Sunday, January 22, 2012
Alloparenting - or - allo there, parenting
Steve Jobs on having kids: ‘It’s 10,000 times better than anything I’ve ever done.’
And this was the man who changed the world. Many times. Who am I to argue with him
It's been over a month since our daughter Simran Abigail Chugh was born; and it has been the most wonderful experience of my life. Some of the best moments have been just chilling with her awake, hanging out, making faces. Like here.
But sometimes I wonder, why is it so hard! I mean, think of it? Getting up every 2 hours, diaper changes, walking around with the baby, cleaning up, burping, holding the baby's head up; not to forget coming stages, like school etc. It doesn't seem to be the same way for animals; kittens mature within three to four months, and are off to the races! While we humans take around 18 years to mature (or in some cases, 80). What is it about humans that causes parenting to be so much work?
As it turns out, its the very reason that humans rule the earth - our brain! I am reading this amazing book 'Brain Rules for Baby' for the second time now, and it explains this in detail. Essentially, as the brain developed, and we started to walk upright, the head size increased, and the pelvic canal size decreased. So now there there was a trade-off between the size of the brain and the mother's ability to push the baby out.
Nature's solution? Push the baby out before she is fully developed. The result? Parenthood.
But that is not all. The brain made us all so social. Which resulted in us working as a team, and groups of females each other raise children, with males acting in a supporting role. A phenomena called alloparenting. So if it feels like raising a kid is a five person job - it is. Suddenly the Indian joint family system seems to make a lot of sense.
And this was the man who changed the world. Many times. Who am I to argue with him
It's been over a month since our daughter Simran Abigail Chugh was born; and it has been the most wonderful experience of my life. Some of the best moments have been just chilling with her awake, hanging out, making faces. Like here.
But sometimes I wonder, why is it so hard! I mean, think of it? Getting up every 2 hours, diaper changes, walking around with the baby, cleaning up, burping, holding the baby's head up; not to forget coming stages, like school etc. It doesn't seem to be the same way for animals; kittens mature within three to four months, and are off to the races! While we humans take around 18 years to mature (or in some cases, 80). What is it about humans that causes parenting to be so much work?
As it turns out, its the very reason that humans rule the earth - our brain! I am reading this amazing book 'Brain Rules for Baby' for the second time now, and it explains this in detail. Essentially, as the brain developed, and we started to walk upright, the head size increased, and the pelvic canal size decreased. So now there there was a trade-off between the size of the brain and the mother's ability to push the baby out.
Nature's solution? Push the baby out before she is fully developed. The result? Parenthood.
But that is not all. The brain made us all so social. Which resulted in us working as a team, and groups of females each other raise children, with males acting in a supporting role. A phenomena called alloparenting. So if it feels like raising a kid is a five person job - it is. Suddenly the Indian joint family system seems to make a lot of sense.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Gamificaiton
Gamification, or applying Game mechanics to everyday activities, is a trend thats super interesting to me.
Mint.com has already been known to apply game Mechanics to motivate people to achieve financial goals. Just today, Payoff.com announced a $2MM fundraising round. The intent of the site is to motivate people achieve financial goals
Three problems. First, I get this error when trying to add an account to the site on the iPad. That is not good. It does not give this error when used on Firefox on a PC.
Second, effort involved in importing all my financial information (which is already in Mint.com) is too much. Especially as I run into more issues on my PC! For example, accounts were in progress of being added, and then I get this error.
And the third? Just by adding an account, I got a Super Saver badge. I have no idea what this badge means - and unlike a Foursquare Mayor badge, it has no significance to me. Especially since it is not proportional to my action!
The concept certainly is promising, and I sincerely hope that the product gets there too!
Mint.com has already been known to apply game Mechanics to motivate people to achieve financial goals. Just today, Payoff.com announced a $2MM fundraising round. The intent of the site is to motivate people achieve financial goals
Payoff.com Product Explanation from Payoff.com on Vimeo.
Three problems. First, I get this error when trying to add an account to the site on the iPad. That is not good. It does not give this error when used on Firefox on a PC.
Second, effort involved in importing all my financial information (which is already in Mint.com) is too much. Especially as I run into more issues on my PC! For example, accounts were in progress of being added, and then I get this error.
And the third? Just by adding an account, I got a Super Saver badge. I have no idea what this badge means - and unlike a Foursquare Mayor badge, it has no significance to me. Especially since it is not proportional to my action!
