(This is just something that has been annoying me for quite a while, so I’m writing this in hope of increasing awareness.)

If you haven’t realised it yet, Facebook albums you create, belong to you period. No one else is allowed to add photos, which really sucks.

Of course, we have the option of creating that album in a Facebook group or page. That idea is a trifle silly though; imagine having to create a group or page for every event in your life? That’s a hell lotta groups!

The most elegant solution in my opinion, is to allow multiple authors (or owners) to upload to one album. Facebook, as a social website is all about sharing, and collaboration seems to be the next step up. Especially when we collaborate on a shared memory and share it to all our friends. It makes sense to keep all the photos in one album, rather than having ten people each creating their own version of the album.

After all, isn’t the latest tech buzzword deduplication? Multiples of the same = waste.

Example:
I’m basically posting pictures of baby Elly in one album, and V keeps her hands clean most of the time by letting me upload the pictures. I have to tag her to allow her friends to view the pictures, but sometimes she uploads pictures of Elly that my friends don’t see, due to privacy settings.

Simply put: We want all our friends to see the same album, and uploading two idential copies of the same pictures is dumb. I’m not saying my idea of tagging is brilliant, but it’s slightly less stupid.

Of course, when you think about privacy issues it might get complicated and a bit of a mindtwist. For example, if I allow my friend John to view the album, and you being the co-author, do not want him to. Does John get viewing rights, or not?

Nevertheless, these are kinks to be worked out. Moving forward, I believe this is an integral feature that Facebook should be incorporating in due time.

So.

I played my first official game on a new basketball league today. Really cool of Josh to invite me onto the team, and I’m looking forward to the season ahead. It’s great to get some consistent court time, especially with the onset of dreary winter. The chill basically kills any lingering thoughts of even trying to play outdoors – it is just too damn cold, period. Hell, I get cold when I sit at home with slippers and the trusty bathrobe; to even think about basketball outside is just well, unthinkable.

So, new team. Schmohawks.

Joining the team is great in a few ways:
Position change: I’m more of a guard on this team, so I’m playing at the top on defense. It’s a welcome change from playing center, where I was trying to keep an eye on everything at once; defending the arc requires that I shuffle to stop shooters from wide open shots, and from people at the high post from waltzing their way into the paint. Different, but fun. It’s great that Joe and Nick help to bring the ball up, I’m a sort of liability at the moment.

Court location: The previous league was in Doncaster, and this one’s in MSAC. And I like MSAC. Nearer to home, easily accessible by tram and all that.

Game time: It’s on Sunday evening, which makes things a little easier. Monday evenings are not the best time for games; a full day’s work leaves you drained even if it’s a slow day.

Ball sharing: This team actually shares the ball more. Admittedly, the lack of team practice does show up at times, but I do get the ball more often that I did on Shohoku. Dinesh reminds me of my 1.2 shots per game thing on Shohoku, and I’m taking an average of five to eight attempts per game now. Which is reasonable. I don’t want to hog the ball, but I like my shots when I get them. Which reminds me of the wonderful times when I would touch the ball maybe three times on offense the entire game. Ahh, nostalgic.

Today’s game was just another example of how 4v5 on the full court isn’t a good idea. Danny fouled out in the first half and we gave away too many transition points throughout the game, plus insufficient scoring equals loss. We have an advantage on height with Danny and Josh around, and rebounding should be top priority, especially on defense. If we miss a shot, we should just get back on defense and not try too hard to steal the ball on the open court. That’s probably the Doc Rivers in me talking; I would rather give up two points on a half court shot than an uncontested layup. And the other team is just not that great, especially on transition.

If we get a rebound and the opponent’s not prepared, running the break is fine. Otherwise, we should probably just take it slow and jog it upcourt. Josh has a good three shot when he’s feeling it, but I like him better when he’s finishing near the basket; he’s really acrobatic sometimes. Nick is an excellent distributor who can do a bit of everything, and the way he flies in for the offensive board is just inspirational at times.

