demonick.tv™

In line with my 2010 resolution, I have setup a second blog on Posterous called “the demonick perspective”. This blog is not a personal blog but strictly for my views on branding, technology and social media. Actually its contents are more related to my work and what I do. Why is it in line with my 2010 resolution? Well, it’s something I’ve always been wanting to do for awhile, but it never took off due to lack of time and also pure laziness. Starting this blog requires me to do research…a lot of research and reading up on case studies in the industry. So in a way, it really takes up more time than updating this blog. But if you look at it, it’s actually beneficial for me too because I’m learning in the process while conducting these research. Let’s just see how long I can keep this up…hehe.

Click here to read “the demonick perspective”

Those of you who follow me on Twitter, you would sometimes notice me tweeting my location and what am I doing there. This is because I’m on Foursquare, a platform that lets you “check-in” your location and share it with everyone. What so beneficial you might ask? Well, think of it as a directory of places to go, things to do and travel tips for your friends or anyone from out of town who is visiting…sort of like the Lonely Planet guide, only difference is, the content is generated by contributors and users of the platform. According to Foursquare it’s 50% friend-finder, 30% social cityguide, 20% nightlife game.

BADGES

the badges reminds me back during my scouting days…hehe

One thing I like about Foursquare is that it uses a point system amongst your friends to encourage you to provide more content. Now see those “badges” above? The more different places you recommend or “check-in” the more points you get. If you’re the first one who discover the place and put it in the directory, the more points you get. The more times you “check-in” to one same location, you become “The Mayor” of that location…that is until someone who “checks-in” more times on that location than you. You get the picture right? (think boy scout badges!)

SEARCH & CHECK-IN

When you do a search for say “Mid Valley”, Foursquare will show the above screen. It shows how many of your friends have “checked-in” to the place, and what do they recommend. A great feature is that you can add a “To-do” or “Tips” for the location. It also shows you a Google Map of the location, although depending on how you enter the address when you “check-in”, the maps are sometimes a little off, but not too far off - which is still acceptable. The search also lets you know where your friends are should they “check-in”.

SCORING POINTS

Screenshot above shows the scores between my friends and I. There is another leaderboard that tabulates everyone on Foursquare in Kuala Lumpur. Now in all “kiasu-ness”, my colleagues are always fighting to become “The Mayor” of the office by the number of times you “check-in” to the location. So if one person forgets to “check-in”, then too bad…a new “Mayor” is declared! hahaha..

HOW TO ACCESS?

Right now there are only 3 ways to access and use Foursquare: iPhone App, Android App, and Mobile Web.

CONCLUSIONS

Well, I must say, this is getting rather addictive (and competitive even). I see a lot of potential for it to grow in Kuala Lumpur, provided it is properly used. You must be thinking that now you know my whereabouts, you can stalk me right? Well…technically yes and no. YES, if I “check-in” and it gets broadcasted over my Twitter and Facebook accounts (yea you can update your Facebook status with it), and NO if I “check-in” and select “stay private” function. By selecting that function, your location will not be disclosed in real-time, but the scores will be given for “checking-in”. See they thought of everything so it’s safe! So does it make you want to sign-up for an account too?

My Foursquare profile: http://www.foursquare.com/user/demonick

Yes…the sky is falling down..either that or you’re going to strike it big with a lottery ticket today. The impossible has just happened..

I JUST BOUGHT BOOKS!

Not 1, not 2…but 5! You must think that I am some kind of a whack job or something right? Well honestly, if you know me…I NEVER buy books. Reading a book has never seemed to interest me since I was young. I’ve been doing most of my reading on the internet, and if you ask me to read a Harry Potter book or any novel for that matter…I rather go hang myself because my eyes will get all tired…and I will fall asleep within the first few pages. I kid you not!

So why start now?…well…remember I told you I needed to do something different a few post back?…well..one thing I’m going to try is reading. I don’t think I can just read any novel or book, but I think the book must be of a specific topic or something that interests me rather than reading a story and trying to visualize what’s going on. I like to see visuals..that’s why I’m more likely to read a magazine or the newspapers as oppose to reading a book. So, you must be wondering what books that I got right?…well..I got these..

the books I bought..

Now if you noticed, these are books are on marketing, social technologies, economy and self improvement. I know, it’s boring to some people because it’s not your typical lovey dovey story or fantasy kind of books…but I am interested in these topics. My thinking is this: maybe if I try reading something that I’m interested in…I might break my personal record of actually finishing a chapter or two before falling asleep. Having said that…let’s see how long this “phase” will last. At the mean time…I’ll turn into “The Beast” these few weeks.

Hey…in case you didn’t know, I’ve created my first application on Facebook. Well, actually…not quite, but you will get to add my custom application to your profile once I gather enough supporters for FB to list it on their application directory. You must be wondering WTF am I talking about right?

Ok, here’s the deal…I was inspired by my colleague Rabin to use a new Facebook API (that’s Application Programming Interface for those non techies…NOT FIRE!) call “Facebook Connect” that allow users to “connect” their Facebook identity, friends and privacy to any website. What I’ve done here is I have integrated a new commenting engine (in case you didn’t already noticed) called Disqus which basically helps me manage my comments remotely to reduce the load on my server. Disqus is cool because not only can you manage your comments, it can also do blacklisting and integrates with the Facebook API.

What this means now is, when ever you want to comment on any of my post, click on the FB logo, login to your FB account, and comment away. This also means that if you have an account with FB you don’t have to leave your name, email, website…etc. After commenting on a post, there will be an entry on your “Wall” that tells everyone that you have made a comment on one of my post. Pretty nifty eh? So give it a try and tell me what you think?

To read more go to ruhanirabin.com for a tech review.

Twitter can be a very powerful tool…IF you know how to properly use it. It acts as a status update to the question “What are you doing?” and also acts as a source for information sharing though the form of micro blogging. While it is not wrong to write about anything at all, I think some Tweets should be kept privately to one self…

Enough said…