My Take On People’s Takes On Google’s QR Code Push

So Google made a big push for QR Code usage in the US by sending window decals containing QR Code links to their top 100,000 business listings (via Favorite Places). This effort was covered by TechCrunch (TC) and Mobile Marketing Watch (MMW) among many other tech blogs / news sites out there. For the most part of the articles, they were only a rehash of Google’s original blog post, while the rest contained some original opinions from the authors, and this, along with some short sighted comments, was the part that bugged me.

Let’s start with a paragraph from TC article

Local businesses can also set up coupon offers through their Google directory page, which would turn the QR code into a mobile coupon, and help entice someone standing outside a store to come in: “If you found us on Google, you get 20% off.”

MMW not only copied exactly the same paragraph, but also added

This is where the true benefit lies.

And my take is… Coupon only benefits if you want to attract potential customers not standing outside a store, e.g. if you do a Google search and you find the Google directory page along with a coupon from the said business. On the other hand, if you do want to attract someone nearby your store, surely a large 20% discount or a SALE sign will do a better job than a garble of black and white dots inside a square.

I think the true benefits of having those QR Codes placed on the door of your restaurant/store are

1. To convince the potential customers to use your business by exposing them to positive reviews and ratings.
   This is why Google only sent the window decals to their top listings, businesses having negative reviews might not be so keen.
2. To increase the possibility of those (potential) customers revisiting your business by providing them with the address, map, and contact details.
   This replaces the traditional role of business cards.

Both points are nothing new, they already exist all along with print media (brochures, business cards) and human interaction (conversation, words of mouth). Brochures and business cards will eventually run out and there’s a limit to the number of people you can reach by talking directly to the person. So you move those content online, in this case as a Google business listing. And what is the easiest way to link you and those online content? QR Code! QR Code is the simplest mechanism to retrieve those content (point and click) and to keep the content with you (as a url bookmark on your mobile phone).

Garry Kasparov's How Life Imitates Chess

I finished reading How Life Imitates Chess a few months ago, and finally had the chance to go through my notes this afternoon during lunch break.

Having followed the world of chess ever since I was a teenager, I’ve always been interested to know how great chess players think, to know their opinions about life, to know the things they went through to achieve their extraordinary skills… and this book offers exactly that.

Garry Kasparov wrote about his experience, his thinking process, and how he applied all those things into various aspects of life. These are my favourite quotes from the book:

Ch1 – The lesson
p14
It’s not enough to be talented. It’s not enough to work hard and to study late into the night. You must also become intimately aware of the methods you use to reach your decisions.

Ch2 – Strategy
p19
“Why?” is the question that separates visionaries from functionaries, great strategists from mere tacticians. You must ask this question constantly if you are to understand and develop and follow your strategy.

Ch3 – Strategy and tactics at work
p36-37
… our goal is to improve our position. You must avoid creating weaknesses, find small ways to improve your pieces, and think small – but never stop thinking.

Ch4 – Calculation
p50
A computer may look at millions of moves per second, but lacks a deep sense of why one move is better than another; this capacity for evaluation is where computers falter and humans excel. It doesn’t matter how far ahead you see if you don’t understand what you are looking at.

Ch5 – Talent
p65
Break your routines, even to the point of changing ones you are happy with to see if you can find new and better methods.

Ch6 – Preparation
p73
If you said you ddn’t have enough time, that meant you were not well organized.
…
Botvinnik summed up his philosophy by stating, “The difference between man and animal is that man is capable of establishing priorities!”

Ch7 – MTQ: Material, time, quality
p96
But I believe that by using your time wisely you can put all your material to your best advantage and achieve the ultimate goal of quality. That’s the promise of the material-time-quality concept–in chess and in life.

Ch8 – Exchanges and imbalances
p102
If we can detect or cultivate a weak spot in our opponent’s position, we can then attempt to transform our position to take advantage of that weakness.

Ch 9 – Phases of the game
p112
So dedicate yourself to making the time, finding a space in which you can think and learn, and finding new ideas with which to shock your adversaries.

Ch11 – Question success
p135
Question the status quo at all times, especially when things are going well. When something goes wrong, you naturally want to do it better next time, but you must train yourself to want to do it better even when things go right.

