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By Krishna, December 31, 2006

Here is a new search engine: http://quintura.com/ with an interesting look-and-feel. The blog which had this link expresses my thought exactly: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/003581.html

It will take a huge effort or fundamental shift in how Internet search is done to displace Google from their current position as search leader. For example, Live Search, Yahoo! and Ask are all out there, but they offer nothing, at least to me, that would make me use them instead of Google. And Google keeps rolling out new capabilities in its search such as integration with other services that makes it much more useful.

Of course, all’s not well with the Google world. The promotion of their own services bypassing the regular search results and AdWords is creating major controversy in the Internet space. Also, the changes in the search algorithms (read PageRank) is creating confusion for legitimate small and medium businesses who get penalized unfairly.

A few features that I would like to see in Google search are:

• Combine categories with search. For example, when I type in “chip”, show me a line of different categories or tags like “food”, “technology”, “sports”, etc.
• If there is a search result where the page no longer exists and the person clicks on it, remove it the next time the same search is run.
• Show the number of results in images, video, news, etc. In fact, allow me to search for the information in all or some of the formats at once.
• Don’t show “Did you mean: xyz” when “xyz” does not bring back any results either.
• Have a better help for the Calculator feature in Google instead of half a screen. For example, I have no clue what the different types of conversion the calculator provides and have to guess at them.
• Provide options for the users to switch to a different interface for different web search features. For example, why not provide different input boxes for currency conversion if they want to have it.
• Make it easier for me to turn on and off Personalized Search History so that I can easily get back to what I found.

Maybe some of this stuff is already available somewhere. And if so, make it easier for me to find and use them.

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By Krishna, December 31, 2006

By definition, improvement implies change. You cannot improve if you keep doing exactly the same thing. How do you know when to change? There are 2 ways. One way is to to realize this yourself. Typically this happens through experience or gaining knowledge through books, conversations or training. Another way is to have other people criticize you, tell you what is wrong and how to improve.

The first method is good, but the disadvantage is that there is only so much experience or knowledge you can gain in limited time. Sometimes, by the time you acquire the knowledge, you have already moved on to other things. Also, there are certain beliefs and principles that you may swear by that makes you filter the information you receive, thus preventing you from gaining new perspective in those fields.

By having people provide you feedback, you can gain more ideas for improvement. In product development, we see this all the time. When a product is released to real users (in beta or as a production version), users come back with many different suggestions (some simple, some major) – Implementing them helps improve the application. Look at the current versions of any software product from operating systems to word processors to browsers. Some new features are the result of better technology, but many ideas could have been implemented easily in previous versions, but the development team was just not aware that there was a need.

What about feedback about one’s own activities? The people who can give you feedback are the ones who interact with you: Family, friends, bosses, colleagues, subordinates and customers. Usually, most people provide criticism and feedback when it is in their interest to do so. For example, a customer may complain about service because it is interfering with their business. A manager will complain about shoddy writing because it will require additional valuable time from them to edit your work before it can be used.

But how about people giving feedback because they think it is in your interest to improve? My opinion is that they would do that again out of self-interest, not tangible benefits, but because they experience joy and satisfaction in seeing you succeed. That is why family is the best source to gain such feedback. We frequently see family members (elders or siblings) provide unsolicited advice because they don’t want us to do something that will be detrimental to us. Friends (both intimate and casual friends) do the same – they repeatedly interfere in our lives because they have our best interests in their mind. If you go to a church, mosque or other religious place, you would also see the religious leader give you personal advice.

In professional lives, it is not as straightforward as this. But it can be made easier by cultivating friends among colleagues and peers. With people who are working under or over you, you will receive feedback only if you ask for it and then show that you, in fact, liked getting the feedback. The problem that most people face is that if you request negative feedback, sometimes, it will be something unexpected – like something you thought you were doing well and people thought you were not. For example, I may think I am the best analyst, but then someone tells me that I am poor in a particular area of analysis, I will be surprised and offended. Negative feedback puts us in a very defensive mood and we get into an argument over whether the feedback is true.

