When I started playing Mafia Wars on facebook, the game was very much centered around input in the top area of the screen. Over time, Zynga have added their own bars and gadgets at the top of the screen, pushing the game content down. In more recent additions to Mafia Wars, you often find yourself spending large amounts of time scrolling down a long way, so much so that the top part of the page is never seen.
And this means that the ads that facebook throws at you are also not seen. Whilst this is a good thing for me (I'm not bothered by ads whilst I play), it also means that those paying for those ads are also not getting what they think they're getting. Why? Although I might be present on a given page for many minutes, as the ads are never seen even though they may be present for many minutes,. Thus a page impression from Mafia Wars results in me seeing the ad for a vastly shorter period of time than I would if it were facebook itself.
With other games such as FarmVille, the action is very much centered on the main playing screen, such that you don't have to scroll away from the ads.
If facebook and Zynga are in bed together to keep customers around, then it would seem that it's the third party in this menage a trois - the advertisers - that are getting screwed by both of their bed mates when it comes to Mafia Wars.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
In search of hidden waterfalls
With this year being a very wet year in California, it seemed like a good idea to go in search of waterfalls. Not just the well known ones such as Yosemite, but others. This is something of a mixed blessing as quite often waterfalls look better in photographs when there is not as much water flowing.
This quest led me to a website called Waterfalls of the West. Note: only very easy/popular water falls have their full information available. Others require you to register. Registering requires submitting your email, after which you get a short period (24 hours?) of "free access" to information about the waterfall. This includes its height (estimated), GPS co-ordinations, etc.
A few weekends ago, I tried it out. For the waterfalls that are easily reached by a recognised and dedicated trail, the website provides good information. For others, the directions are somewhat lacking. The problem with the directions is that the person providing them is a GPS navigator and does not understand what is necessary to describe for others hiking using the directions rather than following GPS co-ordinates. For example, in one description it recommends that you "park at the turnout and walk down the road." However road is a misleading word - unused, overgrown track is more appropriate. Thus my first attempt to find that waterfall failed as I was looking for something resembling a road. After this, I made another go and discovered that there is something there that may have once been a track - not a road.0 Even USGS maps prior to the expedition being described it is clear that what's being described was never a road. When confronted with details like this, the website author complained that I was being "too picky". I'm flabberghasted. Details are extremely important when you're describing where and how to get somewhere but maybe this is a result of dealing with the Internet generation that use a GPS instead of a map.
Perhaps the most galling part of my interactions with the web site owner was that he still expressed hope that I'd pay him money. For what? Writing inaccurate directions that lead to people going astray with a caveat "you may want to use a GPS."?
Nevertheless, I found the waterfalls that I wanted - such as Mossbrae - and others that I didn't want - Little Roaring Creek. The latter is a story in itself.
This quest led me to a website called Waterfalls of the West. Note: only very easy/popular water falls have their full information available. Others require you to register. Registering requires submitting your email, after which you get a short period (24 hours?) of "free access" to information about the waterfall. This includes its height (estimated), GPS co-ordinations, etc.
A few weekends ago, I tried it out. For the waterfalls that are easily reached by a recognised and dedicated trail, the website provides good information. For others, the directions are somewhat lacking. The problem with the directions is that the person providing them is a GPS navigator and does not understand what is necessary to describe for others hiking using the directions rather than following GPS co-ordinates. For example, in one description it recommends that you "park at the turnout and walk down the road." However road is a misleading word - unused, overgrown track is more appropriate. Thus my first attempt to find that waterfall failed as I was looking for something resembling a road. After this, I made another go and discovered that there is something there that may have once been a track - not a road.0 Even USGS maps prior to the expedition being described it is clear that what's being described was never a road. When confronted with details like this, the website author complained that I was being "too picky". I'm flabberghasted. Details are extremely important when you're describing where and how to get somewhere but maybe this is a result of dealing with the Internet generation that use a GPS instead of a map.
Perhaps the most galling part of my interactions with the web site owner was that he still expressed hope that I'd pay him money. For what? Writing inaccurate directions that lead to people going astray with a caveat "you may want to use a GPS."?
Nevertheless, I found the waterfalls that I wanted - such as Mossbrae - and others that I didn't want - Little Roaring Creek. The latter is a story in itself.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Online Persona
Every website asks us for the same information: date of birth, zipcode, phone#, etc, so that it can later verify that we are who we say we are by answering a question or two based on this information. The catch is that those who are close to us probably also know all of that information, including what our friends look like. So long as everything is calm, this poses no risk. But what happens if you have a rather acrimonious break up with your partner? Suddenly all those secret questions that offer you privacy do not seem so strong..
Enter the Online Persona.
If we carefully construct our online persona to be fictitious by choosing a different date of birth, where we were born, etc, then we're adding layers of security (although only by obscurity.) Each extra piece of incorrect information acts as another password that only we know. Whilst this means that features like facebook's birthday announcements become meaningless, does it really matter? Those who need to know when your birthday is will know, one way or another. The real catch with this is you need to be able to remember all of the false answers or you may find yourself locked out of your own accounts!
Enter the Online Persona.
If we carefully construct our online persona to be fictitious by choosing a different date of birth, where we were born, etc, then we're adding layers of security (although only by obscurity.) Each extra piece of incorrect information acts as another password that only we know. Whilst this means that features like facebook's birthday announcements become meaningless, does it really matter? Those who need to know when your birthday is will know, one way or another. The real catch with this is you need to be able to remember all of the false answers or you may find yourself locked out of your own accounts!
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