Recently I’ve started a new job where my work is focused around the internal social collaboration² of work, enterprise search and how to identify strong influencers within the organization. This has led me to viewing and examining many personal profiles in our growing intranet.

I noticed that my profile on our internal workspace, written 6 months ago now, sounded a little naive and was not consistent with what I had actually been working on, nor was it in sync with my personal site, Quora, Facebook, etc.

Writing ‘About’ sections of profiles is hard for me. I’m not a man of much hubris and always feel a little silly writing about myself. Not to mention I often try out various new applications and re-create my profile in new ways each time, leading to hundreds of permutations.

That’s when I thought, “What if I were to ask someone else to write a brief description of me?” Then I realized that sounded far too narcissistic. But it did bring up the question, “What could someone find out about me, given only my name, location and access to the Internet?”

Using Mechanical Turk, I created a job (called a Human Intelligence Tasks or HiT) and asked the following:

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I hate filling out the “About Me” sections of social sites (including my own site). I always feel like I sound corny, I’m a terrible writer and I can never remember to keep it consistent across the various places where I’m asked to ‘describe yourself’. So I thought I would mix things up a bit.

How would you describe a person you’ve never met, given only the information publicly accessible on the Internet?

Using Google (or a search engine of your choice) find out about me and write a brief bio.

• My name is Chris Koerner – As far as I know, the only one that lives in St. Louis, MO, USA.
• That’s it, all the information I’m giving you.
• Please use clean language and be polite in what you write.
• Feel free to be funny and creative. The more unique your submission, the more likely I’ll accept it!
• Length isn’t super important, but to keep things fair I’d like a minimum of 300 words or 8-10 sentences.

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I then provided two open text boxes for Turks to submit their description and any feedback they have.

What the Hit looked like.

The results are quite surprising. The range in voice between each description, the information one person found and others did not and even the particular facts of my life that, through this unique lens, somehow come out a little off.

Here’s a link to the Google Doc with the all the results I accepted.³

Some choice quotes:

 ”… A great turn around happened in my life when I blessed with a baby child and the same year I graduated. I learned a lot about computers related to programing, server architecture and web designing in different working places or seminars. I see the new technology development in different perspective by empowering people in digital media with very user friendly tools…”

Well, that’s close.

“… I am 28 years old and have a wife named Clara and a 3 year old son named Spencer…”

That’s all inaccurate. Perhaps there’s some not-so-evil doppelgänger Chris out there?

“… He is a photographer, a movie buff (and reviewer), and a music lover. Most notably, he is an advisor to the world…”

A totally different voice in this one. I like that I’m “an advisor to the world”. I’m putting that on my resume.

“… I am lucky to be in the place I want to be: St. Louis, where I have lived all of my life and am lucky to have a wonderful wife and adorable daughter to keep me healthy and focused on all of the right things in the right time – the moment…”

That’s deep.

“… Did I ever excel on my newspaper route while in high school; having the opportunity to read the newspaper everyday, and converse with some of the regulars on my newspaper route, lead me on my path to journalism law and the legalities. Now I am on the other side. At age 34; even though I still have many questions to ask, I am ready to also answer them…”

What is this I don’t even.

“… If you are looking for Chris and you cannot find him, you can try looking at Vallarta Mexican restaurant in Wildwood or at the zoo with his family…”

I’ve been to that Mexican restaurant once. Out of all the information they could find they picked that?

Once again, you can read the rest, including the full versions I quoted above in this Google Doc.

The Stats – or how I would end up paying lower than minimum wage and feel bad about it.

I set the variables for accepting HiTs using Andy’s project as a template. I didn’t want to spend too much money on something that I wasn’t sure would work, so I limited myself to 10 accepted HiTs at $2.50 apiece. Adding in Amazon’s fee, this came out to a total of $27.50.

I was expecting about 30 minutes of work to pull together enough information for a few sentences. Using Andy’s advice I gave each Turk one hour to complete the task.

I received 13 submissions⁴ through Mechanical Turk, three of which I declined only because the submissions were either a direct copy and paste from my own About page, or gibberish.

In the end it took 4 days to gather submissions. The average time of completion was 24 minutes and 43 seconds with an effective hourly rate of $6.07.

