Lance Ramoth Blog

The Secret You Keep

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:19:22 -0800

One day, you will slip away from this reality. A voice may speak to you. It will speak an unimaginable message to you, one that may horrify you.

The message will be simple: Nothing is real. Your first reaction will be of disbelief. As you take a moment to ponder it, the idea reveals to you a secret you buried so deep inside yourself you were unaware of its truth until now. You will undoubtedly feel an immense sadness overtake you. Your family, friends, accomplishments, goals, dreams, all figments of your imagination.

"It is perfect. We were never really born, we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere: Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes into everything is one thing. It’s a dream already ended. There’s nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be glad about."
Jack Kerouac

The world is your playground. The rules are yours to make. Your reality is yours to create. Your happiness, joy, or suffering is of your own wish. Its your dream and its OK to pick any dream you want. But in the end, realize, its only a dream.

Greetings from Uninterested Person

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:22:09 -0800

The following was a response I gave to an unsolicited spam email. The email (at the bottom) was sent to an email address that I've had for almost 10 years. It gets blasted with spam almost daily. I usually do my diligence in unsubscribing when I can but I've noticed that doesn't help in preventing new spam from arriving.

I've often wondered how this ineffective type of mass marketing ever works anyway, especially for the reasons given in my response below. Spam email doesn't follow any sound marketing knowledge that we've obtained in the last century. I mean, don't we know how to effectively reach our target markets these days. Not according to Compex System Solutions.

###

Dear Compex System Solutions,

Greetings from Uninterested Person!

I'd like to introduce you to me, a person with money, who will never spend a dime of it on any piece of shit products or services you have to offer and here is why.

I never hear about you from any friend or relative nor do I remember reading about you in any one of my favorite blogs or websites. I also didn't actively find you in a search nor have I ever seen or heard an ad from you in any place or publication I trust.

So for the simple fact that you were reduced to blindly spamming me your offer by email, indicates to me it probably sucks anyway.

Good luck with it.

Regards,
Uninterested Person

P.S. Yes, this means unsubscribe me.

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Greetings from Compex System Solutions!

We would like to introduce our Advance PC Configuration, Troubleshooting & Data Recovery in Selangor. Free MP4 Player are available for participants, please refer to the brochure attached.

En. Hamizi, a Microsoft Certified Trainer will be the trainer for this Course.

Please call us if you need further assistance. To correspond via e-mail, kindly reply to compex@compextrg.com

Thanks & Regards.

Maler
Training Executive
03-51628254
www.compextrg.com

Startup Minutia

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:28:45 -0800

Haven't read much on Hacker News about the daily minutia of running a side business / startup at a "one man" shop.

But does this list of activities sound about right to you?

Daily support emails
Daily reports about your system's health (notification of exceptions, 404s, 500s, jobs reporting success, yeah!)
Conceiving business strategies
Studying your analytics and the 'field'
Finding/talking with potential partners
Responding to customers: Feature requests, kudos, managing community, bugs, help, moderation
Developing features / Improving UI / Developing products
System management: Database, Speed, Hardware

It's an interesting balance.

Fotoblur Badge

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:41:44 -0800

How Startups use Propaganda

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:30:26 -0800

It can be difficult for start ups, competing in the same space, to differentiate themselves. I've always been fascinated by the tactics employed by some to do just that.

Background: 500px is a photo sharing site. For full disclosure, I am the founder of a competitive service, Fotoblur. 500px within the last year has skyrocketed in its visibility and popularity. They've secured 525K in funding and tons of news coverage. However, their rise in popularity has been due in part by a media campaign based on the use of propaganda. For example, review the following news article titles:

Move Over Flickr — Hot Shots Love 500px
Why all the pros are leaving Flickr for 500px (Have ALL the pros really left Flickr?)
White-Hot Flickr Alternative 500px Raises $525K In Series A
Finally! Flickr Alternative 500px Launches Its Lightroom Plugin

All these articles have one thing in common - they all include Flickr in the title. TechCrunch is the worse offender here (they've seemingly changed the name of 500px to Flickr Alternative 500px).

