Imad Jomaa blog

"I printed a YouTube video but it wouldn’t play"

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:06:38 -0700

“I printed a YouTube video but it wouldn’t play”

- Facepalm

Creativity is imagination, primitiveness is a default

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:54:51 -0700

One can create something new, or sit back and do nothing. One can imagine a future; but never leaves the mind.

As I leave you thinking about the title and the opening note, I am very excited about a site I’ll be opening in the near future. I have had many ideas I always wanted to develop, but a lot of them are not worthy of having their own site because either they’re a demonstration of the idea, or just something I thought the world should try.

I leave you on that note with an obvious hint of what’s coming from my end - it’s your turn, don’t leave your ideas confined and forgotten, if you have the skill set, bring them to life. =)

Until Next Time,

Take Care.

( weird post Indeed =P )

Classic Innovation

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:54:00 -0800

Humans in general love to innovate and in fact, it seems like it’s a never-ending passion. To really describe this innovation in under a minute I’ll be using a video by Kevin Nalty to describe this precisely.

In the video I embed below, you will notice the child on the left (Patrick) gets hit by his sister (Katie), the child cries for a few seconds, demos his new innovated idea then gives it a try by whacking his sister back with a balloon. His sister counteracted by whacking Patrick back, then he really uses his new innovation by putting it to the full test at full power.

You’re probably thinking I’ve lost it at this moment in time, but let me explain the similarities. When Patrick got hit and began crying, he realized their was an issue that needed to be solved as we would do when you’re trying to create a new innovative product. The child then realized he had a balloon which became a great counterattack tool, he demoed the new idea with a few air blows to the right of him, seemed like it worked. Similarly, when we develop new products, we usually demo them or beta test them before we move them out to the mainstream. When the child realized it might just work, he went for the attack or in other words, he introduced the innovative product to the public or in this case his sister.

I may be over-analyzing things, but take a look at the video yourself:

(link if embed doesn’t display: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzHO20N9xyk )

The reason I used the video as a demonstration of innovation, is due to the fact the child nailed it dead-on in relation to today’s society and innovation.

Feel free to leave your comments and opinions, I’d love to hear them. =P

Until Next Time,

Take Care.

Cuil - It's just not Cool

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:49:00 -0800

I’m sure we have all heard of the Cuil (pronounced cool) search engine. It’s dark, gloomy, and well, it seems like they don’t want me using it.

When you first visit there website, before you can start browsing, there are a few steps as shown below:

Give your eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark color
Locate the tiny search box near the bottom of the screen
Enter your search query & hit return

While their idea may be innovative, the theme they have chosen isn’t quite working. Imagine yourself as a door-to-door salesperson, you come up to a home, the lawn is dead, the mailbox post is barely standing, the walkway is well beat and destroyed, and as you get to the door, your face covers with spiderwebs - not a welcoming place is it? This is exactly how it is for Cuil, the first thing you see when you land on the homepage is a dark & unwelcoming page with a tiny search box screaming “Over here!”

Despite the theme, lets dive right into the search.

When they first launched they had a feature allowing you to select how many columns of results you want per-page, now, it’s a default two which creates a ton of wasted space that can be used for displaying more results.

“Relevancy”

It seems like 127 billion indexed pages and counting provides quite a bit for you to search through, but without relevancy, you can definitely spend a lot of wasted time. Furthermore, it seems like they return decent results, however, they don’t seem to order their results based on site popularity, and the best example for this would be forum software. It seems it lists a forum software of which isn’t popular above others that are no doubt, the most popular forum software available. Additionally, while choosing a thumbnail for results is difficult, it did mess it up for quite a few as shown below (click on image for full size):

“Great Features”

Enough criticizing, let’s take a look at features that definitely make Cuil unique.

Firstly, they have an excellent mobile version which utilizes all their great features, check it out by visiting cuil.com on your mobile device. Secondly, they include a lot of fun javascript and real-time features that keeps things interesting while searching.

One of the main things I really enjoy about Cuil is their privacy policy:

“When you search with Cuil, we do not keep any personally identifiable information, period. Your search history is your business.”

Definitely beats Google, but I can see how it will effect optimization as it’s pretty much a guessing game at a larger-scale. However, another great addition is the option to turn ads on or off, it obviously shows you how devoted the team are towards their users’ browsing experience which they definitely deserve a pat on the back for.

Overall, the Cuil Search Engine definitely has a long way to go before I would consider using it solely, but check it out for yourself: http://cuil.com and leave your comments or feedback on the subject.

Until Next Time,

Take Care.

