Harry Chen Thinks Aloud

AideRSS is a RSS filter service that helps user to identify important news and blogs. This service implements the PostRank algorithm that analyzes the popularity of individual feed items on the Web, and assigns each item with a number score. Feed items with a high score are considered more important and worthy of reading.

How does it work? See AideRSS video demo.

I think AideRSS is a very useful service. Many people face the problem of information overloading. The few dozens RSS feeds that we subscribe to don’t really help to solve the problem. Sometimes I think the ease-to-use RSS technology actually contributes to my information-overloading anxiety. AideRSS’s “intelligent” filtering can help to reduce the amount of time that we need to spend on manually filtering out information noise and reading only news that matter.

Nevertheless, AideRSS is not a silver bullet. Because the PostRank algorithm relies on external information such as trackbacks, post comment traffics etc. to rank individual feed items, it could falsely assign low ranks to important news that hasn’t yet been widely discussed in major social Web sites (e.g., del.icio.us, bloglines and technorati).

I think I will try out AideRSS service in the next couple weeks and see how it works. While I see there are obvious weaknesses in this service, but it’s definitely a major step towards solving our information overloading problem.

Nielsen Media Research recently changed its rating measure for Web site popularity (i.e., the Nielsen NetRatings). Previously Nielsen rated Web sites based on page views. The new measure is based on time spent on a site. A key motivator for this change is a theory that “time spent is a better measure of ‘engagement’ with a given Web site.”

Thanks to new Web technology such as Ajax. Web sites are now able to deliver fresh content to Web pages without needing users to click through more screens to see more stuff. For this reason, it’s better to use time spent as oppose to page views to measure Web site popularity.

Interestingly, this change brought about a new Top 10 Web sites…

in May, the first month for which data are available, three new entries not on the top-page-view list cracked the time-spent top 10: Electronic Arts, because video gamers stay put for a long time; Apple, whose iTunes is more of a time-suck than a click-generator; and Microsoft’s software home page (read: not MSN.com). Dropping off the list were largely free classifieds site Craigslist, social network Facebook–all those party pics eat up clicks, not time–and Comcast. AOL goes from #6 to #1, while Google slips from #1 to #5.

Spotted on: Media Centric by Jon Fine

The Scientific American magazine announced a special online edition that is formatted for mobile device browsing.

http://wap.sciam.com

FYI. Opera Mini, my favorite mobile web browser, just released Opera Mini 4 beta. To view web sites that are not optimized for mobile browsing, use Opera Mini. Check out its demo video and simulator.

An article in the Wall Street Journal tracks the history of blogging. According to the article, the first blog on the Internet was called Robot Wisdom — a personal web page by Jorn Barger. Barger wrote,

“I decided to start my own webpage logging the best stuff.”

This is how I remember blogging. The term blog was derived from “weblog”. At first, there was personal blogs. Later it came professional and business blogs. As more people switching from slow dial-up to fast high-speed internet, it gave birth to photo blogs and video blogs. At the same time, advancements in mobile and cellphone technology bred a new kind of blogging — mobile blogs.

Spotted on: slashdot

Do people always say yes to free money no matter how small it is? The ultimatum game is designed to answer this question. Economists often believe that any financial gain, however small, is worth having. Psychologists, on the other hand, disagree with this presumption. So who is right?

Dr. Terence Burnham of Harvard University recently gathered a group of students of microeconomists and ask them to play a modified version of the ultimatum game. A theory that this study tries to prove is that people often reject free money in order to prevent their competitors from getting ahead. This rejectionist strategy is not irrational, but differently rational.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nintendo announced a new game controller called Wii Balance Board. This new controller is specially designed for games that involve physical exercises.

The centre piece of the whole shebang is the Balance Board, a device that looks a bit like a slim set of bathroom weighing scales. By applying pressure to it (by standing or pushing with your arms during press ups etc.), it can measure your actions and relay them to your Wii. Examples showed stepping, push ups, hula-hoop motions, heading and dodgying soccer balls, dancing, yoga and simple ball-rolling exercises where weight is shifted from one foot to other.

I think this new controller will further push Nintendo’s market share. First, it will encourage more people to buy Wii just because they want to exercise while being entertained by video games. Second, parents will be more willing to buy Wii than other game consoles because Wii has a healthier image. Third, Wii’s innovative game controls are user-friendly to all ages.

Related links:

• Nintendo Wii Balance Board gets you stepping in upcoming Wii Fit title
• E3: Nintendo unveils Wii Fit and Balance Board
• Wii Fit (youtube video)

Experts believe that now it’s a good time to diversify some of your investment in cash. This is because the yield of cash is very attractive given today’s market condition.

1. Cash yield as much as long-term bond. As of July 9th, 2007, 10-year US Treasury yield is 5.16%, and 6-month CD offered by INGDirect is 5.15%.
2. The yield of cash investment is ahead of the current annual inflation rate, which is around 2%. If your cash investment yield 5%, then you enjoy real cash yields of 3%.
3. The Fed probably will keep the short-term interest rate at 5.25% for the rest of 2007.

For those who are interested in cash investment, I recommend CD laddering.

Source:

• Daily Treasury Yield Curve Rates
• INGDirect Orange CD
• Diversify into Cash?