Which, may I remind you, is far below the United States federal minimum wage of $7.25⁵. This was not intentional, nor is it entirely accurate. Turks can be working on multiple HiTs in parallel, thereby raising their individual hourly rate. I think $2.50 was rather high for a HiT, but given my lack of experience in this area I could be mistaken.

Tips for Turk Requesters

Be clear in what you’re asking. In my case I was asking for submissions, but wasn’t clear if I was paying for all legit attempts, or just those that I preferred. I was contacted by a few turks who were polite in asking questions about my acceptance policy.  All made a valid point – that rejections, even if it fit the instructions, still negatively impact Turks ratings.

I accepted 10 out of the 13 submissions. Those that didn’t meet the above description were asked to resubmit if they so chose.⁶

Turk Feedback

I allowed the Turks to provide feedback to me via the submission form. A few chose to do so. Here’s their responses.

“I hope you like my work. You are an interesting person and it was fun to put pieces of someones life together from snippets to form a web bio. Is this a secret web project, Chris? ”

This Turk was on to me! I wonder if they read my Tweet.

“This was an interesting assignment. Its positively disturbing how much info I was able to find.”

Disturbing indeed.

How are you perceived online?

At the university where I previously worked, part of the new student orientation was a brief message about how to handle yourself online. After that, the awareness on how to present yourself online was left up to the individual student.

Working in higher education it was frequently a point of discussion of how young people present themselves online. On occasion you’d hear about students (and often directly from students if you were friendly with them.) not getting a job or loosing face when potential employers or graduate schools would find information that didn’t reflect well on their character with a few simple Google searches.

I’ve always been intentional in what I put online. I put a lot of information out in the public space, but stay out of many topics and discussions that may be sensitive. I keep those for polite offline conversation.

This has been an interesting experiment in seeing how intentional or unintentional public information about one’s self could be used to provide a unique, and in this case slightly erratic, portrait of a person.

Narcissism & Laziness

My goal was not to cheaply create a well-written, accurate and descriptive bio of myself, but rather to better understand the public nature of the information we put out in the Internet. As the results show, even a serious attempt to have someone write about you would cover a large gamut in voice and quality. It should be noted that the Turks fulfilling this HiT were most likely attempting to spend just the right amount of time on a submission to get accepted. More time spent could create a deeper and more accurate profile of an individual.

Conclusion

I doubted this would actually work. It’s not the normal kind of thing you’d see Mechanical Turk being used for and I wasn’t sure that anyone would attempt to fulfill the request. Additionally, while I was certain I hadn’t put anything dangerous or harmful to myself online, I was a little hesitant to see what people would find. My wife thought that I was crazy. While that may be the case, the Turks didn’t say anything!

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¹As Andy notes in the comments of his other Turk related article, the name of the service is a reference to the fake chess-playing automaton from the late 18th century.

²Look at all those buzz words. I should go unsuck myself.

³Here’s a Google Spreadsheet with the full submission results exported from Amazon Turk.

⁴One person didn’t see the rule of having a good record as she was new. She was nice enough to actually email me her completed work

⁵Minimum Wage was $5.15 when I was 16 and got my first job.

⁶One person submitted two words, poorly spelled. Another wrote a bio about himself. Which was close and entertaining, but not what I had specified.

Like most citizens of the Internet, I’m a heavy reader. RSS, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Draw Something (Wait, does that count?) I’m a reader of many personal blogs of people I find to be interesting and who have good things to say about the work they do. The simple act of consuming the thoughts and ideas from people whom I respect and admire acts as a fuel to create and share the things that I have in my own world.

I know I’m no Gruber or Kottke, but that’s OK. I’m not writing for them or anyone else on the Internet. I write for myself and my close friends and family.¹

Seth Godin has this to say about blogging, “what matters is the humility that comes from writing it. What matters is the metacognition of thinking about what you’re going to say.” in such that the mere act of putting words to paper (or screen) is why you should write. It helps you form your thoughts around an idea or concept that empower you when conversing with others around the topic.

Writing for me is also about the enjoyment of life, the understanding of my short trip here on Earth and how lucky I am to be working in a profession that allows for such excitement and intrigue. I write because I love life and work and all the other wonderful experiences of being human.

Even if you don’t love to write, you do love something and there’s no better way to show that you love something than to tell the world about it. So write.

¹OK, maybe a few other people who float by via some random Google search. I like to help people.