Many of these articles imply that users of Flickr are jumping ship specifically for 500px. What is most amazing is that the proof is circumstantial at best and is based on opinion, rather than fact. Have ALL the pros really left Flickr for 500px? Highly unlikely. Is 500px the only Flickr alternative? Also unlikely.

One articles claims that Flickr users are dumping Flickr in favor of 500px. However, having a 500px account does not mean you have dumped Flickr. The usefulness in this tactic is that the article leaves that point out. For instance some Fotoblur members have Flickr accounts, and some even have 500px accounts for that matter, but Fotoblur has never claimed that they all left Flickr and 500px for Fotoblur. This is a creative manipulation of the facts to manipulate the audiences perception of reality.

However, whether these articles portray truth or not makes no difference and here is why. These authors, in portraying Flickr as the dying Goliath and 500px as the leading alternative, are utilizing a propaganda technique known as Card Stacking to change people's perception of reality.

Card Stacking is a propaganda technique that seeks to manipulate audience perception of an issue by emphasizing one side and repressing another (Wikipedia 2011). The following are some examples of the technique:

Creating media events that emphasize a certain view, using one-sided testimonials, and ensuring that critics are not heard.
The technique is commonly used in persuasive speeches by political candidates to discredit their opponents and to make themselves seem more worthy.

What is also interesting about this type of propaganda campaign is that other bloggers write follow up articles which treat the unsupported claims as truth. For instance in the article "Is It Time To Dump Flickr?", many of the sources listed above where used to make the case that it was time to dump Flickr. However, to be fair, this article does not necessarily jump on the 500px bandwagon either.

Propaganda can be a powerful tool to shape the public's perception of reality. However, one should be careful in the use of propaganda because if you claim something and don't deliver, it may hurt more than your credibility.

Why is StumbleUpon Stealing Your Google Analytics Data?

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:53:37 -0700

Something is wrong with this picture. StumbleUpon badges send your Google Analytics cookies back home.

We have StumbleUpon share badges on many content pages on our site. The other day I noticed that the scripts loaded by this badge was generating the following error in webkit browsers: Unable to post message to http://www.stumbleupon.com. Recipient has origin .... This looks like a cross domain communication issue.

So I looked into the JavaScript they dropped on our pages which is where this gets more interesting. (Get script by curling the following url: http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=5)

Here is the most interesting pieces of the code in the getData method. It essentially grabs your Google Analytics cookies and returns them to the caller.

var utmcc = "";
var ga_cookies = {'__utma': true, '__utmb': true, '__utmc': true, '__utmz': true };
var cookies = document.cookie.split(';');
for(var i=0; i < cookies.length; i++)
{
    var pos = cookies[i].indexOf('=');
    if (pos == -1) continue;
    var cookie_name = cookies[i].substring(0, pos);
    var cookie_value = cookies[i].substring(pos);
    if(ga_cookies[cookie_name] === true)
    {
        utmcc += (utmcc ? ";" : "") + cookie_name + "=" + cookie_value;
    }
}
params['utmcc'] = utmcc;

Then the following code is executed when the window loads which then sends your Google Analytics data back to StumbleUpon.

window.onload = function() {
	...
	try {
        	var data = getData();
        	top.postMessage(data, 'http://www.stumbleupon.com/');
        } catch (err) {}
}

On a side note, according to Mozilla Developer Network, window.postMessage is a method for safely enabling cross-origin communication. Cross domain messaging is part of the HTML5 spec.

This looks very suspicious to me. What is StumbleUpon doing with our Google Analytics data? Do they have permission to just grab it without telling us? What is even more interesting is that an ex-Googler now works at StumbleUpon. He also worked on the Google Analytics product.

If I've made some sort of error here, or you have more information about this, please email me. I'll quickly update this post.

Edit: To prevent SU from collecting your user's Google Analytics data for your domain add this simple patch. Add this code snippet (in script tags) anywhere after SU's button script:

window._loadCalled = true;

Social Interaction Tells Us We Exist

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:35:47 -0700

In our world, like it or not, we need each other to validate our own existence. There is no other way. We need to tell each other our ideas, our fears, our problems, our occasional triumphs. It gives us reassurance and validation that our ideas are real, that we are real.

