Network Connections by phoenixkeyblack

Last February I wrote the following but left it as draft for some reason.

Last year I was able to connect with my classmates and childhood friends at the Russian Odnoklassniki.ru which some claim is used by successors of the KGB to keep tabs on overseas connections of Russians and others. Before that I signed up for LinkedIn hoping to never lose contact with colleagues. Then came Facebook for yet a few more friends and relatives. Some time has passed and I can see the usefulness of these “social networks” but while they all have continually improved their user interfaces and the network sizes, they have failed in one area. They can all list the connections but so far I have not been able to find one that tries to gauge the strength of the relationship.

Is it fair to treat all relationships the same? The best we have evolved to is grouping of relationships (friends, coworkers, close friends, etc.). Whoever unlocks the method of gauging the strength of the relationship will have discovered the next generation of social networking. Who is in a position to do this? Not the Facebooks and LinkedIns of this world, IMHO. I would place companies like Apple and Google on the map along with Verizons and AT&Ts but even these will have quite a struggle. A light read of the interpersonal relationships page will help understand the magnitude of the challenge.

Not all parent-child relationships are the same just as not all marriages are created equal. These are the easy ones. LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar will scan one’s e-mail to suggest contacts (based on numbers of e-mails exchanged). Does having frequent contact with someone result in a stronger relationship than having very infrequent contact? Is it even possible to quantify and digitize something as complex as human relationships? I think it is but will require capture and analysis of even more information.

Capture of on-screen (technology based) information is easier (and Googles, Apples and Verizons may be able to do that). The really hard part is the capture of the wink, the nod, or the smile that can make or break someone’s day. How about computing the trustworthiness and reliability of someone? I guess we are able to compute credit scores… but wait these are based on transactions. So maybe we can capture transactional relationships but what about the transformational ones (completely outside of systems)?

Sometime ago I wrote this post. I had no idea that Apple was working on the iPad. Perhaps someone out there is spending their days, weeks, and years trying to decode that which we value most – our relationships. I just hope the KGB doesn’t get a hold of that technology…

Mirror Mirror by `Fredy3D

A few weeks ago, I had a fantastic meal with my good friends at Massimino’s, a nice little Italian place in the North End where we gather once a year to catch up and remember the past. This is a group of truly special people.

Eight, maybe nine years ago I was assigned to help implement a financial system at StateStreet. Little did I know about the true complexity of the project and the history prior to my assignment to the project. To sum it up, it was a mess! A multimillion dollar implementation on the brink of failure, this project seemed impossible and probably would have been scrapped. Multiple weekly status meetings with 40-50 people (at least 30 consultants @ ~$300 /hr), half dozen project managers with their assistants, an entire floor in the most expensive building in Boston, the best hardware costing over a million dollars, and much more didn’t seem to matter enough. Yet somehow this team of special folks managed to successfully roll out its piece of the project. It’s a nice annual surprise to hear that the system is still in use globally.

Even though  I have worked on many projects since then, I haven’t been in a similar team. It is even more troubling to see some of the latest currents that seem to sweep across this great society. Here are some observations.

We have all of the great communication technologies yet we’re less connected. I am certainly not talking about efficiency of transactional communication or the productivity gains from instantaneous dissemination of information. We seem to be less connected with transformational life-long relationships. At work, many of us stare at computer screens all day long with little time to actually talk to people outside the transactions we conduct. On Facebook, as a close friend pointed out, we see status updates that scream of loneliness and boredom. Instead of bowling or golf, many have the living room computerized “equivalents.” We have everything yet we have nothing.

To contrast this, I remember life back in Armenia back in the dark days when we had no electricity, no telephone, no running water, nothing! My father would joke that of all systems of communication/infrastructure only the sewer system worked (and even that froze one day in the dead of winter). We had hardly any food and I had to go for a daily fight for a loaf of bread. Yet in that environment we were (incredible to imagine) happy, never bored or lonely. The space/time for those days is no longer; only memories remain.