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There been this idea floating around that computers should have scalable modes. An “easy” or beginners mode for people new to the environment. As their skills and comforts develop the software would somehow adjust to open new interfaces like advanced menus or shortcuts.

Well, this isn’t coming to fruition. It’s nearly impossible to predict and implement. But you know what is close? Familiarity and simplicity – both things OS X has been trying for years to do and (In my humble opinion) iOS excels at.

As for the worry that Apple devices will become nerfed consumption machines where no one can produce anything of value (the written word, art, programs) is a bit dramatic. Things in life are rarely black and white.

As someone who could be considered a power user, I’m not in the least bit worried. The command line is still there, a plethora of 3rd-party apps that aren’t “dumbed down” still (and will continue to) exist and frankly most of the design decisions have been positive for users of all types. (Unified conventions, consistent app names, gestures, etc.)

iOS-ification sounds scary because certain mindsets see that as a negative thing. What isn’t being discussed or recognized is the judicial use of iOS ideas. If Apple wanted to make OS X just like iOS they could in a second. They chose however, to select the best ideas and are starting to integrate them across their product line. No longer is the iOS devices over here and the OS X devices over there similar in little ways, but in big ways.

In an attempt to make more things and become a better <whatever I’m trying at the moment>, I look to inspiration from other smart people. Mike Monteiro’s words this morning struck me as sound advice. Particularly this passage:

“We have more processing power, affordable tools, and combined intelligence right this very minute than at any point in the history of design. We are using it to build shit. It’s time to aim higher. Let’s find problems to solve that actually improve people’s lives. Whether it’s figuring out a better way to access medical records, figuring out how 14 year olds can stop carrying forty pounds of textbooks back and forth to school every day, or a reservation system for the communal rooftop farm in your building, there has got to be something more beneficial to society than the next Facebook clone.”

While it may be a new year, ripe with new opportunities, it’s still the same job. Keep working, better yourself and better your community.

The really, really short version is that you should go get your credit card and buy at least a year subscription right now.

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Quick survey:

Do you have any important photos on your computer?
Do you have more than a few songs you’ve purchased that you love?
Do you have a few videos of your kids that only exist on your hard drive?
How about those important tax or accounting documents for your small business?

If you answered yes to these questions then you should be backing up your computer(s). Seriously. There is one thing that all hard drives do – fail.

Most common drives in a computer are mechanical – which means there are moving parts within that little box that spin around at speeds greater than 5,400 rotations per minute! These parts are moving all the time when you using your computer. Eventually, this drive will go toes-up and stop working. If your super lucky (winning-the-lottery-lucky) you might be able to get data off the drive when it breaks. Even better, you might be able to go long enough on that drive without it breaking to get a new computer and start the spin of the roulette wheel all over again.

The great news is that on-site backups have been super easy to set up for the last few years. On-site means a backup of the information on the drive inside of your computer to another drive (most likely an external drive that is attached via a USB cable) that stays relatively near the computer. Here in the Koerner house, both my wife and I backup our computers to little Seagate drives that are tucked next our monitors. Software like Time Machine and Windows Backup and Restore are great solutions that you can set up and forget about. They work diligently in the background making copies of your photos, pictures and documents as you work.

Sounds great right? You’re saying, “Well now I have my stuff in two locations, so the odds of both those drives going bad is slim.”

Well, that’s true. Having your data on two drive is a smart idea. Just like putting on your seatbelt when driving. But how many of us have a car that has airbags as well?

That’s what Crashplan+ is. Airbags for your computer…Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Let me explain.

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On-site backups are great if your problem is just a hard drive gone bad, but if your system is stolen or damaged you’re still toast. Now you only have one copy of your data. Natural disasters aren’t very picky when it comes to damage. Most likely, if your house is flooded the same drive you back up to will be damaged. Off-site backups are backups stored somewhere other than where you computer spends it’s time – preferably in a geographically separate location.

Off-site backups complement on-site backups. They give you another layer of security when it comes to the integrity of your data. If something happens to your computer and the local on-site backup (like theft or the aforementioned flood) your data is still safe somewhere else.

So, back to Crashplan+. I had been looking for an off-site solution, but none of them were as easy as on-site backups via Time Machine. Either the software looked funky or the billing was confusing. How many gigabytes and how often were things backed up? Ugh. So then I heard about Crashplan+ from a friend of mine.

