mode. Gestures, once you learn them, are consistent and, in a way I can’t quite put my finger on (sorry), delightful.
• That said, the traditional desktop mode can be cumbersome to use without the snap-on keyboard. The pen-digitizer makes things a bit easier in desktop mode, but I suspect that’s because I’m a longtime Tablet PC user who has acclimated to the old desktop pen interface.
• Apps are expensive! Apps that go for $2-$3 on iOS and Android regularly go for $5 in the Windows store. I understand that developers have a smaller install base to spread their costs over, but come on!
• On that note, apps are scarce. Some of the important ones are there (Netflix, Hulu, WSJ, NYimes), but I’m surprised to see some other big ones missing in action (Facebook, Twitter, most magazines).
• It’s difficult to use on my lap. The keyboard is too floppy, and unlike a regular laptop, nothing holds up the screen. To use this while lying on a couch, I have to place the Surface on a large book or something like this laptop pillow.
• The critics are correct when they say that the bipolar nature of Windows 8 can be confusing. This is especially true when you have two different versions of the same application (the traditional Windows-style application and new touch-style apps). That probably goes double for the Windows RT version of the Surface (without the “Pro”), which has a old desktop-style environment but doesn’t actually run regular Windows programs.

Those are my initial thoughts, many of which have been covered exhaustively in numerous reviews. I’m sure I’ll have more to say soon.

Perception is everything, part duex

After re-reading my previous post about the fluid, fickle nature of perception, I realized that all of my examples were negative — favorable perceptions that soured over time.

I do have an example of a negative perception that, while still not positive, turned softer upon reflection.

I once had a terrible, terrible, truly horrific boss. I don’t know this manager well as a person, but as a professional, the person was insecure, demoralizing, devious, scheming, thin-skinned, and above all, thoroughly incompetent — really the worst combination of traits you could ask for in a boss. Though under the person’s custody for less than a year, the experience scarred me personally and professionally. I would never make the mistake of working for the person again.

That said, I can now look back and see that why the manager responded so viscerally to me. I understand my part in the relationship, what the manager was reacting to in me, especially given the person’s own history and personality. I wasn’t the model employee and probably deserved some of the grief I got working there.

That doesn’t mean the former manager was always in the right, but the person wasn’t always wrong, either. Being ineffective and mean, in other words, doesn’t make you evil incarnate.

I gave in and got a Surface

After reading a few more reviews and coming to the realization that most of the new Windows 8 tablets don’t have pen-digitizer capabilities, I went ahead a got a Surface. I like it a lot so far. I got a Type Cover, and it feels very comfortable (I’m using the Type Cover to compose this blog post).

I see the Surface as more of a laptop replacement than a tablet. In other words, I don’t plan on selling my iPad anytime soon. Aside from regular Windows programs, the Surface doesn’t have much of an app ecosystem (although it does have a few publications that I can’t get on my Android), and doesn’t have the battery life I’d be happy with in a pure tablet.

But as a working tool, I’ve already found the Surface much more useful than an iPad — and surprisingly, even a regular laptop. It turns on instantly and is much more portable than any laptop I’ve owned, including the family MacBook Air. I can see myself grabbing the device for a quick blog post or revision to some freelance article I’m working on.

Which reminds me — I’ve got work to do.

Tablets and the “cozy” factor

It should be obvious by now that while Steve Jobs was his usual prescient self about consumers’ appetite for an easy-to-use tablet computer, he was wrong in one big way — literally. Despite Jobs’ insistence in 2010 that 9.7 inches is the perfect size for a tablet, the market has produced a bevy of different sizes with varying levels of success, forcing even Apple to introduce the 7.9-inch iPad mini. While the original iPad remains by far the most popular tablet, a host of smaller-sized rivals has made surprising inroads.

At first, consumer interest in small tablets befuddled me. The original iPad screen is smaller than the typical magazine as it is. With 7- and 8-inch screens, you lose even more screen real-estate, leaving little room for the page layouts that make reading newspapers and magazines on the (original) iPad — not to mention print — so enjoyable.

So why are consumers flocking to smaller-screen devices? Based on conversations with people who recently purchased smaller-screened devices, I’m convinced it’s the cozy factor. People are willing to trade a less-than-ideal reading device for a lighter, more luggable electronic “pal” that’s more accessible in a wider range of environments.