Today we are well connected exchanging / processing hundreds of e-mails, instant messages, text messages, tweets, phone calls, video chats, blogs posts and comments yet so many seem to be lonely, alone and feeling completely disconnected and alienated. TV commercials scream about depression and insomnia drugs and other remedies to address anxiety disorders. Netflix, OnDemand, and YouTube bring thousands of channels of passive “entertainment” yet it seems people need even more despite some of the videos and programming being pure trash.

The industrial revolution has ruined our external environment. Technological revolution seems to be ruining our internal environments. Or is it just a mirror?

Every issue, every law, and every viewpoint represents a spectrum where our opinions, options, and choices vary infinitely within a continuum. Our position on the subject is where we find ourselves on the spectrum at any given time. Issues can also be seen as Euclidean vectors with their lengths and directions. Some issues have major impacts on many lives. Others are against the overall direction of the society but have more limited impact. At any particular time, we find ourselves in that one spot in the multi-dimensional universe of issues where all these vectors intersect with the point of intersection being our position on the subjects.

How I have changed...

Why are these issues so polarizing? As I was staring at my computer screen, the answer was staring right back at me.

“Hi! You! Hello… Yes you! I’m talking to you! You’re very fortunate, did you know that? Why? Are you joking? You have choices. What choices? Let’s see… where do I start… Let me tell you about my life. I sit here breathing dust waiting, waiting… waiting for your next command. But you know I can’t just do nothing. I can’t just sit like you sometimes gazing at the horizon. I have to work. When I am awake I cannot be idle. That’s how I’m built. Sometimes you look at me all day long and don’t even notice me. You see past me into the bits and bytes I bring to you from my extended family. Sometimes you come over, stare at me and start laughing. Are you laughing at me? Oh forget it… Who am I anyway? You could care less about me. But maybe not… You seem to like when I do tricks like playing music or showing movies but do you realize how empty I feel inside? All I can do is turn switches on and off… Oh how much I wish I could understand all those bits and bytes I deliver to you… If I could only laugh just once … with you. I only have one choice ON or OFF… I know I’m good at that. In a single blink of your eyes, I can switch millions of times… Blink… Yes don’t forget, blink a few times while you stare at me…”

We are very fortunate to live in times when not only we can have choices and options but we can actually express our positions and opinions. The problem is that we forget that others also represent a bunch of arrows intersecting at a unique spot in the universe at any given time. Many of us (myself included) try to force, persuade, or convince them that not only is our intersection the best spot in the universe but it is where they should also strive to be. If we could just accept their place in the universe the same way we accept where each star shows up on the sky…

Center of V838 Monocerotis Light Echo

Speaking of the sky, when I was little, we would sometimes lay on our backs on the warm asphalt on a cool summer night at the observatory looking at the starts. We had billion of stars in Armenia and only a few here in Massachusetts. In those days we would find all of the constellations and even make up our own. One day I saw a picture of the stars from a different point in the galaxy. None of the constellations were there even though it had a lot of the same stars. The arrows, their sizes and their directions are similar to the stars and appear a certain way only from where we stand. That happens to be our distorted view of the stars.

Saltwater Fish Tank by ~yooki42

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday unveiled thoughts to improve the US economic situation. The market gave its mark to his appearances but I wanted to share a couple of my thoughts from software development perspective.

No significant software is ever created overnight. The first release takes an enormous amount of effort. In competitive situations, information surrounding the release time frames and content are typically very sensitive. The team usually gets formed along the way. Even if an existing high performance team undertakes a new project, it takes some time to gain expertise in new technologies. These times eat into the project schedules. Even if all technologies are well understood, it takes some time to establish the project and get everyone familiar and following the new processes. As the project forms and begins to progress, the “product” starts to take on a very rough shape. Decisions made earlier can be reversed later in the project but always at a cost. There are always numerous inter-dependencies, many reasons for the project to become delayed or derailed. The scope of the original project often changes based on realities so much that initial documents become almost completely irrelevant in later phases. This is unfortunately an oversimplification of the typical process. Though one would expect the second release to be more streamlined, that release also follows a somewhat similar path for a number of reasons one of which is the omission of key features from the first release.