Ch12 – The inner game
p145
That’s why I always think of Simon Bolivar and remember that experienced soldier who studies the battlefields in the aftermath of the war returns with both wisdom and renewed courage.

Ch13 – Man vs. machine
p166
Weak human + machine + superior process was greater than a strong computer and, remarkably, greater than a strong human + machine with an inferior process.

Ch14 – Intuition
p178
As they develop, our instincts–our intuitive senses–become labor-saving and time-saving devices; they literally cut down the time it takes to make a proper evaluation and act. You can collect and analyze new information forever without ever making a decision. Something has to tell you when the law of diminishing returns is kicking in. And that something is intuition.

Ch15 – Crisis point
p184
But in fact, crisis really means a turning point, a critical moment when the stakes are high and the outcome uncertain. It also implies a point of no return. This signifies both danger and opportunity…

Another thing I like about this book is that it also validates my belief on the importance of wanting to improve the way you do things, and also on the importance of understanding what you are doing.

And regarding Garry’s current involvement in politics… as much as I wish him all the best, I’m afraid this is one battle he’s unlikely to win despite his brilliance (and I’d love to be proven wrong!). Politics defy any form of logic and reasoning, chess is a much more peaceful world in any way.

Offline Wishes At Meiji Jingu

I’ve heard of prayer tablets before (usually found at Shinto shrines in Japan) but it wasn’t until I visited the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo that I noticed the similarity in concept to Wish.

At the the shrine, people bought a wooden tablet and wrote their prayers on it, they then hung the tablet on a wooden plank along with the other tablets. While with Wish site, people submitted their wishes, which would then go to a moderation queue before appearing on the site.

The similarity is mainly on the idea of making a prayer/wish, with a certain degree of anonymity, and it is then available for others to see. What was interesting to me is the way they handled ‘inappropriate’ content. They filtered out most of the ’spams’ by making it a non-free process (most people wouldn’t spend 500 Yen just to spam). They also put a piece of paper with an explanation of how the process works, and that’s where I noticed this sentence “Please write down your prayers, in a faithful spirit of respect and devotion.”

That sentence highlights the main difference between our visitors. The shrine visitors made the prayers mostly with a good intention. While Wish site had to face the evil spammers and  angry people on the Internet, besides the real wishers who simply want make a wish. The long walk from the main shrine to the entrance gave me a lot of time to think of how I should improve the way Wish works, the site has stayed too simple for the past 3 years, it’s time for some improvements. Stay tuned!

Some pictures from the shrine…

A couple reading the prayers. This is similar to browsing the wishes at Wish.

A text based prayer with a simple timestamp. We got that at Wish.

Some people like to draw. We got it too, though most picture submissions weren’t original content from the submitter, so this part hasn’t worked well at all.

I didn’t spot this until I returned to Melbourne. Is that kennysia.com on the second tablet from the top? He did go to Japan in April. For the uninitiated, Kenny Sia is Malaysia’s most popular blogger.

Crossing Signs In Japan – The Hat

Dear Lazyweb, why does the man on Japanese crossing signs wear a hat?

QR Code Usage In Japan

Some of my friends must’ve been tired listening to my constant complaining about how slow it is for Australia to adopt QR Code usage. QR Code is what I believe to be the link between print media and the web. And contrary to popular belief, I think print media is not going to die anytime soon.

I spotted the first QR Code in Melbourne in July last year. Telstra has been campaigning the use of QR Code, mostly on their products and ads. There have been few magazines using QR Code to link to some pages on their own sites. I’m predicting that this technology will become much more mainstream in Australia within the next 2-3 years, providing steady adoption of smart phones with QR Code support.

During my trip to Japan few weeks ago, I was amazed to find out that QR Code was used everywhere (not literally _everywhere_ of course). I started taking pictures and videos of those QR Codes to the amusement of the locals, something that’s very common to them was very new to me.

Here’s a nice example. On one morning, I was walking to Ikebukuro Station via the underground pass, and I noticed a new Disney poster on the wall.

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Stitch. Notice the eyes and noses of each character are still visible within the QR Codes.

And here’s the weird scene I witnessed in the evening…

I saw passers by stopping in front of the poster, scanning the codes using their mobile phones. It was so weird for me, but I’m sure, again, it’s very common to them. At that point, I wondered if I would see a similar scene in Melbourne within the next few years.