The concept certainly is promising, and I sincerely hope that the product gets there too!
A baby Roomba!
I have been on parental leave for the past 3 weeks, taking care of my daughter Simran. It's been an amazing time! Now having some free time has led to some ideas for products for parents and kids. One of them is baby Roomba.
Roomba, as you might already know, is a robotic vacuum cleaner that cleans your house on its own.It has collision detection sensors and complex algorithm so that it travels throughout your house, cleaning every nook and corner, while you might be away at work. And at the end, it heads back to the charging station.
Now how does this apply to kids? My daughter, and kids in general, love it when you carry them around the house. They love the warmth of you holding them, and the motion that puts them to sleep. While this is one of the best times of the day for me to bond with my daughter, depending on the kid, it can get tiring. Especially if you haven't had time to sleep much.
Enter the Kid Roomba, a heated chair where you strap in the kid, which moves around the house. Similar to a Roomba, it will detect collisions and switch directions; giving the kid a similar experience as being carried around the house. There are already vibrating chairs like this one, why not a moving chair?
The only downfall I see is that parents over-use it, and bond with the kid less and less. But other than that - someone should invent it!
Update: Here are some YouTube videos of parents who actually hacked a solution! And rabbits like to rid the Roomba!
Roomba, as you might already know, is a robotic vacuum cleaner that cleans your house on its own.It has collision detection sensors and complex algorithm so that it travels throughout your house, cleaning every nook and corner, while you might be away at work. And at the end, it heads back to the charging station.
Now how does this apply to kids? My daughter, and kids in general, love it when you carry them around the house. They love the warmth of you holding them, and the motion that puts them to sleep. While this is one of the best times of the day for me to bond with my daughter, depending on the kid, it can get tiring. Especially if you haven't had time to sleep much.
Enter the Kid Roomba, a heated chair where you strap in the kid, which moves around the house. Similar to a Roomba, it will detect collisions and switch directions; giving the kid a similar experience as being carried around the house. There are already vibrating chairs like this one, why not a moving chair?
The only downfall I see is that parents over-use it, and bond with the kid less and less. But other than that - someone should invent it!
Update: Here are some YouTube videos of parents who actually hacked a solution! And rabbits like to rid the Roomba!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Bye Bye Delicious. Hello evernote
I have been a loyal user of Delicious since early 2010. Finally, I have decided to move on - to Evernote! There were several reasons why I decided to make the switch:
1. We live in a world where we use several services together. For example, I use Read it Later to mark items I want to - well, read later. I also use Evernote for my notes, web clippings, thoughts etc. And I used to user Delicious for my bookmarks. They worked seamlessly with each other - I could mark an item as 'Read later' using my Read It Later web browser plugin, then read it on my Read it Later iPad app, and then save it to my delicious bookmarks list from the app while marking it as read. Until the delicious API started failing on me - especially from Read It Later iPad app. All, apparently because of some changes to the API which broke the connection with the Read It App. Lesson: Please do not break your most basic API services - people will leave
2. When I looked at what my alternatives were, the best one was to just export all by Bookmarks to Evernote. I found an article here that allowed me to export my book marks and import to Evernote with a little bit of work. There was a little bit extra work required, as the Delicious bookmark only returns the first 1000 results, and I had to repeat this process again, passing the argument 'start=1000' to retreive the next 1000 results, to get all my bookmarks. Ultimately, in 30 minutes, I had all my bookmarks in Evernote. Now the tags still do not work properly - but I see this as an opportunity to read through some of my bookmarks and consolidate them, so that I can actually find things I need. A painful process, but well worth the effort.
Now I use Shareholic and Read it Later plugin in my browser to move things where appropriate. So bye bye Delicious. Hello again, Evernote!
1. We live in a world where we use several services together. For example, I use Read it Later to mark items I want to - well, read later. I also use Evernote for my notes, web clippings, thoughts etc. And I used to user Delicious for my bookmarks. They worked seamlessly with each other - I could mark an item as 'Read later' using my Read It Later web browser plugin, then read it on my Read it Later iPad app, and then save it to my delicious bookmarks list from the app while marking it as read. Until the delicious API started failing on me - especially from Read It Later iPad app. All, apparently because of some changes to the API which broke the connection with the Read It App. Lesson: Please do not break your most basic API services - people will leave
2. When I looked at what my alternatives were, the best one was to just export all by Bookmarks to Evernote. I found an article here that allowed me to export my book marks and import to Evernote with a little bit of work. There was a little bit extra work required, as the Delicious bookmark only returns the first 1000 results, and I had to repeat this process again, passing the argument 'start=1000' to retreive the next 1000 results, to get all my bookmarks. Ultimately, in 30 minutes, I had all my bookmarks in Evernote. Now the tags still do not work properly - but I see this as an opportunity to read through some of my bookmarks and consolidate them, so that I can actually find things I need. A painful process, but well worth the effort.