I have to admit, I botched quite a few easy shots today, including an open layup. Damn did I feel like Rondo just now – the bad Rondo.

It’s just bad trying to get back into form after two weeks’ of inactivity, my shot was just plain inconsistent. Have to haul my ass down to MSAC on a weekday morning and get some shot practice in!

Not to mention the fact that I played for about three hours before the league game – invigorating, enjoyable but very bad idea. Legs were beginning to cramp in the final game minutes, amazingly managed to hold it off and even score on a drive on a 1 v 4 situation. Stupid decision I know, but we were down thirty points or something, and I figured trying to drive just once couldn’t hurt. I think I have to remind myself to drive more often, can’t just rely on curling and cutting for mid-range jumpers all the time.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some serious drinking to do. Drinking water that is. Gotta avoid dehydration, sweated a ton today.

Coming from a background in implementation, I have always been trained to look at the nuts and bolts of a project. What the scope covers, how it works, what makes it not work and so on.

The problem with a detail-oriented view however, is that we begin to lose track of what is being delivered. We start thinking of the limitations as being built-in, and work with those restrictions in mind. We scrimp, and hold ourselves back, and produce something reasonable.

What we fail to realise, is that the customer never cares about things like that. To the end user, it is a service – period.

For example, television content. Regardless of whether the little bits and pieces travel over the air, cable, or even IP, the content and quality is what matters, not the mode of delivery. I certainly do not care about how my TV is hooked up, so long as I can watch the stuff I want and it works with minimal fuss.

Which brings us to the term user experience, or UX. To me, UX talks about quality of service. Just like how Jobs fought for rounded rectangles to be used instead of rectangles, it is the small things that make the user feel satisfaction. And making the best possible user experience can only come from an eye for detail and a will to render perfection.

Like how I was talking about understanding restrictions earlier, the point here is to work around those restrictions to deliver greatness, and not present something that holds a ton of limitations.

Bottomline: it’s about the user experience, not the technology.

This is something that I have to keep in mind, as I grow in my perspective and understanding on service delivery. Hearing it from the lips of others and totally understanding it myself, makes a world of difference.

It felt like forever, but the NBA playoffs are finally here! After a horrible start, the Boston Celtics got into shape and the last season game versus Milwaukee is seriously showing a lot of positives.

Alright, so Ray is still injured with no news on his date of return, but we have some great promise in the rookie E’Twaun Moore, playing well despite limited minutes and more especially Avery Bradley, who has exploded this year with lockdown defense, consistent shooting and lightning cuts to the basket. Not forgetting Mickael Pietrus, who has returned from injury to provide an agile wing and more great shooting to the bench.

So long as Rondo keeps up his amazing court vision and drives to the basket, I don’t mind him not taking jumpers ever. As always, plenty of other guys who can shoot! That incidentally includes the big guys Brandon Bass (BA$$ = MONEY!), Stiesma and KG, probably the best mid-range shooting big man in the league.

And I’m really quite happy with the recent pickups – Hollins and Williams are big and agile, not All-Star but good enough to run, rebound and finish at the basket. Hollins may have a persistent reputation as a awful rebounder, but I’m hoping he wakes up and boards hard; he did really well in the Milwaukee game.

Great to see Sasha and Quisy get some minutes and just play to get some rhythm going. I’ve always thought of Sasha as being a good player, and Quisy just wasn’t the same after that fall last year. Nevertheless, some improvements seen in the recent games which has been awesome. Despite the obvious fact that playoff games usually have a much shortened rotation (eight to nine men), I’m hoping they get to contribute in a few games and make their mark.

Add Pierce’s all-around game as a point forward, scoring and passing when needed, and KG’s top-notch defense and shooting? And we have got a real shot at the finals people. Not a great chance, but a chance nonetheless.

Excepting the ’08 championship year, this is honestly the first in a long time when I’m really pleased with our lineup; great starters with a decent bench. The thing about previous seasons was the inability to maintain a consistent bench. Once again, I am really pleased that Danny’s decisions have worked out well this season.