"...we check in with other people to get an understanding of ourselves. In one extreme example, we recalled a final scene of the movie "A Beautiful Mind" in which Professor John Nash asked a student to verify that there was a man standing there talking to him. Because Nash's schizophrenia often caused him to hallucinate, he relied on other people to assure him what he was seeing was not just his own reality, but the reality of the world (including other people)."

Hey You, Don't Waste Your Life

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:35:10 -0700

You won't get today back ever...EVER! Really think about that. Don't lie dormant. Your days are limited. Maybe you've got a week, a month, a year left. Then, life moves on without you.

What Do You Stand For?

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:37:18 -0700

Apple inspires us to Think Different. Nike urges us to Just Do It. Sony says Believe that anything you imagine, you can make real. The common thread is successful companies believe in more than just creating stuff! They have a mission.

This story is how I came to learn the importance of having a mission. It also is a timely tribute to Steve Jobs, a person who touched many of us through his incredible vision.

When I began Fotoblur in 2008 I thought that a properly executed SEO strategy was crucial to help people find us. I ended up doing what most people do and stuffed the front page with as many relevant keywords as possible. However, I didn't think it was going to be very effective. For one, the photography space is pretty crowded (Flickr, Photo.net, JPGMag). Plus, writing SEO copy felt cheezy and boring. Not exactly the image you want to portray when trying to differentiate yourself.

Some time later I caught this very insightful video on branding. It inspired me. It showed me that what we needed at Fotoblur was a clear message about what we stood for — our core values.

I first started by asking myself, "What did Fotoblur stand for?" Then, I created a short list of what these values where. Finally, I crafted a clear message that encompassed the core values. Here are a few notes from my notebook:

Fotoblur is not simply a platform for posting photos. Its more than that.
In the first place, why do people share their photos anyway? At the core, people share photos to express and communicate their ideas.
These ideas include how the photographer views the world and, most importantly, how they view their place in it.
By expressing and sharing personal ideas one has the effect of changing how others view the world or, in other words, opening one's eyes to the world they do not see.

Simply stated, Fotoblur stands for the sharing of ideas through photography which has the effect of changing how others see the world.

The final result: Fotoblur - Change the world, one photo at a time.

People Matter More Than Stats

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:23:04 -0700

Bragging about your website's stats, or how many new members you've signed up this week, or your latest press articles is cool, right?

I'm of the opinion that a website's traffic stats and member counts don't matter much unless you change people's lives. Change people's lives and you've made a difference.

A message I received from a Fotoblur member:

Hello Lance,

I started taking pictures during my college years. I studied some rather elemental photo courses. Other that that it was just playing it by ear. I suddenly stopped and went through a 30 year drought. I've been close to art all my life, mainly theater and film.

In 2002 I directed a film with a very obscure subject. It tanked... Big. My creative life got so hurt that I decided to completely shut it. Emancipate from it. I recently purchased a Lumix and started experimenting with it. I immediately felt a connection, a sort of release. Then a good friend of mine told me about this site. I subscribed to it and started uploading pictures. It's been a trip. I've learned a lot from the feedback or simply by observing.

My heart has opened once more to art. I'm planning on filming my second movie, and now with a new photography perspective. Your work as the site founder and leader, has given me a second shot at art. A virtual gallery transports me all over the world without leaving my place. I'm heading to NY for a photographers workshop with National Geographic Expeditions, and I'm planning to meet with a couple of new friends that I've found through fotoblur. I have to thank you. I hope someday soon we can meet at the bay area or here in Mexico, should you visit. My compliments on your mission in life.

Other stories from Fotoblur: Fotoblur changed my life, You inspire me, yes you, Transcending Fotoblur's Virtuality, What's wrong with making friends, and FOTOBLURRERS IN THE TICINO.

Laws of Productivity

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:31:41 -0700

If you think crunch times are a great idea, and working 12+ hour days plus weekends is commendable, then you might be interested in what corporations and scientific studies have reported on the subject.

