New apps

App Store has millions apps. Great majority of them operates with deterministic algorithms.

Recently we have begun to see a new breed of apps, the ones that allegedly have Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning capabilities.

Why is this shift?

Actually we already have AI. The humble spam-filter your email server uses is one of the oldest and the most sophisticated AI machines humans invented. Imagine a person sitting in your mail-box, sorting genuine mails from subtle versions of Nigerian scam. This is not straight-forward right? So that’s what a new age spam-filter is, much more sophisticated than we presume.

Today a typical consumer is distracted by perils of techno-consumerism. Photos have to be synced between wife’s iPad, and hubby’s Mac Book, Messages have to be answered and cleaned up, emails need to be answered, notifications need to be OK’ed. Events need to be added to calendars, plumbing fix need to be added to the to-do list. Address books need to be synced. Batteries need to be monitored and devices need to be charged. The list goes on and on.

So there is a growing demand for smarter apps, as the clutter mountain we need to deal with grows, apps that would help cut some of our burdens.

What if a to-do list, learns your habits and adds items into your grocery list on your behalf? What if your messages are answered by your secretary app? Any app that saves you time will likely to be a winner.

Welcome AI consumerism. Destination stupidity.

The Library

Being in a Public Library, surrounded by towers of books makes me humbled and elevated at the same time.

“Knowledge is sacred” my high school Physics teacher used to say. He was an Atheist, a model Humanist to the bone.

The Public Library is a quiet place, where we let our Reason to guide us in acquiring Knowledge.

Books after books, pages after pages, we find Knowledge is stacked, generously offered, reaching us from memories of our mortal ancestors who felt they needed to share what they knew.

Behind every book we browse, every page we turn, there had been hardship of some sort. Sleepless nights, Censorship, Inquisition, Torture, Vandalism, Wars, Fires.

Books made it before where we stand, despite odds and evil intentions, thanks to sacrifices made by their authors and protectors. This is why I feel so humbled every time I visit a library.

Humanity excels with Knowledge, in this sense and considering all aforementioned hardship behind it, yes, Knowledge is sacred and evolving.

We all have responsibility to nurture Knowledge and pass it on intact to future generations if we care about wellbeing of Humanity beyond our times.

A video tells a billion words

They say a picture tells a thousand words. I say a video tells a billion words.

Jony Ivy, English designer and the Senior Vice President of Design at Apple, introduced the new iWatch in another highly captivating video. Watching it, it is impossible not to fall for it.

It is evident that the iWatch video is crafted like no other advertisement video. It is mesmerising, seductive and futuristic.

No doubt like other advertisements the video fulfils its function to hide the inconvenient, such as, you still need to carry an iPhone in order to access the Internet. So iWatch is not really a truly stand alone wearable.

With IOS8, Apple now demands developers to include a product video in the App Store. This is a welcoming change from marketing perspective. Product videos are now widely used in start up companies’ home pages. They give app developers a unique opportunity to communicate how the app works and why it is different.

Apple also wants to raise the bar in the App Store business. There are now over a million apps in the App Store, majority of which are ordinary, amateur looking or low quality products with poorly communicated features. Creating a professional looking video is not an easy task. Perhaps with this move Apple is aiming to curb lone developers and favour professional teams formed by more serious start up ventures.

Times are changing. The lone developer is more lonesome than ever. It is no longer possible to avoid professional Marketing tools if app developers want to be heard. To make an impact you need a team.

http://www.apple.com/au/watch/films/#film-design

Change

Change is the most fundamental rule of our Universe. Despite our  occasional refusal, we change, not just physically but in character as well.

So it may as well be that the holly grail to the road to happiness, is to embrace the change, in fact strive for change with a welcoming smile, and never stop changing thereafter.

The most beautiful aspect of getting older is a whole new gate opens up before us.

One day you wake up and suddenly realise you don’t have much time left. This is the moment when you would decide to change profoundly. This is the point of ultimate enlightenment, the moment to seize.

You no longer have to put up with toxic relationships, you simply leave those who bothered you behind. You no longer care what others think. You no longer have to prove yourself to anybody. You simply start walking like you never walked before.

It is as if you cleaned up your living room from clutter and old furnitures. You are lying in an empty room, hearing gentle beating of your heart, while watching the sky behind the concrete ceiling.

This change gives you ultimate freedom and quality time you did not have when you were younger, a welcoming change indeed.

You would have more time to think and enjoy the life.

So embrace the change I say, the sooner, the better.

"The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning." - Michel Foucault