And of course, on to a brief opinion about the first round against the Hawks.

Bonus:
Zaza’s out, Horford’s out which helps a lot on thinning their interior defense.

Ball handling:
It remains to be seen how the Celtics perform when Rondo is off the floor. Bradley remains quite raw on this aspect, and constant ball pressure from the Hawks might result in turnovers. This is where Pierce always does a great job, taking over ball handling and distribution duties.

Defense:
Also, another key is on how they contain Josh Smith/Joe Johnson. Nothing can be done if they shoot the lights out the way the Knicks did recently, but the paint has to be protected. I’m also reasonably confident that Bradley can shut Teague down and limit his penetration; Hinrich should not be a big threat, as is Radmanovich. Rebounding is also a key on defense, second chance points need to be limited!

Offense:
Stick to the good old plan, pick and pops with Bass and KG, Bradley, Rondo and Pierce cutting in with the open spacing and we should see good things happening. Off ball movement is critical for the bench, but we have a pretty mobile lineup with Pietrus/Stiesma/Moore/Quisy, so I don’t foresee stagnated ball movement. The one pity is we don’t have a good backup point guard, so Sean Williams and Ryan Hollins will likely be unable to finish easy shots at the paint without Rondo’s wizardry. And so long as our offense keeps moving the way it’s been going for the recent games, we should be good for a win with 4-2, or even 4-1.

What else is left, you ask? GO CELTICS!

Watched this video today, quite impressed with the quotes presented.

‎”We have to find ways of maintaining the belief that when you take care of other people, you will be taken care of. If you trust this, you don’t spend as much time protecting yourself.

It’s become a dangerous way of living, but it’s a beautiful way of living.”
- coumbe toure, cultural worker and educator

Of course, this was just another chunk of inspiration among the many other nuggets I have read, in the years of my refusal to become yet another total cynic on this earth. Charles Eisenstein’s The Ascent of Humanity is another excellent read, one that I always recommend without reservation.

So, a few things I would like to highlight.

Trust
Despite the constant rejection and withdrawal by other people, I still (perhaps naively) hang on to the belief that everyone should always be judged with kindness and trust, and I should try my best to help them until they repeatedly prove themselves to be undeserving. Trust is perhaps, one of the finest gifts you can ever endow upon someone. Which is why some people go by the good old rule: “Trust is not lightly earned.”

Protecting yourself from harm is important, and being bitten makes one shy. Cynicism is a necessary evil at times. But learning to trust others is something that should always be attempted; no man is an island, and how are we to live on without interacting with others?

Giving
Helping someone, is always a good thing to do. And what better way to do it than to do it with a clear heart, without expectation of being repaid in kind? The act of giving from the heart is, in a word priceless. Being forced to give with reluctance, only strengthens that hidden desire to be repaid.

Learn to give, and give only when you believe in the act.

Paying it forward
Should you feel that need to repay the favour you received, what better way than to give it to someone else in need? A circle of kindness will only encourage the movement to grow, to benefit countless others (as opposed to a trade, where only two people gain from the exchange), and to ultimately make society a more generous one.

I was reminded of this at dinnertime today, when baby Elly started fussing for milk and the pizzeria we dined at did not have any hot water available.

I then walked over to the Indian restaurant next door and explained my situation; the lady at the counter smiled, agreed and filled my glass. It would be typical to view the situation with suspicion, and think that I would have had to buy something at the restaurant to get hot water. But I simply trusted in the goodness of people, and that a small favour like this should be given without expecting anything in return, so long as I explained myself and asked with respect.

After dinner, we were walking home and the busker at Bourke Street was beatboxing really well, thumping his heart out in the evening chill with a fellow drummer musician in tow. The least I could do, was to show my appreciation for his passion with a bit of coin. The two dudes nodded in my direction and said their thank-yous with smiles, drumming and beatboxing away with barely a pause.

Paying the good karma forward, and making their night a little bit better, the way the lady at the restaurant made my evening easier.