Why We Spend Hours on MSN Chatting

As they watch impatiently as their children are overwhelmed by a flood of instant messages and respond to each one of them with a slight smile on their face, parents wonder, "Why the hell can't they just talk on the phone?" Well, that's when the psychology kicks in; adolescent minds work very differently from those of adults. Here's the chatting phenomenon explained:

6. People feel under pressure to say something constantly on the phone but can do other things on the computer

The fact is that people don't feel uncomfortable not saying anything for half an hour while in a chat because they know that their fellow chatter is aware that they are doing something else. On the other hand, not saying something for more than five seconds counts as an awkward silence and with the number of awkward things these days, who needs another.

5. We're usually on the computer anyway

Hey, it's true. This generation is starting to use the computer more and more as it becomes more and more "useful". So I guess we're just getting so lazy that we can't walk a few steps to pick up a phone; instead, we just want to sit in our chairs, typing and staring, typing and staring.

4. People feel more comfortable expressing themselves with IMs than with long speeches

Maybe long speeches were trendy back in the 80s but they definitely aren't now. Plus, some feel like they're revealing more when they're talking face to face or even just on the phone but they feel more secure hiding behind their trusty e-wall.

3. Most are more fluent in writing than talking

When you speak, you can pause for a minute thinking of how to word something; you just have to go ahead and unless you're a really good talker, you'll get mixed up with what you're trying to say. On the other hand, on the computer, you can take your own sweet time thinking of something to say and then how to say it.

2. You can mask your true personality and reactions with simple cyber-surgery

Thoughts can quickly be translated to speech so a conversation can quickly turn sour if you can't hide your emotions. However, in a chat, you don't see thoughts or hear words, you watch letters slowly appear on the screen. And who says these letters have to be truly showing what you think; in fact, you can be a whole different person online.

1. Because everyone else does

What's popular is what's popular and people can't resist following the trends. Almost everone has an Windows Messenger account and if you don't, you're pretty much seen as an outsider. To add to that, if you're not on every hour of every day, you're seen as an outsider too.

More Than Just Games: Playstation Portable

I'd been wanting a Playstation Portable, better known as the PSP, for months and finally, a month ago I got it. And now, I only have raves about its spectacular features.
Well, for starters, this is a gaming device and boy can it game. The graphics are absolutely amazing for a handheld device and the screen is remarkably large allowing for the most advanced gameplay that you'll never see on Gameboys. And of course, the games on the PSP are not stupid collections of mini-games that you get bored of after a few weeks but real, hardcore games that include Grand Theft Auto, MLB 08: The Show, Shaun White Snowboarding, God of War, Rainbow Six Vegas and many more excellent titles.
Of course, the PSP isn't just about games and in fact, Sony totally re-defines the rules of the handheld with their device, which can also act as an MP3 player, a photo viewer and a movie player. Plus, as long as you establish a connection point, the PSP can be a web browser as well. And with this, you don't just get a handful of sites that actually work; in fact, it's tough to find one that isn't supported by the PSP's Javascript-friendly browser. And with internet, there's Skype, internet radios and customizable RSS feeds that are pre-installed onto your system and online gameplay too.
But that's not all; there's tons of little extras that you won't find anywhere else. For example, the PSP comes in several different actually stylish colors (not just black, white and pink) that can make gamer nerds look cool. Moreover, you can download PSP themes that range from Windows Vista backgrounds to Christmas looks. Further, this little device has a USB slot, a headphone jack, a memory stick slot and slots for other things that I don't even know about. To back it all up though, you can customize almost anything on your PSP.
So think about it. What's a barely functional touch screen compared to the PSP's multimedia capabilities and top-quality games. Well, not much.