Once you start arguing with the critic, it is over. The person thinks that your talk of obtaining feedback was just that – talk and nothing of substance behind it. The person who gave you the feedback didn’t gain anything by doing so and has lost interest in helping you in future. You have lost a valuable source of information. So, the best thing you can do when you hear bad feedback is to swallow your pride, listen intently to what the person has to say, thank them profusely and then act upon the suggestions offered.

Doing that will encourage others to openly communicate with you, making you more effective. Hearing criticism of oneself is one of the toughest things that you can experience. It is natural to be upset and get defensive – and frequently, one will. But perhaps, moving forward, we will be more aware of what such behavior could result in and be careful.

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By Krishna, December 31, 2006

Here is an experiment. Before trying it, put some physical space between you and the subject. Ok, here goes. Call the subject a stupid person who is unable to learn anything. We all know what will happen. Everyone gets angry if they are accused of being inferior intellectually.

Yet, many of the same people revel in their ignorance of some of the basic computer skills. “I am not good at computers.” “My child is so much better at Windows than me.” “I used to be good at this. Now they have automated everything and I am lost.” The list goes on and on. The outlook of such persons is described in an insightful blog by Seth Godin.

My intention is not to mock such people. Change can be disruptive and people need time to learn new skills. The problem is that these people have already given up and have decided that things are going to be difficult. This is after technology companies like Microsoft, Apple and others have spent millions of dollars trying to make computers intuitive and easy for beginners.

When such people are working in an organization, a lot of unnecessary basic training has to be imparted - the effort (and money) which could be better spent on advanced features that could make the employees more productive. There is also a tendency to forget basic routines (like using Windows Explorer or sending an attachment) – frequently this results in interrupting other employees – creating more waste.

If you do a Google search on IT service calls, you will find many such questions and incidents. These are meant to be hilarious, but I find them depressing. Many of these folks are really very intelligent persons in their industry, but for some reason, they do not want to attempt to become better or do that little bit of self-help which would make their lives so much easier. When people use the “my child is better than me” reason, they frequently ignore the fact that they would have been better if they had the same curiosity to learn possessed by their children (who are, by the way, on average, a lot less educated  and knowledgeable than the average adult).

Finally what do you do if you have such people in your organization, family or neighborhood? The typical geek answer is first silently insult and curse them, and then do the whole work for them, while maintaining a sarcastic and patronizing manner – and perhaps even posting the whole incident to friends or on the Internet. Needless to say, the “puzzled person” calls never stop coming.

A tactic that I have sometimes found useful is to provide advice without ever touching the keyboard or mouse. Walk the person through the problem that they are trying to solve and have them use the input devices. Sometimes, if they are in the mood, ask them to locate the shortcut or icon on the screen themselves. But by all means, sound helpful. People can sense when you are feeling irritated with them and this puts them more on a defensive posture instead of feeling ready to learn.

To conclude, one of the significant contributors to the problem is computer gurus themselves who exhibit a superior attitude just because they had the good fortune to spend years in college or the industry learning stuff. After all, nobody is born with innate knowledge of socket programming or web design. Hollywood movies perpetuate this fallacy when all the presumed nerds know is to guess passwords (always on the 3rd try!) and run a few hacker scripts.

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By Krishna, December 29, 2006

Why does the deer not step aside when the headlights start rushing towards it? Here is a nice poem about it. I have heard and read many people talking about fear as a motivational factor, but in my opinion, fear is perhaps one of the most paralyzing feelings. It prevents action even when it is in the best interest of the scared person to act. Also, it prevents action that may even be useful to the person or thing that is causing the fear.

• Fear of unemployment keeps the employees’ mouths shut preventing them from questioning the dubious actions of their managers.
• Fear of seeming ignorant keeps a team member quiet when he or she should be asking questions to clarify their understanding.
• Fear of losing face keeps the manager from admitting mistakes even when things are so obviously going down the drain.
• Fear of market failure and criticism delays releases to the point that competitors gain an opening.
• Fear of betrayal and litigation prevents close working relationships that would speed communication.