I downloaded their 30-day trial and began to back up all of my important files. Their software and billing is easy to understand and after checking the files I wanted to back up it was off. A few days later (for me it was around 20 days – I used the super fast connection at my work to do most of the backup. For home users it might take a bit longer.) I had my most important documents securely stored on redundant servers somewhere miles away. Now every time I import some new photos into iPhoto or some new songs into iTunes, Crashplan+ waits for changes and then without much fanfare begins to back them up for me. If something happens I can order a drive with my data to be delivered to my door, or use their tool to restore my files to a new hard drive.

Some of my favorite features:

• You can tell it what to ignore and what to watch or just let it backup everything. Very customizable if you want to ignore some files (Apps you can download again for example).
• There is no limit to the amount of space you can use for backups. With my recent purchase of a new laptop my local backup drive was too small. With Crashplan+ I’ll never have a ‘too small’ drive that won’t hold my backups.
• Accessing my backups is super easy. I can do so through their app on my computer, or in an emergency from a web browser on any computer. I can download a whole folder or just a few files within minutes. This already saved my bacon when I absent-mindedly deleted my daughter and I’s most important Minecraft world.
• They also recently launched mobile apps for Android and iOS that allow you to view your files ala Dropbox. The advantage over Dropbox is that it’s all of your files – not just a single folder.
• It’s also fairly inexpensive. I subscribed to a 2-year Crashplan+ Unlimited plan for $89.99. That’s less than $4 a month to make sure all my photos, songs and documents are safe.

So give Crashplan+ a try. My experience has been nothing but positive. The service is by a bunch of nice folks working in Minneapolis, MN making software I forget about – and it helps me get sleep at night. How could you not like it?

This article was written while listening to Kina Grannis – Stairwells

First, a prediction. This generation of hand-held consoles will be the last.¹

How can the multi-year spans between console releases compare to the yearly improvements of devices like the iPhone and iPad? Apple claims that the iPad 2 is 9x more powerful than it’s predecessor. In benchmark testing Anandtech confirms - yeah pretty much.

While it’s early in the life of both the iPhone and iPad, it’s hard to imagine that future incarnations would not continue this increase in graphical prowess.²

Year after year the iOS devices continue to improve while companies like Sony and Nintendo are in a cycle of releasing a device and then supporting it for a few years. The DS was released in 2004 and just this month is being replaced by its successor, the 3DS. The PSP has also been around a while with an original release in 2005. Its successor, the Next Generation Portable or NGP, is planned for a late 2011 release.³

According to this article from Business Insider the iPad 2 is “equal to NGP in terms of raw graphical horsepower”. Wait, that can’t be right. Sony’s much heralded next-generation portable that won’t be released until November is only equal to a device that is in consumer’s hands right now?

I’m not trying to over-emphasize graphics, there are many other factors when it comes to an enjoyable gaming experience. You can ding the iPad for lack of physical controls or the DS for not having many mature games. While smart intelligent readers such as yourself realize this, there are tons of consoles bought due to graphical fidelity over gameplay or library selection.

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The genesis of this post came to me while laying in bed this evening. I was playing Real Racing 2 on my iPhone 3GS and was struck by a few things. 1) How well this game looked on a 2-year-old phone. 2) How smoothly it ran – no stuttering and load times were all but nonexistent. 3) How well the controls worked on a device without buttons.⁴

Next to me were a Nintendo DS and a Sony PSP, both loaded with a few top-notch games. Yet, here I was playing a racing game on my cell phone – a game that was about $25 cheaper than similar titles on its console brethren.

So the iPad 2 is as fast as the NGP, which won’t ship for another 9 months and the old cycle of developing a console and waiting a few years to improve is dead. Or dying. Develop, a website about game development noted that next-gen handheld console budgets have tripled. How much are the games going to cost? $50!?

I’ve been able to play the same games over the last 4 generations of iOS devices with out a hitch. In some cases the games are even improved on newer hardware. Meanwhile DS games are fuzzy on the new 3DS and all of my UMD games for the PSP will have to be re-purchased when the NGP is released. :-/

From one perspective, not only are the graphics a huge win, but also the financial and vitality aspects of this new breed of gaming devices.