“Cozy” is a fuzzy concept. But as far as I can tell, it boils down to these concepts:

• Basic size/weight
• Tactile feel
• Personalized covers

Basic size and weight

Let’s face it. The iPad is big. It’s heavy. It’s not easy to lug around. The combination of its surface area and weight leave it susceptible to damage.

That means it’s not always convenient to pull out and use, which is probably why you don’t see a lot of people taking it out on the go. Yes, I saw people using it as a camera at Disneyland, and occasionally, you’ll see it precariously balanced on exercise bikes at the gym. But outside of Starbucks, e-readers and smaller-screened devices (including phones) are a much more common sight.

Smaller tablets are just easier to carry around.

Tactile feel

I love my iPad. But I don’t always feel comfortable taking it out and using it. Yes, it’s shiny and slick — almost too good. There’s something hard and uninviting about it. It’s unfriendly.

Old-school printed books are a different story. You can’t read one without feeling the texture of the cover, brushing your fingers against the paper as you turn the pages, appreciating the tactile sensation of holding your place in the text.

No tablet can replicate the touch and feel of a book, but many smaller tablets and e-readers recreate some of that physical appeal with textured backs a or curved forms that give the devices a certain palpable sense of approachability. These devices are more comfortable to touch and hold.

Personalized covers

This category sort of plays on the pervious two concepts. While iPad users have about a million different covers to choose from, most user opt for Apple’s own Smart Cover. The choice makes sense — most third-party covers add bulk to an already-large device.

Smaller devices are more amenable to a wider range of covers, giving them a more personal, touchy-feely appeal. What’s more, the devices seem more protected, which makes the user more likely to whip them out and use them in more places.

While I don’t plan on trading in my iPad anytime soon, I can see the appeal of smaller devices, even if it means a less-than-optimal experience for reading certain publications. It reminds me of the two robots in Disney’s 1979 sci-fi flop “The Black Hole.” Vincent was the better robot. But Bob was the one everyone loved.

Picture imperfect

Last week’s New Yorker had a fascinating story on the quest for 3D sound. The idea is to fool the mind into perceiving music spatially to achieve an all-encompassing sound in which the listener can determine the location of individual instruments as if hearing the music from the center for the performance. (Unfortunately, the full article is available to subscribers only.)
But what really struck me was an almost throwaway remark about “the vital role of the not-too-perfect in our pleasures.”

The two expressive dimensions whose force in music Levitin had measured and made mechanical were defections from precision. Vibrato is a way of not quite landing directly on the note; rubato is not quite keeping perfectly to the beat. Expressiveness is error. … [W]hat really moves us in music is the vital sign of the human hand, in all its unsteady and broken grace. … Ella singing Gershwin matters because Ella knows when to make the words warble, and Ellis Larkins knows when to make the keyboard sigh. The art is the perfected imperfection.

This idea reminds me of the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi, finding beauty in the imperfect, unfinished and transient. Wabi-sabi is the polar opposite of the Western idea of beauty in the ideal. But it seems to match human experience -– we find beauty in nature, an asymmetrical, wild, ever-changing and never-finished reality.

For me, the same thing comes into play in science fiction and fantasy. The most interesting characters aren’t the oh-so-perfect Superman, but gritty, conflicted, morally ambiguous characters like Batman and Ironman. And forget the smooth-as-plastic futurism of countless sci-fi stories. I’ll take the dystopic, sand-in-the-astromech imperfection of Star Wars, Blade Runner and Robocop any day.

Most of all, I’m reminded to enjoy life as it is -- not how I wish it to be. Ultimately, we have only so much influence on the external. But internally, we can choose how we respond to it.

Clowns: still evil

I know this is probably an old allegory, but I’m posting it here anyway because I like it. It’s new to me, and – correctly -- casts clowns in a negative light:

A man found himself in the middle of a long hallway. In the middle of this long hallway was a solitary door. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. It was answered by a clown who proceeded to beat the life out of him.

The next day, the gentleman was in the hallway once more, and once more found his way to the door and knocked on it. Again, it was answered by the same clown and again the clown beat him senseless. This occurred for four more days -- the man would be in the hallway, go to the door, knock on it and the clown would answer the door only to beat him senseless once more.

On the seventh day, the man was once again in the hallway. He walked up to the door and knocked on it -- but no one answered.

So he went looking for the clown.

People, I cannot stress this enough: do not go looking for that clown.