There are many causes for fear. Business leadership within an organization can reduce fear among employees by sincere candor and openness. Communication improves when honest mistakes are forgiven and “stupid” questions are encouraged. Mercenary behavior can be discouraged by placing greater emphasis on ethical values inside and outside the workplace. And when managers and leaders exhibit humility, show eagerness to learn and the courage to be flexible, many demons disappear from the office.

At the same time, there are external factors like a poor economy that can contribute to lack of confidence and resultant paralysis. That is where true leaders show their true worth. They don’t lie about the situation or give false hope. Fully acknowledging the gravity of the situation, they have the wisdom to chart strategies that would take the organization through its troubles. They provide comfort to others through the courage of their convictions. Winston Churchill is one such leader who comes to mind.

What can you do to eliminate fear in your organization and make employees free instead?

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By Krishna, December 29, 2006

After Google acquired JotSpot, the site is locked down for new registrations as they migrate to Google’s systems. I wonder how much of a good business strategy this is. Right now, companies are in a mad rush to embrace Web 2.0 technologies and use all kinds of collaborative software to run their businesses – from the small entrepreneurs to larger corporations. They want blogs, wikis, web ads - the list goes on.

Now the persons driving the changes in these companies don’t have time to wait. If they cannot get onto a software offered by Google, they would just move over to the next available competitor. After all, the upfront cost of selecting a different vendor is not very high at all. Many people who want a wiki probably don’t understand all the possible differences in features between competing products – since the paradigm is new to them. So how much business are they losing every day by this tactic?

Besides, I am astounded at how a company can do this. If I were to tell my customers that they cannot add more users on their software because I have a migration issue, I would probably be fired on the spot! There would be an analysis stage to understand how the migration has to take place, the necessary design created and programmers would get to work to change the code and create the scripts that would do the cutover with minimal downtime. After this, we would go through testing and then a few dry runs before moving over. And then we would find the loneliest time to do the production switch.

This situation reminds me of the book “The Toyota Way” where the author explains that having excess inventory hides a lot of problems. If you have lots of surplus, why should you worry that the replenishing supply trucks take too long to get to the plants or that there are 10% defective parts in every lot. To correlate, when Google has oodles of money to throw around, why worry about a few thousand customers going away to a competitor? And besides, if you never know what you have lost, you never have to weep for it.

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By Krishna, December 29, 2006

Google Base is one of the most puzzling products I have ever seen. I cannot comprehend why users would use it with all the other applications out there. Let’s take some examples.

• If Google Base is meant for people to quickly post some information to the web, make it available publicly (or by selected users) through the web or RSS and allow it to be searched on, why not use Blogger or some other software?
• If it is meant for uploading documents (Word or Excel), Google Docs and Spreadsheets does a better job of that with collaboration and sharing.
• If it is meant for creating multiple pieces of information, people could use Google Page Creator to create web pages.
• Many of these products from Google and other competitors have tagging for easy searching.

Google Base’s answer to the question “Why should I use Google Base?” is answered by the following 3 points: Free content hosting, distribution and ease of use. These 3 attributes is true for pretty much any content-based Internet application today such as blogs, standard web sites, personal spaces and communities.

My suggestion: Provide a migration path for Google Base users to other applications and kill it off. It is an embarrassment, really!

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By Krishna, December 29, 2006

Several years ago when I took my first license test in the United States, my friends advised me to periodically look at the rear view and side mirrors while taking the test. So as the police officer took me around a block in Salem, New Hampshire (deserted, one-lane back-roads), every few seconds, I would methodically turn my head to prove that, yes, I knew enough about driving to check the mirrors. I don’t know if it really helped, but I know I got my license that day.

The reason that I had to do this consciously is that checking the mirrors was not something that I did often while I was learning driving. The most important then and now was always to look ahead, go in the right direction, stop when needed and don’t hit anyone or anything. It doesn’t mean that I never look at the rear and side mirrors – I only check on them every so often to check if anything will interfere with what I am doing or if I am making a change in what I am doing (like a lane change or exit).

As in driving, so in life and business. There must always be a forward focus – concentrate on the vision and the end goals. This could be a business goal like becoming the top manufacturer in the industry or a personal goal in our career, family, social life, religion, etc. When we move towards our goal, there will be many kinds of distractions. It is necessary to pay some attention to them so that they don’t interfere with what we are doing, just like we would do with the side mirrors. But to totally spend time or money on a distraction will make us fall off the road to our goal.

