The Economist had a fascinating post on how the Dunbar number appies to social networks. For those who may not know, the Dunbar number is a “theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships ” – 148 (see Wikipedia). The conclusion:
Put differently, people who are members of online social networks are not so much “networking” as they are “broadcasting their lives to an outer tier of acquaintances who aren’t necessarily inside the Dunbar circle,” says Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a polling organisation. Humans may be advertising themselves more efficiently. But they still have the same small circles of intimacy as ever.
I find that fascinating. I always thought, and assumed others did too, that the main reason to join LinkedIn or Facebook was to increase your network and reconnect with old friends. However, the data shows that most folks join to keep in touch with a smaller group of friends, and maybe read up on what others are doing, but not really interact with them. So essentially, Facebook has become a replacement for email, with of course enhanced features like photos and profiles. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but does this mean that in the year 2012, we’ll be communicating mostly via Facebook? Do people already do that and I’m missing the boat (I despise the fact that I can’t reply directly to a message when I get a new Facebook inbox notification, unlike LinkedIn where it is possible. I hate logging directly into Facebook just to tell my friend thanks for wishing me a happy birthday)?
Maybe Google needs to build a Gmail app on the Facebook platform to avoid irrelevance (not happening anytime soon), or perhaps integrate Gmail with Orkut. Now that would be interesting…
So I think I need to start regularly blogging here again (actually, more like for the first time). It’s been awhile, but changing jobs (especially given the current market) and a new nephew, among other things, have kept me extremely busy. I’m hoping I can churn out about 3-4 posts a week, but let’s see where it goes. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to email me at me [at] rogupta [dot] com. The posts on this site may cover a wide range of topics, but probably focus on technology, and maybe occasionally sports. And in case it needs to be stated, the opinions on this blog represent my opinions only, and not that of my friends, family, or my employer. Thanks and I look forward to the conversation.
Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer comes up with the idea to put oil in a rubber bouncy ball: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oil-paper-0530.html
It’s been done in baseball, and now it’s coming to basketball. Interesting link if you’re into basketball, especially if you (like me) are a Celtics fan. Saw this awhile ago, but even more interesting if you noticed how Rondo and Powe had huge roles in the Finals:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/magazine/04wwln-freakonomics-t.html
As you’ve probably heard, CERN is about to fire up their Large Hadron Collider (find out more here, and pictures here). There’s an interesting debate, however, about how ethical it is. Interesting NY Times article on the subject. People have often been scared of scientific progress (Edward Teller once theorized during the Trinity test that the atomic bomb would set off a chain reaction of fire in the atmosphere. Ironically, he is considered the father of the hydrogen bomb), and sometimes it’s well founded. Scientists have been calculating what the outcome of any experiment would be. The question is, what if they’re not sure? What if there’s even a small percentage that something will happen? Is it justified? What’s the purpose of the study? In this case, the Standard Model of particle physics. Makes for an interesting debate. Count me as one who thinks it’s justified. These scientists are a lot smarter than I am, and probably have a heck of a better idea of what’s going to happen than I do, so who am I to judge. And if I’m wrong, no one will be left to say “I told you so”. The fight is going to the courts - let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out as bad as Bush v. Gore. Anyways, a funny comic to displace some of the anxiety I may cause…
Thanks for visiting- I’ve spent the past couple days working on changing my hosting company, installing and customizing WordPress, linking to my Netvibes activity, etc. but I’m finally ready to post. As time goes on, the blog will take on more definition, but for now, I see this as a place to reference interesting articles, discuss random topics (anywhere from politics to sports), and who knows what else. Feedback is encouraged! Thanks for now…