Discovering Zen of Presentations

I've always been an avid fan of simplifying information through visual showcases. In an age when information floods our mind gates daily, it's not surprising to see data mining jobs becoming the new hot career trend.

When interpreting information heavy data, a little skill in visualizing key points may go a long way. So look no futher, seek some enlightenment in this subject from Garr Reynolds, whom I consider to be the Zen Guru of Presentations.

Heaven on Earth?

Take a guess where this photo was taken?



a) Maldives
b) Indonesia
c) Thailand
d) Hawaii

Virtual Earth

I get an inexplicable feeling of excitement whenever I glimpse historical travel maps of mankind's greatest explorers, such as from Marcopolo's 13th century travels.

Silk Road Map of Marcopolo's legendary explorer days

Marcopolo was among the first Europeans to reach the far east lands of what is today's China. No one believed his swashbuckling tales from the eastern world upon his first return home. Yet when he exposed the first eastern cultural artifacts to the west, he defined the course of international trade history, hence the term Silk Road.

Makes you think, what if Marcopolo had Virtual Earth + GPS right in his fingertips back then?

Fast forward 800 years, it's pretty amazing to think that today's technology has mapped every surface of our planet. With Windows Live Virtual Earth service the image quality is just stunningly detailed.

Venice Blvd, in a place called America? Tell that to middle age Italians!

What's even more amazing, Windows Live Virtual Earth service comes with an enhanced 3D view combined with Microsoft Photosynth technology, which creates seamless virtual 3D landscapes from a library of high-res images, on-the-fly.

It's time to check out your own neighborhood from
Windows Live Virtual Earth!

Web 2.0 Social Networking Evolution

Many of us don't realize this, but the internet has evolved immensely since its birth in 1973 through the DARPA project. The current evolutionary phase has been termed as the Web 2.0 era. So what is Web 2.0 exactly?

Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate contents that are published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture.

Keeping it simple, Web 2.0 technology brings social interaction to the next level among internet users in the online world.

If you're registered at one of the popular a social networking services such as Facebook, Friendster or Myspace, then you're already benefiting from this technological evolution. It's pretty common these days to meet your long lost buddies on these social networking sites. I myself have discovered a childhood friend living in Austria that I've lost contact with since 15 years ago. Out of curiosity, I searched Facebook's database of Austrian school networks, typed in the public school and the year i used to attend, and 10 minutes later...Guten Tag my long lost Austrian friends. Danke Schoen Facebook! Now, imagine if we had to live in the 15th century...

Facebook founder, 22 year old Mark Zuckerberg. The 21st century Mr. Gates?

Here's an interesting but obvious fact: each geographical region has its own popular Web 2.0 social networking service.

In Japan, they have Mixi. For german speaking countries in EU, almost everyone who's web savvy is registered with StudiVZ. In South East Asian countries, Friendster dominates as the #1 most visited site in the Phillipines and it's also ranked #2 in Indonesia. For the US, it's of course Facebook which Microsoft has recently invested $230 million in, making the 22 year old founder the upcoming billionaire of Web 2.0 universe.

So what other Web 2.0 stuff are must-haves other than social networking services?

Check out this awesome COMPLETE WEB 2.0 WEB DIRECTORY

If you're are into internet marketing then this

Web 2.0 Resource Bible is a must read.

and not to forget - thanks Mark for being such a genius!

Go FACEBOOK!

Diving with the Gods

I've always wanted to take up diving so that I can explore the mystical underworld of our vast oceans, starting from the famous Great Barrier Reef in Aussie, to the little known Raja Ampat Islands in Papua, Indonesia which has just been discovered to be the most diverse coral-reef ecosystem on planet earth.

71% of our planet's surface is actually covered by water, so just imagine how much of it is still left unexplored. At Raja Ampat scientists have recently discovered a new species of walking sharks! And if you've read Jules Verne's classic, 20,000 leagues under the sea, today its legendary sea-monster has come true since Japanese scientists have caught a 24 foot giant squid on camera at last.

Giant Squids probably make nice truck-tire sized calamari rings. Yum!

Well, enough scaring you with sea-monsters. Now here's a great video I'd like to share showing off some of the most exotic locations to dive in Indonesia. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays

Wishing Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Click on this funny little flash animation that will put a smile on your face. It's creatively based on a Drifters' song from the 50's, White Christmas.

Makes you wanna dive into the snow, if you happen to live in the tropics. Ho ho ho...

And since it's almost the year of 2008, let's take a look at 2007 in review...
(warning: might take a while to load, but immensely hilarious)

In 2007 | Funny Jokes at JibJab

TED: Ideas worth spreading

Everyday I have a need to satisfy my insatiable thirst for new knowledge. I cannot imagine how my days would be like without great resources such as Wikipedia and How Stuff Works . I still remember the days when my father used to own racks of Britannica Encyclopedias, which were really cool to have but they were collecting dust most of the time.

If you happen to always look for new ideas to learn from the brightest of minds, then watching TED must be in your daily to-do-list. TED is an annual conference that brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives. Speakers range from Amazon.com Founder, Jeff Bezos, to Nobelaurates such as Al Gore. Be thankful to broadband internet, since instead of paying 3000 USD/seat for TED admissions, you can now enjoy video recordings of TED talks for FREE.

Below are some of the best TED talks:

Tony Robbins (Motivational Speaker)
Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better

Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com Co-Founder & CEO)
After the gold rush, there's innovation ahead


Seth Godin (Marketing Guru)
Sliced bread and other marketing delights

Personally, TED has greatly inspired my daily way of thinking personally and professionally.
I'm sure that you will be surprised, awed and touched by TED talks in some way. Look up your topic of interest at TED, watch and get inspired, then spread the ideas!

Thanks TED for being my source of inspiration.

Related:
TED Website