Hence, it is very important to define what the central goal is. If the goal is to lead a happy family life, then your career or job is a means to the end. Pay just enough attention to the job so that you meet your professional obligations, but focus on your family. If your goal is to become a business leader or a politician, you may have to sacrifice other pleasures of life and just spend enough time to meet your personal responsibilities. This is a necessary trade-off. Ultimately, each one of us has to make the decision and live with the decision.

Frustrations occur when we want to place our legs in both boats at the same time. It may be possible, but it is difficult to do justice to either side. There will be several instances when we have to choose between two needs – if there is no primary goal, then the person is thrown into a dilemma. For example: would you choose between an alumni event where you may meet some very dear friends you have not seen in years or a business event where you may meet new prospects that can take your struggling business to the next level? What is a greater obligation: the obligation to meet old friends who may have helped you in the past or the obligation to make the business successful for your shareholders and the employees?

Balance is difficult. Prioritize life. Decisions become easier.

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By Krishna, December 28, 2006

My friend Prashant recently did a post on CAPTCHA. A CAPTCHA is basically the opposite of a Turing test which a computer can pass if it is sophisticated enough to have a conversation with a human being without the person unable to detect that it is a machine. The CAPTCHA is used to differentiate a human action from a computer-generated one. One of the most common use is to stop automatic submission of web forms by spammers.

In recent times, I started getting a lot of spam from two forms in my website – a guestbook form and an email form. Neither form directly affected the content of my website since both forms sent an email to my account. But the spam was becoming a nuisance as I was getting around 20-30 spam emails per day.

After reading Prashant’s article, I was motivated enough to implement a CAPTCHA on the forms. Typical CAPTCHA implementations use a distorted image that an image processing algorithm cannot decipher, but humans can easily recognize. Coding for such an implementation is algorithmic-intensive and take a lot of time and knowledge.

Then I remembered seeing a different implementation on someone’s website where he had asked the person to put in the answer for a simple addition problem. So I added a new field on my form, asking the user to put in the answer to questions like “what is 2 PLUS 1?” If the user got the answer right, the form would be submitted.

As soon as I put the new forms up, all the spam stopped. I have not got a single spammed email. What worried me, though, was if it would cause problems for legitimate users. Happily, that doesn’t seem to have happened as I have received a few submissions from my friends from the form.

This implementation of CAPTCHA is what I would term a “Poor Man’s CAPTCHA” because it is very easy and inexpensive to implement with quick returns. Since my website does not attract a lot of traffic (sob!), it is not worthwhile for a spammer to spend their time to circumvent the test by writing a special program. I implemented this using server-side logic, but it is perhaps possible to achieve the same effect using JavaScript.

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By Krishna, December 28, 2006

It has been less than 24 hours since I posted my complaint about the problems with using Google Custom Search on my site. I was a little shocked to see (and happy to report) that Google has re-indexed my site since then.

It is obviously a coincidence, but if it isn’t, is it because there is some code or person(s) out there watching for such postings and making necessary adjustments?

If it is the latter, whoever or whatever you are – thanks a lot!

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By Krishna, December 27, 2006

With great enthusiasm, I went to Google Co-op and created my own custom search engine that would allow users to search the contents of this blog and also my site (krishami.com). Google provides a lot of functionality that makes creation of the custom search a breeze. I also obtained code to put on my website instead of having users visit a URL to search. So far, so good? Well, you think…

Here is the fundamental problem: Until Google indexes the latest changes to my website or my blog, the custom search is useless. If I have made a lot of changes to the site, I have to wait several days until the Google crawler indexes everything and gets ready to provide the results to my custom search. What a joke!

The issue here is that my site is not a huge million-page site that needs days to crawl. There ought to be some functionality where I can tell them that my site has changed and they can run a thread on the crawler to spend a few seconds re-indexing the site. I can ping Technorati about updates on my blog, why can I not ping Google to tell them what has changed.