Now I use Shareholic and Read it Later plugin in my browser to move things where appropriate. So bye bye Delicious. Hello again, Evernote!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Amazon and Customer Delight
I define Customer Delight as exceeding customer expectations. There have been two recent instances where Amazon did a remarkable job.
One was when I ordered the Roku box from Amazon. I spent an hour with Roku trying to troubleshoot the problem with Roku customer service - which was awful! The guy kept trying to make me reset the box, but the picture was still unclear on my TV. Now I don't have the latest 3D 1080p 240 Hz HDTV, but my TV isn't bad! It's HD enabled (aka 720p) and other players work well with it! Finally, when I gave up on Roku, I contacted Amazon.
Thats where things went uphill. Rather than call a 1800 number and wait for several minutes, they have a form on their website, where they call me! In 5 minutes, I was connected to a human being, and best of all, I spent no time waiting. They exchanged the Roku box for a new one, sent overnight. When that did not work too, I returned it - which meant clicking a link they sent me, printing the UPS label and dropping off to the UPS box.
The second instance was returning a $9.99 pair of sleep pajamas. Unfortunately the sizing on the website did not match what arrived in the email. I clicked on the return button, and it asked me for the reason code. When I entered it, that's it - the return was complete, I was refunded, and got a message 'For being a loyal customer, you don't even need to send back the item.'
It makes sense; the cost of having the item shipped back, processed for return, and then resent to someone else probably did not cover the profit Amazon.com will expect to make from the item. Additionally, they gained loyalty from me, by not making me go through the hassle of shipping the item back.
Now I am not sure if everyone will not get the same level of treatment. I order a fair amount from Amazon, and also am a prime members. Their low prices and great customer service has made me a loyal customer; I pretty much look to order almost everything from them. They must be deploying fairly sophisticated segmentation techniques to determine who they give the premium treatment to. Whatever it is, it seems to be working - I am delighted, and this instance made me an even more loyal Amazon.com customer.
One was when I ordered the Roku box from Amazon. I spent an hour with Roku trying to troubleshoot the problem with Roku customer service - which was awful! The guy kept trying to make me reset the box, but the picture was still unclear on my TV. Now I don't have the latest 3D 1080p 240 Hz HDTV, but my TV isn't bad! It's HD enabled (aka 720p) and other players work well with it! Finally, when I gave up on Roku, I contacted Amazon.
Thats where things went uphill. Rather than call a 1800 number and wait for several minutes, they have a form on their website, where they call me! In 5 minutes, I was connected to a human being, and best of all, I spent no time waiting. They exchanged the Roku box for a new one, sent overnight. When that did not work too, I returned it - which meant clicking a link they sent me, printing the UPS label and dropping off to the UPS box.
The second instance was returning a $9.99 pair of sleep pajamas. Unfortunately the sizing on the website did not match what arrived in the email. I clicked on the return button, and it asked me for the reason code. When I entered it, that's it - the return was complete, I was refunded, and got a message 'For being a loyal customer, you don't even need to send back the item.'
It makes sense; the cost of having the item shipped back, processed for return, and then resent to someone else probably did not cover the profit Amazon.com will expect to make from the item. Additionally, they gained loyalty from me, by not making me go through the hassle of shipping the item back.
Now I am not sure if everyone will not get the same level of treatment. I order a fair amount from Amazon, and also am a prime members. Their low prices and great customer service has made me a loyal customer; I pretty much look to order almost everything from them. They must be deploying fairly sophisticated segmentation techniques to determine who they give the premium treatment to. Whatever it is, it seems to be working - I am delighted, and this instance made me an even more loyal Amazon.com customer.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The age of distraction
One of the biggest struggles I have is maintaining focus. I can safely assume that majority of the readers of this blog suffer from the same problem. We live in age of distraction.
First there is the email. And not just one email - work email, personal email, personal junk email.
And then there is twitter - constant, non-stop updates from your friends, from people that you admire.
And then there is facebook. What is your social circle up to?
Not to mention blogs, TV, the news etc.