And a few more…

McDonald’s placed QR Codes on the soft drink cup, burger wrapper, and paper bag amongst other things.

Snack food packaging.

Building guide.

T-shirt tag.

A poster at a mall. Ever thought that one day you would see a large garble of black and white dots just so you can scan it with your mobile phone?

On a magazine.

Ok, I’ll stop here, you’ve got the idea. The above pictures and video are only a few examples where QR Codes were used as links to web pages, but bear in mind that it can be used for many things other than for storing URLs, like nutritional info of a sandwich.

I’m excited to see more uses of QR Code in Australia. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll see one on a coffee cup at a cafe in Melbourne.

Japan Travel Preparation Checklist

I just returned from my trip to Japan last week and there were some friends and relatives emailing me various questions about visiting Japan. Rather than answering via email, I think it’s better to share the information here so everyone can benefit. Thanks heaps to my friend Fairy who helped me with some of these info when I was preparing for my own trip.

I traveled to Japan from Melbourne with my brother. We visited Tokyo, Kamakura, Yokohama, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Okayama within 2 weeks. We chose Tokyo and Osaka as our ‘homebases’, i.e. we booked accommodations at those two cities and traveled to the other places by train. We canceled our plans to visit Nikko and Nagoya because the travel time was too long for a day trip.

What do you need to prepare?

1. Flight Ticket
   We bought cheap(er) tickets from Jetstar, the budget airline subsidiary of Qantas. Their planes were rather small, so if you’re tall, you will have neither much leg room nor comfortable head rest. I highly recommend lots of stretching during the 10-hour+ flight and bringing a neck pillow (trust me, you won’t regret it).
   If you’re traveling from Melbourne, a ticket to Tokyo Narita Airport is cheaper than to Osaka Kansai Airport. Though bear in mind that Narita Airport is about an hour away from Tokyo via Keisei Line.
2. Accommodation
   You will need to provide proof of your flight ticket purchase when you book your hotel. We booked ours from International Tourism Center of Japan (ITCJ), I think it’s safer to have a third party record of your bookings. My requirements for the accommodations were (1) not expensive but not shabby, (2) private toilet, and (3) laundry facility. We stayed at Grand House Chang Tee Hotel at Ikebukuro, about 20 minutes away from downtown Tokyo via Yamanote Line, and at Hotel Kinki (Kinki is another name for Kansai, a region in Japan), very near to the heart of Osaka. You can also book for a Ryokan via ITCJ web site if you want to experience staying at a traditional Japanese Inn.
3. Japan Rail Pass
   You will need to provide proof of your flight ticket purchase and accommodation booking when you purchase the Exchange Order for the Pass. Japan Rail Pass is your ticket to use train and bus services operated by the Japan Railways Group which cover 99.9% of your traveling needs as a tourist in Japan. Please note that you can only purchase the Exchange Order from outside of Japan only. The Exchange Order would then be exchanged for the Pass upon arrival at the airport. We purchased ours from H.I.S. Travel (Melbourne office location). Another thing you need to know is that public transport in Japan is expensive and you actually save money by using the Japan Rail Pass.
4. Visa
   Check if you need a visa to enter Japan. Australia is one of the countries which have visa exemption arrangements with Japan, so Australian passport holders don’t need a visa, yay :). My brother had to apply for visa at the Consulate-General of Japan in Melbourne. He got it within a couple of days after submitting the application, about a month prior to the trip.
5. Universal Adapter
   Japan uses 100V electricity voltage while Australia uses 240V, and they also use different socket to Australia (check out world electricity standards). Most of modern gadgets handle 100-240V. I brought my mobile phone, camera, Nintendo DS, and electric shaver chargers during the trip and I could use them in Japan without any problem. And for the socket, I purchased a universal travel adapter online, they’re cheap and useful for your future travels. Don’t bother buying the adapters from Dick Smith (Korjo brand), they’re too expensive, only work for a specific country, and the adapter for Japan doesn’t have the ground for Australian plug.
6. Japanese Yen
   We arrived at Narita Airport after 9pm and all money changers were already closed, and obviously all the banks were also closed once we reached Ikebukuro at 11pm. I managed to get some Japanese Yen in Melbourne before the trip, and brought some Australian Dollars with me which I then exchanged in Tokyo. Surprisingly the exchange rate was better in Australia at that time, I still have no idea why. I also compared the Melbourne CBD’s money changers’ exchange rates, my conclusion: the one at Bourke St (right behind the tram stop) was a rip-off, while the one on Swanston St near Collins St offered the best rate.
   Tip: the Japanese pronounce Yen as ‘en’.
7. Medicine
   Some pharmacies in Japan (don’t get confused over there, when you see a sign that says ‘drug’, that’s the pharmacy) do have English speaking staffs. But I don’t want to get anything lost in translation when it comes to health so I brought some Panadols and Travelans with me.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Q: Do I need to know Japanese language?
  A: Not really. I reckon anyone could easily travel around Japan knowing just…
  1. Gomen nasai, nihongo wa dekimasen.
     I’m sorry, I can’t speak Japanese.
  2. Sumimasen.
     Excuse me.
  3. Arigato gozaimasu.
     Thank you.