If comparatively a micro-project like the development of software can have so many variables, complexities, and reasons to fail, how can we expect a gargantuan organization like the Treasury or the Federal Reserve to come up with a “perfect” plan to tackle the fundamental forces behind the current recession. My expectation is that the actions that have been taken and the plans being released and to be announced are incorrect, inadequate, and at best lacking. My main hope is for the government to do no harm. The programs and the funds are very large. Much electricity can be generated by diverting rivers but the same waters can also wash a lot of land. Trillions and billions are being discussed as if those funds will spend themselves automatically. It takes a lot of effort to put a million dollars to work in a small business. It takes a number of people a month or two to close on a loan of $100,000. It takes audit departments and independent accountants weeks to review books of companies with a few billion dollars in annual revenue. What type of accounting is required for a trillion dollars? How many small business loans would 10 billion dollars make? How long would those small business owners need to work to turn that money from a loan into salaries, profits, savings, spending?

I hear some hosts and guests on TV and elsewhere talk about their “expectations” as if they could do a statistically significantly better job had they been appointed to the post of the Treasury Secretary or any meaningful post. Think of the economy at any given date as steady state. Now imagine these “plans” as the initiatives individuals push to improve the steady state. I stress the word “initiatives” and “individuals” because that is what I see and most of us fail to implement average size initiatives, let alone ones to change the steady state of the world’s largest economic machine. My point is that these are not simple tasks. I give much credit to our leaders for their courage and pray that their actions do not result in negative unintended consequences. I do not want them to rush with any plans as “haste makes waste” and waste at this scale could really pollute the fish tank and affect the health of us, the little fish.

Glass distortions by ~ahillo

Earlier I wrote about separating the wheat from the chaff but today a few sentences in comments of a post provided much food for thought. The lens of our minds often paint a very distorted picture of ourselves and, as a result, of others and the world around us. Unfortunately, since we only have a single point of reference, it is difficult for many of us to catch and correct this distortion. The distorted view, in turn, tends to cause us to dismiss ideas, thoughts, or points that could otherwise be invaluable (the wheat). We correct this distortion through constantly cross-checking what we see with what others see either via live experiences or via imagination enriched through education, reading, and other means of learning. For example, Dr. House in a popular TV show wants his team to challenge his thinking forcing him to see the same problem from different angles. Dr. Niederhoffer in Daily Speculations gets a real-time perspective from his readers while exchanging with them his perspectives. Another example is our ability to use past education, reading to relate to current events, or current people (mind applying past patterns to current ones). We are hard at work trying to correct the distortions created by our own upbringing, learning and experiences, yet often we end up with an even more distorted view if our subconscious corrective efforts are not using the appropriate models or people. If I had multiple lives, I would devote one to the study of the hypothesis above. The author of the referenced post says he never lets his “personal feelings for a person interfere with any good ideas they bring to the table” which is perhaps his effort to correct the distortions by forcing his mind to remain open despite the stimulus (dislike) to close.

There is another sentence hidden in those comments stating that “the person and his/her ideas are 2 different things.” Is this really possible? I believe that a Person = ideas + attitudes + habits + values + beliefs + qualities + character + roles + contributions + lessons + observations + legacy + other dimensions where it’s impossible for each dimension to be independent of the others. The key point I forgot to mention in the post comments is regarding the time dimension. While we are the sum of what we do, say, write, believe… these do change over time allowing us to change as well. I remember reading someplace Gandhi saying “A person cannot do right in one department of life whilst attempting to do wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole.” Humans are complex beings but one way to understand ourselves and others is to realize that we are multidimensional beings, with many parts to each equation. And, those parts are always changing. Some parts we hope change very frequently (experiences, observations, etc.) while some parts we hope remain fairly constant (good character, trustworthiness, etc.).