Laws of Productivity: 8 productivity experiments you don't need to repeat

For instance, the Ford Corporation found that productivity boosted slightly for workers who worked 60 hour work weeks, but after the 4th week showed significant decreases in productivity. In addition, working more than 40 hours per week leads to loss of creativity and bad design decisions. One interesting finding is how workers who work more than 40 hours per week perceive themselves as accomplishing more than they actually are.

Jason Fried of 37Signals writes in Rework, "Our culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It's considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.

Not only is workaholism unnecessary, it's stupid. Working more doesn't mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more."

How to Successfully Procrastinate

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:12:46 -0700

Work, work, work. Everyone I know is obsessed with it. People today are too concerned with how they can become more productive. What they really need to learn is how to successfully procrastinate.

I have a full time job, a side project, a magazine to create quarterly, new technologies to tinker with, two boys to raise, soccer practices to attend, and Jiu Jitsu training. People often wonder, how I do it all. One asset I have is my brain which is a tireless master of creation and the other is... well, lets just say there is a fair amount of procrastination involved.

That's right. Procrastination! I read Hacker News at least once a day and sometimes Reddit if I'm really procrastinating. I check Fotoblur's traffic stats on Google Analytics, check Alexa and Compete to see how Fotoblur is doing, browse Fotoblur's top community favorites, find interesting music on YouTube, watch an intersting documentary on Netflix, get lost in Wikipedia in some obscure interest like Myan script structure.

But I never feel guilty about it. Because when I'm done procrastinating there is nothing else to do but the work. I get my magazines done on time, I get my tasks done at work on time, I get to soccer practice on time, and hardly ever miss a training session at the gym. I find procrastination as a mental warmup to whatever it is I need to get done. Call it a subconscious planning session.

You are not an automaton, so don't think you can work like one. Procrastinate and don't feel bad about it...you'll get things done.

Attention to Detail

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:31:15 -0700

Why do details matter?

When details are perfected, a user experience can be quite enjoyable. For example, Apple's laptop sleep indicator mimics the rhythm of breathing which is psychologically appealing. Fine dining restaurants replace silverware between each course. Car dealerships wash your car after an oil change. Starbucks baristas remember your name. Attention to detail is everywhere.

Details are like sub units of a total user experience. Perfect each detail and you will win over your audience. Miss just one and a total user experience can be jeopardized.

Its rare to get all details 100% spot on but try anyway. Start by focusing on each detail independently. Perfecting each detail brings more harmony to any user experience.

What You Don't Do

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:36:49 -0700

Sometimes it is what you don't do which defines you. It is the negative space that shapes your life.

It is the things you don't say, the decisions you don't make, the actions you don't take.

These things can set you apart from those that do.

Followers are Paralyzed by Inaction

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:31:51 -0700

Few things feels worse then when your competition does something you recognize as a good idea. Possibly a worse feeling is when you had the same idea but didn't act on it.

We all have great ideas which break from the norm. However, for one reason or another, we usually don't act on them. Don't rationalize inaction with, "No one else is doing this so it must be a bad idea."

This line of thinking only leads to the unfortunate cycle of following your competitors instead of leading.

The goal is to lead, so you don't have to follow.

Everything You Did This Week was Meaningless

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:19:48 -0700

How many things did you accomplished this week that meant a damn? Better yet, how would you even know?

If there was at least one, you are among the lucky few. Whatever that one thing was, learn how to repeat it and do it some more.

Simpler is Better

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:16:51 -0700

I’ve been obsessed with the idea of simplicity for some time. The proof of my obsession is found in my reading list.

The thought of less doing more, or better, is fascinating to me. Whether I’m writing code, designing a webpage, or writing this article, I remind myself, how can I make it simpler and still retain its core meaning and purpose.

