I've got several areas of conflicting interest, and there's no way I can blog about all of those on this one Live Space, as it would dilute its purpose. The main topics I am planning on blogging about are my boring life in the urban sprawl, Microsoft stuff and affiliate marketing. While I'd like to start a separate affiliate marketing blog, I'm no pro blogger, and setting up a successful one is a rather large challenge. Nevertheless, I will probably creating a spinoff blog about affiliate marketing, and leave this as a personal blog.

Recently I had also the pleasure of talking to someone who formerly worked at Microsoft. Apparently it is some awkward combination between a pampered vacation and a factory the night before a shipment. The corporate culture is quite laid back. Aside from the lack of a dress code, this person's department apparently had "beer Fridays." I don't quite know what to make of this, but it sounds entirely possible when considering the luxuries provided to Google workers. The workers are probably deserving of such pampering, especially after successfully answering Microsoft's outrageous interview questions, such as -

"Why is a manhole cover round," "How are M&Ms made," and (the best one) "You have been assigned to design Bill Gates bathroom. Naturally, cost is not a consideration. You may not speak to Bill."

It's quite surprising that Microsoft was also the first to implement such interview questions. Although I can't really say these questions effectively separate out the best, they are definitely thought provoking. The manhole cover question was relatively easy, but not so much the question about M&Ms. While those being interviewed might be stumped, Live Search answered the question for me quite well .

So many upcoming events. Olympics 2008, fun college apps, summer physics assignment, Siemens competition, a couple of fun DIY projects and more. My head is spinning. So much to do so little time. Updated the the header on my Live Space. The tagline seems quite catchy if I do say so myself. I'm going to blather on about my day a tiny bit, now that I've added that "Me" part to the tagline.

Not much tonight though. Ate some Cici's Pizza for the first time after a one plus year hiatus. The pizza was smaller, the salads were pre mixed, and it all tasted terrible. I'll blame it on the soaring prices of everything in general.

I've just found a bunch of cool new Spaces through Google, ironically, since Live Spaces' search could use some work to put it nicely. A simple search of "Live Spaces [any search term here] site:spaces.live.com." will bring up the top Spaces. The results were mostly on the spot, and most of them are frequently updated and filled with great content, most of which appears to be from people in the tech industry.

I've also released the first version of the Live Spaces advertising blocks code. You can download it from my SkyDrive here. I probably won't continue development as there's really no demand for such a code.

What happened to the old fashioned way of creating a larger user base through actual improvement of the service or software? That's how Microsoft did it in the past with Office, and it has dominated the market through being the best product.

But now it seems the prevailing tactic of increasing users is by throwing money (in the form of prizes) at the problem. Microsoft Live Club entices users to use Live Search through prizes, Live Search Cashback gives cash back for purchases, and Windows Live for Mobile is running a summer giveaway for sending emails with the service. While I'm not complaining about the opportunity to win free swag like Zunes and such, this seems like a highly ineffective tactic. After playing games at Live Club, my impression of Live Search was not any better than before playing the games, because its service just was not as good. After all, when has Google ever run a "summer contest" for using Gmail mobile? Ultimately, I still end up using Live.com only for its definition search, because it is actually better than Google's.

While the prizes are just a drop in the bucket, wouldn't all that effort be better spent improving the service itself? Google seems to be able to constantly churn out fantastic updates to its services like Gmail and Docs, while the Live services such as Spaces, Favorites, and SkyDrive just seem to sit neglected with no apparent updates. I would much rather use Live Search if the effort spent redesigning the Club homepage was spent adding even the simplest new feature to Live Search itself.

But then again, I might be wrong and all this might actually be working quite well.

Why buy overpriced Apple products when there are always tons of superior alternatives? Buy This, Not That was inspired by the book Eat This, Not That and Michael's fantastic tech products wishlist. So here are some alternatives to those overhyped Apple products!

Instead of an iPod Shuffle - Just about every music player is better than this one. There is absolutely no reason to buy a Shuffle unless you just feel like burning money. It has no screen, negligible memory at a premium, this device is nothing more than an expensive flash drive. The only notable feature is a headphone jack that doubles as a dock connector.
Get the Sansa Clip, which matches the Shuffle feature for feature and then some. It is just as small as the Shuffle, comes with more memory at a lower price, actually has a screen, and a radio. And yes, it has a clip too, so you've just lost your only excuse for buying a Shuffle. Plus, who can turn down that stylish blue on black color?
Buy a Sansa Clip!

Instead of an iPod Nano - Sure it may seem like a good buy, but as usual it is outmatched by underhyped competitors.
Get the Samsung Y Line - as usual, these have the same stats as the iPod and more features all at a lower price. All this comes in a sleeker package and a sweet screen with the same resolution as the Nano's.
Buy a YP-T10JAB

Instead of an iPod Touch - $100 premium just for a touchscreen? Yeah, right. Check out the alternative below.
Get a Samsung YP-P2JAB - The price looks good, the design looks good, there's no reason you should be getting the Touch. The only bad feature on this player is that crazy alphanumeric moniker.
Buy a YP-P2JAB P2

Instead of an iPod 80GB - It's better than last generation's, but the Microsoft Zune has caught up! Every one of the iPod Classic 80GB's features are matched or topped by the Zune's!
Get a Zune 80GB, which has a bigger screen, radio, WIFI sharing features, better and a superior user interface! Plus you can receive free custom etchings on the back to customize it!
Buy a Zune 80GB!

Instead of an iMac - which you'll be shelling out big bucks for, why not get more bang for your buck? Just try customizing the iMac with the same specs as the Touchsmart.
Get an HP Touchsmart 2 - The newly release Touchsmart is thinner, faster, and just plain better than the first generation. And of course there's always those awesome multi-touch features. It's the iMac for the Windows user, and your wallet will thank you.
Buy an HP Touchsmart 2

Any alternatives to these alternatives? Post a comment!

I was going to post something more useful, but I didn't finish the post, and I haven't posted in a long time, and along with a bunch of other factors, I present you with this wonderfully cynical post on Google's take on Second Life.

By Virtual, I mean pointless and nonexistent.

What is the name of yet another time waster? Lively! Yes, with Google Lively you can create a virtual avatar and create a virtual world to customize to communicate with other virtual characters. How useful! As if I don't have enough trouble doing all of that in real life, I can easily customize my virtual world to my liking, if I can't do it in reality. Fun.

This is probably the first time Google has created something that can be considered a time waster. All of its other services are fantastic and top of the line and are virtually indispensable. Suddenly, it slapped some kiddy game into everybody's faces. As of now, I can't really see any real methods they can profit through this. Maybe they will start selling "virtual" items to the people who use this service? After all, Facebook peddles virtual gifts that "certain" people actual buy with real money, which never ceases to amaze me.

So maybe all this virtual junk does have potential.