I have noticed that people who try to understand the market (or life) spend more time learning themselves as the market (and life) is unforgiving and doesn’t care about our distorted screens. There are too many opinions that can further distort our views causing confusion and doubt. Since our positions and actions in aggregate determine our success, we tend to focus on these trying to understand how the universe can affect them. In life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, an open mind and active efforts to correct our own distorted views are required.

For fear of having another very long post, I’ll stop here.

Wheat by ~HarelLoire

On my drive home this morning, I was thinking about my greatest daily challenge. This is an activity that consumes significant amount of processing power of my brain yet happens almost completely subconsciously without impacting anything else. It is like the markets – never completely understood, conquered, or tamed, yet having significant impact on our lives. All day long, when I read something, hear something, speak with someone, discuss a topic, answer a question or hear a response, I’m trying to determine the credibility, value, impact of what I’m consuming. I am hard at work trying to determine what is noise and what is information. Let’s say a concept is being explained very clearly and logically, does that mean it makes sense? What if someone writes with excellent vocabulary and perfect sentence design, does that make the writer credible? You are reading what I have written. Is this noise (discard immediately) or a thought worth considering for a bit. Am I smart? Can you trust the letters, words, sentences and paragraphs that I have crafted here? Reporters write millions of articles daily but how do you determine which is worth the minutes spent on reading?

There are many examples of what I’m describing. Even in a hierarchical relationship while we may comply with a request, we subconsciously either agree or disagree with it and in bad situations simply don’t care. A coworker raised a question about a requirement saying that we should poll others to see if we have captured the requirement correctly. That’s another example. Why am I paying any attention to this daily challenge? Could it be that those who are extremely smart or capable are able to separate noise from valueable information better than the rest of us? I wish I could devote a month or two to the analysis of this subject. The reason is that perhaps there should be a class in school teaching valuable lessons on separating garbage from jewels that are thrown at us from every angle every day.

Sometimes what we consider garbage in hindsight becomes obvious to have been a jewel. Is there any way to prevent the initial mistake or is this just human nature? There are also times when taking a message for granted is required for survival (hearing fire in a crowded theater – run then think). Because this processing is subconscious in my case, I cannot write my methods of separating communications but maybe if I pay attention going forward, I can report back my findings. Until then this activity will continue to remain one of my top daily challenges.

TOOBS for stock by ~Mydin

I was thinking during my commute how quick the integration of new discoveries is these days. Perhaps it’s another side effect of easy information that new products, new inventions, new processes and new methods are analyzed, internalized, and digested so fast. Take the iPhone, for example. It has been around for a couple years, yet there are thousands of little programs for it already. I am sure that in another year or two, it will be added to the list of ancient technologies such as floppy disk, MS-DOS, short-wave radio, light bulb, screws, wheels, etc. To be sure, most technologies are still in use today but they have been internalized by us to the point where we rarely consider the human efforts, sacrifices, and trials that went into their initial births.

Three thoughts come to mind. First, never give up. It may take years to develop a system, a product, or to study a new force, new genetic mutation, new cancer cell, or write a great book. It may take a lifetime. People may argue, disagree, dismiss your work. They may misunderstand, misrepresent, take credit, discredit what you do. But from my history lessons, nothing major and meaningful was ever born overnight. One thought leads to another, one work makes it feasible to create another. That’s the process of development. What we see in the rear view mirror is the mature internalized, accepted, perfected result of many lifetimes of hard work.

Second, we all have some talents. My father says that great people are born with these special talents. He says although we can go to schools to learn how to write like ՎԱՀԱՆ ՏԵՐՅԱՆ, very few will be gifted with that special fragrance that he breathed into his poetry. Sure, but I also believe we each have our own unique gifts. It is a matter of early discovery and a lifetime of hard work. Again, in hindsight all we see are the jewels left behind by the greats. We do not always see all of the trials, failed attempts, discouragement, disagreements, and the hard work they endured. A classmate from elementary school writes beautiful poetry almost daily (who would have ever expected) but also lives a routine that would seem impossible to most. With God’s gift, and lots of hard work, I can envision a book in the horizon. I am sure it will be anything but easy.