Why Blogging and Everything About the Blogosphere Sucks

Back in 2003, which now seems like centuries ago, blogs were a new and very innovative idea. The blogosphere was fresh and untainted, and everyone loved this absurd but cool idea. However, shiny became dull and now blogging is in trend but that's pretty much what defeats the purpose. The glory days have faded.
One main reason is that back in the day, if you wrote an interesting blog post, your page would be sure to surge to some of the top rankings in search engines and attract tons of traffic. But today, it's almost impossible for an amateur blogger who simply writes as a pastime to obtain a decent search engine ranking. Instead, the Wikipedias and CNNs of the world have taken over because they are considered "reliable sources". Sure, they have the facts but what happened to all the excitement to read cold, hard opinion and spirit. But if you are enthusiastic enough about blogging, you might try some stupid little tricks like search engine optimization, social networking and whatever the hell else but ordinary people don't have the time to do these things. They have to work, make a living and pay the bills.
On the other hand, big corporations and major "professional" blogs have the time, money and ability to do all these things. Now, smaller blogs don't have any chance of squeezing through the thick canopy of those Engadgets, Huffington Posts, Gizmodos and DailyKos, which by the way each have writers who are just plain writers. They don't have any jobs, so they don't know how real people feel. They're essentially robots. There's no more clever thought and hearty authenticism in the world of blogs; there's only the companies' paid arsenal of jounalistists.
And now, apparently they're re-making the rules of the blog: Zap all life out, write with apathy, don't write with emotion and don't you dare write as if you were directing each word at readers individually. Impersonal is the key to the kingdom now. Just look at all the lists of the top blogs; sure you might find the outlying personal blog, but then the other 98% are basically just online newspapers.
Plus, now you don't just have to compete with your fellow bloggers for readers but with other webbies who share videos on Youtube, share photos on Flickr and share personal information on Facebook.
So to try and do everything to get to that elusive 10-visitor per day mark, bloggers are now making an effort to be like the "professionals". Blog about the elections. Blog about Google. Blog about the stock market. It's all so overwhelming and irritating. The evil organization of writers is guiding the entire blogosphere into a bottomless pit of boring, boring crap.
So, this is all you get for spending many of your valuable hours pumping out posts? I could think of about a billion other things to do that are much more rewarding and satisfying.
All in all, people are asking a lot of you to show off your wit to compete with the likes of The New York Times, Time Magazine and Michelle Malkin. But I guess I'll stay in this garbage dump disguised as paradise ... for now.

Your Guide to Being the Next Google: 9 Things that Google Does Better Than Anyone Else

9. Always aesthetic design

It's never cluttered or hard on the eye. You may notice that each Google page is based on achieving an appealing design by focusing not on how awesome everything looks but just beauty by simpicity.

8. Free is not bad

It's tough to name more than a few Google services that require you to give up a dime, which is particularly helpful in these tough economical times. In fact, rarely does Google even offer you a upgraded version that you must pay for, which often gives users a sense that this company is more credible.

7. The cool factor

Steve Jobs and his company, Apple, are cool factor masterminds with their line of iPods and the revolutionary iPod. However, Google is definitely a contender with many features that basically are meant not so much for useful application but just to entice people into trying something out. For instance, all of their unique search features make people "wow" every time and their extensive news archives are always alluring.

6. Publicity

If you think about it, there's a lot Google does to get into the media. Whether it's introducing a new feature (however small) or hitting the top 100 best employers list, people will always find ways to read about Google. Bloggers will keep posting, newspapers will keep publishing and TV stations will keep broadcasting everything that happens with this internet giant. And sometimes, indeed, there is no such thing as bad publicity, especially for a website.

5. Put things in a good light

Some will never realize that them constantly typing feedback to Google or telling others their "Google stories" is only part of Google's plan. They make you think that you'll benefit from something or they're doing everyone a favor when really, the only thing happening is that Google is earning some major cha-ching. And note how all the words, colors, fonts etc. always appear to be positive. There's never a negative message out in the open so as not to discourage use of services.

4. Accomodate the user

If you asked someone on the street what they liked about Google, a great number of them would probably say that everything they want is right there for them on Google. This is because Google knows users inside and out and know exactly what their complaints are and even understand the most trivial of issues.

3. Attention to detail

Before something is put on their site, Google ensures that it is totally flawless. No typos, no coding errors, no anything errors. And again, they always pay full attention to what users want and deliver this to them.

2. Fill the gaps

Instead of focusing on things where competition is thriving and everywhere, Google focuses on markets where they know that they can be dominant. Google doesn't have Google Sports (they know Sports Illustrated is already there); Google doesn't have Google Music (they know MTV is already there); and Google doesn't have Google Movies (they know IMDB is already there). Instead, they have a collection of all the other stuff from Google Documents to Google Code to Google Scholar, which have not been explored by many others. Likewise, with the essentials, Google adds never-before-seen features to enhance their users' experience by just that little bit that gives them the edge.

1. Simplicity

All Google services are easy to use and pretty much can be quickly comprehended by anyone. Each little nook and cranny is so apparent and nothing is hidden. Their titles, labels and graphics are so incredibly idiot-proof that some even get embarassed if they can't understand a Google product. Plus, even if you do have trouble with something, you can always consult their help pages, which are comprehensive and have a quality that's unheard of.

These don't seem like much but I guess doing your homework a bit goes a long way. Good luck, Yahoo! on beating Google with it's massive arsenal of weapons.