So why is it that these distractions have such a powerful hold on us? The book 'Focus: A simplicity manifesto in the Age of Distraction' downloadable for free here, gives several reasons why this is the case:
1. Immediate gratification: getting an email brings with it immediate gratification. Someone remembered you! You are part of a social group! And resisting the urge for immediate gratification takes a fair amount of mental energy.
2. FOMO: or fear of missing out. What would happen if you got left behind your blogs? Next time you meet you your friends, would they make fun of you? Or would you not be able to contribute to conversations as much because you did not catch up on your blogs/news?
3. Addiction: once you do something enough, it becomes a habit; an addition
The book suggests a few steps to achieve focus despite the distractions:
1. Set some ground rules: For example, email checks once an hour, on the hour. These ground rules should be setup based on your situation. For example, if your boss expects you to check email frequently, either communicate to him/her that you will check email less often to increase your productivity, or expect to get a lot of crap! Recognize when you break rules, but do not get disheartened. These things take time; often, a lot of time!
2. Shut off notifications: In words of a great philosopher (not sure who) "The human race progresses by making more and more behaviors automatic." We all have a limited amount of willpower, and it is a reservoir of energy that gets spent every time we use it. So shut off email notifications, twitter notifications, the red light on your blackberry (if you live in the 19th century like I do). Also, some softwares help a lot. For example, with TrayIT is a piece of software that lets you minimize windows to the System tray rather than the Taskbar is super helpful. Also, 'Rescue Time' is a software that runs in the background and monitors your computer behavior, rewarding you for productive applications and taking points away for negative behavior. And you can see what your time sink is (for me, its become Amazon.com shopping for Holiday deals!)
3. Be energized: sleep well, exercise, eat well etc. etc. The more energy you have, the more willpower you will have and will less likely be distracted.
4. Clear things: off your desk, desktop. Only have things you need to work: this includes internet applications. Do just the minimum
5. Slow down: slow down and take your time with every task. This will likely help you concentrate, and the work will get done faster.
Hope this was useful. For more details, read the book mentioned above. It truly is amazing, and its free to download the pdf (how awesome is that!)
First there is the email. And not just one email - work email, personal email, personal junk email.
And then there is twitter - constant, non-stop updates from your friends, from people that you admire.
And then there is facebook. What is your social circle up to?
Not to mention blogs, TV, the news etc.
So why is it that these distractions have such a powerful hold on us? The book 'Focus: A simplicity manifesto in the Age of Distraction' downloadable for free here, gives several reasons why this is the case:
1. Immediate gratification: getting an email brings with it immediate gratification. Someone remembered you! You are part of a social group! And resisting the urge for immediate gratification takes a fair amount of mental energy.
2. FOMO: or fear of missing out. What would happen if you got left behind your blogs? Next time you meet you your friends, would they make fun of you? Or would you not be able to contribute to conversations as much because you did not catch up on your blogs/news?
3. Addiction: once you do something enough, it becomes a habit; an addition
The book suggests a few steps to achieve focus despite the distractions:
1. Set some ground rules: For example, email checks once an hour, on the hour. These ground rules should be setup based on your situation. For example, if your boss expects you to check email frequently, either communicate to him/her that you will check email less often to increase your productivity, or expect to get a lot of crap! Recognize when you break rules, but do not get disheartened. These things take time; often, a lot of time!
2. Shut off notifications: In words of a great philosopher (not sure who) "The human race progresses by making more and more behaviors automatic." We all have a limited amount of willpower, and it is a reservoir of energy that gets spent every time we use it. So shut off email notifications, twitter notifications, the red light on your blackberry (if you live in the 19th century like I do). Also, some softwares help a lot. For example, with TrayIT is a piece of software that lets you minimize windows to the System tray rather than the Taskbar is super helpful. Also, 'Rescue Time' is a software that runs in the background and monitors your computer behavior, rewarding you for productive applications and taking points away for negative behavior. And you can see what your time sink is (for me, its become Amazon.com shopping for Holiday deals!)
3. Be energized: sleep well, exercise, eat well etc. etc. The more energy you have, the more willpower you will have and will less likely be distracted.
4. Clear things: off your desk, desktop. Only have things you need to work: this includes internet applications. Do just the minimum
5. Slow down: slow down and take your time with every task. This will likely help you concentrate, and the work will get done faster.
Hope this was useful. For more details, read the book mentioned above. It truly is amazing, and its free to download the pdf (how awesome is that!)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
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