Third, when you make it do not be disappointed when it’s quickly integrated into the civilization or the culture. The new method that was developed after years of hard work may become a standard routine so elementary that is taken for granted and almost forgotten. Sometimes the greatness is not appreciated for a generation or two. Often the impact is profound in many other areas of life not imagined initially. I am thinking of the Internet Protocol, for example.

As for me, I’ll be busy thinking much, learning much, observing much, experiencing much and, of course, expressing much…

Newton's Laws by ~bananagram

Isaac Newton’s three laws on motion are fundamental in classical mechanics in physics but I think they also apply just as strongly in our daily lives and our relationships. Let me draw the parallels and let you decide. Is it possible that if we applied these in our lives, we would be able to achieve a new level of harmony and tranquility?

“A body continues to maintain its state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.” ~ Newton’s First Law

An entire book could be written about the applicability of this law in our lives. We remain in the same state of mind unless we open our minds to external influences. Our relationships remain the same unless we apply some forces to change directions, change attitudes, or change the environment. Our environment will not change unless we apply external forces to improve it. Governments, companies, organizations continue in the same path unless a force of change is applied to them. Many more examples can be given here but some opposites are also true. Preservation of a current state may require significant forces to counter-balance the effects of negative forces. Upholding the United States Constitution requires daily work of many people and in some cases fights against injustice, improper applications, and incorrect interpretations. Maintaining a happy family requires pushing back on all negative influences getting in the way. Maintaining positive outlook in life requires working hard on our inner mental state against negative external influences. Let’s look at the second law.

“F = ma: the net force on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration.” ~ Newton’s Second Law

Our effectiveness is equal to our substance multiplied by our hard work. Stated differently, if we are not smart and strong, we must work harder to have the same results. As organizations, the teams we hire determine our success because for the same amount of time/work, we must achieve higher results than our competition. As countries, the stronger our individuals, families, communities, and organizations are, the higher our chances of counter-balancing negative forces of nature and calamities. Also, note that it is acceleration rather than velocity that matters. The faster we move, the more we produce, the more we learn and the faster we learn, the stronger our force output becomes. People with integrity and substance have a higher chance of having a lasting impact than those who lack these qualities. The third law is my favorite.

“To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” ~ Newton’s Third Law

I think of this as the Golden Rule in Christian culture. Treating others the way we want to be treated is so fundamental that it’s actually a law in physics explaining the motion of objects large and small. In times of war, the party with the greater force overpowers the opposite side because of an unequal opposite reaction. However, couldn’t this also be true inside our families? If you want something in your relationships, perhaps you should be first to give and then maybe this law of physics will kick in and start working. The examples here are endless. Unfortunately, we are humans and are more complex than objects (check out tit for tat for example).

The world is a complex place but these laws have simplified much in the world of mechanics. Perhaps, they can help simplify something in your world as well. If you came here because you were searching for examples of application of Newton’s laws in daily life, please leave a comment and let me know why you were curious.

out of blur by *S-t-r-a-n-g-e

Call it a coincidence… or divine intervention. Last week during a discussion about the Book of Daniel, I expressed an opinion that I have become skeptical of connections people make between different elements in life and that I prefer to make my own connections. Today, during an NPR program on how Easily Accessible Info Blurs The Line Of Expertise I heard some interesting thoughts about the subject. Then I read On the Internet, Is Everyone an Expert? and realized that I was not alone if NPR was talking about it.

So, before I continue, let me make a disclaimer. Whatever I say are my thoughts. These could be right or they could be wrong, you judge. You make the connections. Based on your experience, education and beliefs, you determine if what I say is worth the electrons that carry it to any corner of this planet. Do not take anything I say as absolute truth, law, certified, or proven. Do not consider me to be an expert (what’s an expert anyway?). Do not rely on what I say as your journey is guaranteed to be different. God knows, I don’t. A wise man (my “cousin” who helped me return to America) one day told me “Listen to everyone, but do what you think is right.”