  You can easily find tourists information center or JR offices at the train stations in Tokyo and Osaka where most of the staffs do speak English. While at the restaurants, sign language worked wonder for us, just point to the picture, indicate how many servings, and pay.

• Q: Do I need to bring a Japanese dictionary?
  A: No. Leave it at home.
• Q: How much does food cost?
  A: It depends where you eat. An average meal costs between 500 Yen (at train stations) to 1000 Yen (at the malls). Snacks cost 100-400 Yen.
• Q: Do I need to bring guide books like Lonely Planet Japan?
  A: I brought mine. Even though I found some information about Japan in the book to be quite interesting, I reckoned it’s too thick and heavy, and the maps (the main reason why I purchased the book in the first place) weren’t accurate. I ended up asking for English maps at the tourist information center at each city we visited.

Hope that helps, and if you have any further question, please leave a comment.

Lovin' The Groovy

I’m a huge fan of The Java Posse, a podcast about Java related news and technologies. The show co-hosts, Tor Norbye, Carl Quinn, Dick Wall, and Joe Nuxoll, really have a great chemistry between them, probably the best compared to other tech podcasts I’ve ever listened to.

There’s a joke in episode #227 on how Dick ‘hates’ Groovy (of course he doesn’t) which led him to repeat the phrase “I love The Groovy, Man” several times during that episode. So, to help Dick Wall convince the world that he, in fact, loves Groovy… I fired up Photoshop and quickly whipped up this show poster idea.

Sent to the posse a month ago, they liked it (thanks a lot guys :) ) and gave me the permission to post it on my blog.

Now, there are still Tor, Joe, and Carl…

Update (16/03/2009): the above picture was mentioned on Java Posse #232 – Newscast for February 25th 2009, listen to Dick reiterating his love for The Groovy at 15:25.

Kimurakan Cafe

Kimurakan serves the best bento in Melbourne, hands down.

You Know You Grew Up Eating Indonesian Food When…

your guests ask why you have various types of sambal (chilli sauce) in your home.

Left to right: sambal terasi, sambal Lampung, sambal Dua Belibis, sambal ABC, dodgy chilli oil, Chiu Chow chilli oil.

When I first moved to Australia, I didn’t realise that Indonesians’ affinity with chilli is unusual. It wasn’t until a Singaporean friend said to me “Wow, you Indos sure put chilli in everything,” before I poured a large amount of sambal Lampung on my slices of pizza.

Citysearch.com.au On Nintendo DS

This is my first attempt at using Opera on my Nintendo DS, recorded using Panasonic Lumix. The video was edited using Kino with sound effects from The Freesound Project. For the record, I did my best Indonesian accent, notice the ‘rrr’, the ’sss’, and the ‘d’ replacing the ‘th’.

I had a go at browsing Citysearch.com.au to see how it looks like on a handheld device. I think the site is still quite usable, the default CSS works fine. Business Finder HTML chunk need to be moved further down so verticals content is served first. Spoiler: starting from 5:00, I was trying to figure out how to click a link using the stylus and it took too long after 2.5 minutes, so I stopped the video. If you got bored, fast forward to the end where I gave myself an applause. Spoiler 2: at around 2:40, my brother made a voice cameo appearance by asking for the bus timetable.