Harry Chen Thinks Aloud

BusinessWeek reports Microsoft research scientists are using technology similar to spam blockers to attack HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. This approach came about when Microsoft scientist David Heckerman discovered similarities exist between spam messages and HIV.

From Heckerman’s perspective, HIV is like a cagey spammer. After attacking a cell, it injects its own genetic material and proceeds (much like a spam jockey who has commandeered an unprotected computer) to manufacture thousands of copies of the virus. It’s a notoriously sloppy copier, but that adds to its vigor. Each mistake launches mutant viruses into the system. Many fail. Some, though, survive–and resist the drugs.

… the connections between spam and HIV boil down to mathematics. He analyzes both scourges by studying statistical relationships among their ever-changing features. Consider the word “Viagra.” Sometimes it shows up in legitimate e-mails. Often it appears in spam. If researchers study thousands of e-mails, they can calculate the percentage of e-mails with that word that are spam. That’s one clue. But the spam-filtering machine needs to know more than that. What other features in an e-mail signal that it’s spam? Are certain fonts particularly spammy? What about e-mail addresses or types of punctuation? The trick is to figure out which combinations of these features identify an e-mail as spam. Each decision can involve thousands of variables and millions of different calculations.

When he brought his plan to Bill Gates, the company chairman “got really excited,” Heckerman says. Well versed on HIV from his philanthropy work, Gates lined up Heckerman with AIDS researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Washington, and elsewhere.

This is a classic example of technology cross-fertilization. Many hard to solve natural science problems involve statistical analysis. Since computers are extremely capable of performing this type of tasks, advanced computer science technology like spam blockers can be exploited to solve non-technology problems like detecting HIV. I think we see more of this kind of innovations in the near future.

Original Story: Using Spam Blocker To Target HIV, Too

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)

According to a market research firm, as of the end of April 2007, Nintendo has sold 2.5 million Wii consoles in the US, almost double PlayStation 3’s sales and closing in on Xbox 360’s 5.4 millions sales. There is a little doubt that the video gaming market is now divided.

The question is how did we come to this situation? Few years back, Nintendo was considered a “dead” company by many analysts. Sony’s game console was the king. What did Sony do wrong? What did Nintendo do right?

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Do you ever wonder what other people do to ensure a balanced life style? How about what online business to start with if you’ve limited funds and experience? To get answers to these questions, you can use LinkedIn Answers. It’s an innovative tool that allows people to ask and answer questions in the LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn is a very successful social network tool for the professionals. This Q&A service is bringing online social networking to a new height. The idea behind LinkedIn Answers is very simple. Users post questions to the community under various categories (Technology, Business Operations, Law and Legal etc.). Once questions are posted, any users in the community can submit their answers. On the surface, this mechanism is no different from typical online forums or news groups. However, if we look closer, there is some unique and innovative about this new tool.

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Two pieces of interesting news about Wii this week:

1. Play Wii Sports for 30-minutes everyday can help you to lose weigh (see also NBC report).
2. Ben Heckendorn took apart his Wii and created a Wii laptop.

I’m not too surprised to see people losing weight after long hours of playing Wii Sports. Though Wii is not currently marketed as an exercise or a workout machine, but I definitely think it has the potential to be marketed as such. Imagine a new Wii console that comes with bikes or real sandbags!

Wii laptop is amazing not because it played any better than the one that is connected to my big screen TV in the living room. It’s amazing because it demonstrated the ingenuity of its creator Ben Heckendorn. By inspecting the design of the Wii laptop, you can tell Ben has spent a great deal of effort to complete this project. He definitely deserve a round of applause — “Well done, Ben!”

Video games existed since the 1980’s, but little has changed in the way we play them. With the launching of Nintendo Wii, this is all about to change. This is not a Wii technology review but my thoughts on Wii’s innovative technology and how it may change the way we play and perceive video games. Read the rest of this entry »

Few weeks before the launching of its game console Wii, Nintendo is executing some marketing strategy that is quite unusual for a video game company. The New York Times reports that the company has taken Wii to Life@50+, an annual event sponsored by AARP.

Two points that Nintendo tries to sell: (1) If you know how to make card games, you can play Wii. Its game control is more natural than which of its competitors. (2) Nintendo games such as Brain Age are not only fun to play, but also they can exercise your mind and help to improve brain functioning.

+1 point for the Nintendo’s marketing team.

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Bob Sutton, a well-respected professor at Stanford’s School of Engineering, wrote an interesting article on how to organize and conduct effective brainstorming. Every company wants their employees to be more creative and innovative. Since time is a limited resource, teams that are responsible for innovation can’t simply spend too much time talking and meeting without producing measurable results.

Among the eight tips that Bob has written, I especially like the following three:

1. Use brainstorming to combine and extend ideas, not just to harvest ideas.
2. Do individual brainstorming before and after group sessions.
3. Brainstorming sessions are worthless unless they are woven with other work practices.

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