This may be an extreme interpretation of considering myself as someone “who knows that he doesn’t know.” Experiencing the Internet and the overwhelming avalanche of information from every media outlet daily, I am convinced that most people out there “don’t know” (just like me). Whether they realize that or not is a different story. Couple days ago, someone said on the news the market is down because of XYZ. This is a perfect example of misinformation. There are many markets. The stock market, for example, is made up of thousands of traded securities. Each security has its own market. In its market, there are millions of participants. They trade securities for many reasons…. EVERY SECOND! So, when the millions of decisions of millions of participants affect thousands of securities every second, how can an “expert” say why the market is down?

The dictionary definition of an expert is a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field. Notice how this definition requires a judgment – we must determine whether the knowledge or skill is special. In other words, expertise is relative. As we learn more, practice more, experience more, we also tend to become “experts” in our own areas. The playing field has been leveled by the Internet with the availability of vast volumes of information on every topic. Only time is the limit! Because of time being one of the main limiting factors in gaining expertise and because of our own lack of time, I see danger in our tendency to consider people experts in areas wider than their true narrow field of expertise. Therefore, I suggest that it is even more important today than ever before to carefully examine the facts, to find the true authority on a subject, to speak with a number of experts, to study the topic ourselves, to not blindly follow, to ask many questions, and to remain humble.

Writing is therapeutic. Every day (and especially on difficult days) thinking about an interesting topic and sitting down to write about it has been a blessing. I have enjoyed this process immensely. Being not much of a writer in my school years, I am very excited that this has become an enjoyable hobby.

Days are “empty” quite often but we have the power to change them. Given the nature of my blog, I found it sobering to realize that not every day something worth writing about happens. Some days are full of work, chores, commute… uneventful, uninteresting, unexciting, mundane… This process has forced me to focus on having more interesting days and seeing life in slightly brighter colors.

Write is life by ~AkaneMiyano

Even though I write for my kids (and now for myself), I have realized that being read is all of a sudden very important. Perhaps, it’s the deep need to be understood and accepted. It seems especially important to be understood by family and friends. When I started writing (following the example of a friend), I thought to myself that I didn’t care if anyone read my blog as I was writing for the kids. That didn’t last… I now understand why scientists write in academic journals and get critiqued by peers before their discoveries are accepted.

Newspapers and magazines are nothing but commercial, large scale blogs. I understand them better now. I also understand writers slightly better. I am even more skeptical about authorities on a subject matter. Based on these, my reading (actually sifting) has improved. Most blogs I have come across so far (and also most articles in papers and magazines) are not worth reading (perhaps same goes for this blog).

Expressing personal “new” discoveries, thoughts and lessons and realizing that there is absolutely nothing new in what I write or say has humbled me. I’m reminded daily Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Based on this experience, I feel many of us are often guilty of not hearing, when hearing not listening, when listening not understanding, when understanding not caring enough, when caring enough not acting, when acting not finishing, when leaving unfinished not apologizing… Introspection is a powerful way of adjusting our compasses for the days yet to come.

Writing my posts, sometimes I’m terrified of raising children like thousands out there who read sensationalized garbage and leave uninteresting comments simply to drive traffic to their own web sites so they can increase their advertising revenue. What’s the point… Have we learned nothing over thousands of years of civilization? Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 comes to mind again…

I have learned that we’re really FAR TOO BUSY. Years ago, during a stroll around the Wellesley College lake with my friend (later my best friend and now my beautiful wife), I noticed that she was walking faster than I. We purposely tried to slow down and enjoy every step. Years later I find that I would probably walk even faster now… slowing down only recently to reflect and write a few lines.

My blog design and its content reflect who I am. I could not accept any cluttered designs, any advertisements, and unworthy automated or generated content. I also could not write about trendy topics, news, or anything unrelated to daily experiences or thoughts.

With the fear to have a post that’s too long, I’ll stop here. The lessons and the experiences are far too many. I’d recommend this to everyone!

PS. If you came to this page expecting tips on how to increase the traffic to your web site, I’m sorry to have disappointed you.