The search for simplicity is also an obsession of humanity:

Einstein searched for a simplification in laws which explain nature in his quest for a unified field theory, better known as the "theory of everything."
Bayes theorem is a simple, but elegant, solution to determining conditional probabilities. Its significance ranges from spam filtering to predicting false positives in medical tests.
John Maeda dedicated a book to the topic.
Artists of the Minimalism movement are known for work which contain only essential elements.
Dieter Rams, an industrial designer, advocated "less but better" in Ten Principles for Good Design.
37Signals suggest doing less to defeat your competitors.
Unix operating system programmers advocate for the "Rule of Simplicity" in Basics of the Unix Philosophy.

Mathematicians, artists, designers, writers, engineers, and many others strive for simplicity in their work. But why? Why do people hold the belief that simplicity is more beautiful or elegant?

I think it is because simpler is better. It is an intuition, a gut feeling. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said "The more perfect nature is the fewer means it requires for its operation." Simplicity is elegance.

Simplicity leads to:

Solutions that use less resources and take less time to create.
Designs which stands the test of time.
Websites that load faster and have less bugs.
Products and software which are easier to create and use.
Articles which are easier to read and comprehend.

Focus Means Simplifying

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:12:22 -0700

Focus is important. Not having it can be extremely debilitating, preventing you from accomplishing your goals.

Like any skill, focus requires practice and discipline. It means keeping your mind from wandering and preventing distraction. When you have focus, you get things done quicker and better. When you don’t, you squander your time and efforts.

Focus provides clarity. With clarity, solutions to problems are found more easily and complexity is reduced.

Focus means simplifying.

Change Your Mental Perspective

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:16:58 -0700

A change in your mental perspective can lead to huge improvements in your results.

The first time I learned this lesson was when I was a teenager. I was an average wrestler in high school and I really wanted to improve my results. While thinking of ways I could do better I had a revelation. I realized the reason I was losing was not because I was not tough enough or did not train hard enough, it was because I quit when my match got too hard.

Upon realizing this, I made a mental adjustment - never quit. No matter what, win or lose, I never quit from that point on. My results dramatically improved and I received the "Most Improved" wrestler award after my second season.

Years later, I began training in mixed martial arts. In my first 6 months I was choked, arm barred, punched, kicked, you name it. I pretty much got my ass kicked every time I showed up which is the normal "right of passage" in this sport. In the beginning, I knew my lack of experience was my biggest problem. However, I wondered if I could apply, once again, my little secret of changing my mental perspective to help me get through this tough period.

The mental perspective change I applied this time was by imagining my opponent was trying to kill me. As intense as that sounds that is exactly what I did. I imagined I was struggling for my life instead of thinking it was just a fight. This was exactly the mental trick I needed which changed everything.

In both cases it was not as if I became a super human overnight. However, by adjusting my mental perspective I improved in a single giant leap forward. I was still the same person with the same physical abilities, but now I was armed with a different mindset which became my new weapon.

Sometimes you can improve your results by simply changing how you look at a situation. However, a mental perspective change on its own does nothing. The key is that by changing your mental perspective your actions will likely change to align with it. Not until your actions change will you see the results you are after.

Companies Suffer from ADHD

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:11:38 -0700

I've come to the conclusion that many companies and clients I have worked for in the past suffered from ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I understand now that not only was this an unhealthy work environment but it led to a lack of productivity.

Does this list of symptoms sound like your employer or client?

Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or activities.
Often has trouble organizing activities.
Is often easily distracted.

If so, you may be working for an ADHD company.

For example, does your boss or client constantly ask, "How much longer is that going to take?" That is sometimes a subtle way of saying whatever it is you are doing, should have been finished yesterday. ADHD companies don't understand that things take time. When things take to long, ADHD companies get nervous.

In an ADHD company, disasters and crises constantly occur. Meetings get called (see why meetings are toxic) and priorities are changed, often. Distractions are constant. Changes in planning, direction, and priority are the norm rather than the exception.

If you are an ADHD company, reevaluate your current process. If you stay on your current path you could be hurting yourself, your employee's productivity, and your future. Start by learning a few things from Zen and the concept of less, but better. Learn to breath deeply, gain clarity, understand what really matters, then focus your energy on those important things.

Here is a free book to help you get started.