How I feel about the iPad

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:35:00 -0800

Technology seems to advance overnight, every-night. New gizmos and what have you are released everyday and seems like Apple Inc just made Apple sauce.

I’m sure you have heard about Apple’s new device, the iPad:

Now before I begin yapping about this product, I first would like to say that the only reason I’m blog posting about this device is because everyone seems to jump on Apple products whether it’s a door handle, or something like this - in other words, if it has the Apple logo on it, everyone wants it.

“How do you feel about the design?”

While for the most part it is an exact replica of the iPod, I have to admit, it does look sleek and thin and can definitely squeeze right through a manila envelope (referring to their Macbook air commercial =P).

“Useful? - I think it depends”

Sure it’s fully packed with a Youtube application and Safari and what have you, but in all honesty, it’s just an oversized iPod. Absolutely nothing distinguishes it different from an iPod other than a few nifty additions and the fact that it definitely won’t fit in your pocket.

It seems like they really geared it towards entertainment, video, reading, and emailing. It’s probably great for a long road trip or an airplane ride to London (minus the 2 hours of no pillow hugging, blanket cuddling, talking, seeing, or breathing due to high security risks).

If you’re interested in the product for the activities listed above, I would definitely add it to your wish list, however if you are really looking for a tablet, go for something that can multitask.

“Apps = Fun”

As we all heard, the iPad is app capable which means you can download all your favorite applications, including games. Which means, a bowling game with this device won’t quite work unless you give it the “Wii strap”:

Despite my horrible job photoshoping it, I can see it right now, people downloading, installing, and playing a bowling game and accidentally launching their iPad into the air. However, other civil games will definitely be easier to play on the iPad provided that there’s more surface area giving you more control over the accelerometer.

“No Camera? What’s up with that!?”

Seriously? Do you really want to be holding that huge device while trying to capture a group picture or your trip to Hawaii? They make cameras for a reason, so I definitely suggest investing in one if you haven’t already, it’ll make life easier on you, and you wouldn’t need a strap to hang the iPad from your neck in between photos.

With all that said, it will definitely be interesting to try this out, but I think Apple needed to add some essential features to it such as USB ports, multitasking, and at least some sort of video player that will convert the flash videos since they decided not to include flash support.

I personally, would definitely not buy this product until they improve the device.

Until Next Time,

Take Care.

Why Google hates "Googling"

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:32:25 -0800

I like to Twitter on Facebook, Google on Yahoo!, and Flickr on Photobucket - What’s wrong with that?

It’s honestly any Co-founder’s dream to hear their company name being used all over the net, in the paper, or in person. However, if we really break it down to trademark law you’ll notice that these companies really don’t want you using their company name as a verb.

If I mention I’m “Twittering on Twitter” or “Googling on Google”, there is no problem with that, as you are using the company name in the right context, or in other words, actually referring it properly. However, many people use these terms to reference generality, such as “Google it on Yahoo!” which if used extensively, may result in the loss of the trademark.

In all honesty, we as the users of the service probably care less about the Company’s trademark loss but it’s always a good thing to note that if you ever decide to start your own service, make sure your users understand the terminology and what it references. An easier solution would be giving your company a name that doesn’t sound right in a sentence, such as the Yahoo! or Cuil search engines, I’d never say “I’m Yahooing” or “I’m Cuiling” - It’s just not cool. =P

I am more than positive this topic has been covered and is probably saturating the net, but I figured I’d blog about it anyway as a good refresher is always good and I love yapping about this stuff. =P

Until Next Time,

Take Care.

Check Out Some Photos on the iPad

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:01:00 -0800

Check Out Some Photos on the iPad:

- Apple’s New Creation

My First "Official" Blog

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:42:19 -0800

So if you didn’t figure it out already, I am a college Student majoring in Computer Science as well as a Web Developer with 4 years accumulated experience in PHP, HTML, CSS, MySQL, (some Javascript) and Linux Server Management (along with a few other stuff). I have developed all sorts of systems ranging from social networking to marketplaces to Content Management as well as anything else I decide to create.

Anyway, who cares about my background. I created this blog to discuss random thoughts as well as some informational goodies that might help you out if you are a Web Developer yourself or looking to learn more about whatever I blog. =P

I’m hoping to post some good informational used marketing tactics as well as “the “DO’s & DONT’s” in marketing based on my past experiences. (I’m no professional, just someone with experience from trial and failure =P)

Anyway, I’m waiting in on the A record of my subdomain to eventually update, so you can therefore access this blog by visiting: http://imadjomaa.dynno.com

Until Next Time,

Take Care.