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¹This is a bit toungue-in-cheek. I loathe predictions of the end of something. As though all previous incarnations will cease to exist in a puff of smoke.
²There was a marked increase between the 3G and 3GS in terms of horsepower waaay back in 08. Not to mention the setup up to the retina display of the iPhone 4.
³Maybe this is why Sony is not only releasing a successor to the PSP, but also the Ericsson Xperia Playstation branded smart phone. They’re no dummies and are hedging their bets that the concept of a game-only device is not the future.
⁴Maybe I suck at racing games in general, but I was surprised to find myself actually winning races this go round! Also, no controller to blame when you drive off the track do to your ineptitude.

Photo by sneeu – Licensed under Creative Commons

It’s about time that I belabor you with my musical likings from the last year.

Top 10 songs¹ added to my iTunes library for 2010.

1. Daylight – Matt & Kim – Grand
2. Intro – The xx – xx
3. Animus Vox – The Glitch Mob – Drink the Sea
4. Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ – Hanson – Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’²
5. Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare – Matt & Kim – Grand
6. Difficult – Uffie – Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans
7. Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
8. Colors – April Smith & The Great Picture Show – Songs For A Sinking Ship
9. I Hope I Become A Ghost – The Deadly Syndrome – The Ortolan³
10. Right As Rain – Adele – 19

Top 10 released in 2010

1. Animus Vox – The Glitch Mob – Drink the Sea
2. Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ – Hanson – Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’
3. Difficult - Uffie - Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans
4. Colors – April Smith & The Great Picture Show – Songs For A Sinking Ship
5. Rill Rill – Sleigh Bells – Treats
6. Horchata – Vampire Weekend – Contra
7. Bombay – El Guincho – Pop Negro⁴
8. The Grid – Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy
9. The Game Has Changed - Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy
10. If You Think You Need Some Lovin – Pomplamoose – 3 New Songs Woot!

Here’s my lists from 2006, 2008 and 2009 if you’re interested. You can see what else I’m currently listening to on Last.fm.

Tim: Did you read the slate article I shared re: Facebook makes you sad?

Chris: I have it in the queue.

Tim: I think that goes in to your blog post, if tangentially.

Tim: Everyone is cool on the Internet.

Chris: Exactly.

Tim: No one is sad or imperfect or boring or lethargic.

Tim: Because it is filtered reality.

I didn’t think about this factor when writing the aforementioned post, but man Tim hits the nail on the head.

I work on the web every day. My job title is “Web Project Coordinator” and while this implies that I’m focused on the web I find myself both professionally and personally doing so much more.

On some days I shoot and edit video, others have me designing a layout for a site or coding some JavaScript. I even manage a few servers and help edit objective-c for an iPhone app! Not to mention my past IT support role has perpetuated my title as ‘computer guy’ around the office and at home.

I freely admit this is a 1st world problem and there are far greater difficulties facing the universe, but on an individual level I find the feeling of not being proficient in one particular area to be a serious mental drain. Why do I feel like a jack of all trades and a master of none?

Some days I feel like a fraud, that everyone I work with (and for) have been duped by smoke and mirrors. That if they ever found out how little I actually know I’d be branded as a fluke, a huckster. Part of me knows this isn’t true. That I’m smart and well received by those I work with, but man because of the Internet I feel like such a moron. Why is this?

It’s because I read. I read a lot.

I pursue Twitter and Google Reader to find out what’s going on all over the world. I read about Adam Lisagor and his awesome video work or Neven Mrgan and his splendid design chops. Boing Boing fills me with oddities to delight the senses and bizarre people I would love to meet.

Guys like Merlin Mann and Jeffery Zeldman make me feel like a sloth with their intelligent and witty writing. Don’t even get me started on Mike Matas‘ photography or Brent Simmons‘ helpful articles on coding. How about Michael Lopp’s awesome guide to being a better geek?

I digress, but you can see how after daily observances of a plethora of cool things one can start comparing themselves and asking, “Why am I not that successful? Why are these people so awesome?”

But I think I’ve figured it out.

I was having a discussion bitching to my wife on the ride home from work. I was withering in fake pain about how I don’t feel like I’m strong in any particular area and how I worry about my future. My wife, as smart as always, pointed out an obvious fact.

I’m comparing myself to 5 different people – of course I’m not going to be as good in each profession as these folks have chosen. I’ve been trying to stretch myself in so many different ways because I’m excited! I want to do everything I read about because it all sounds so interesting.

I realize now that I can’t try to do what 5 separate people have accomplished. I can dabble here, and try something over here, but at the end of the day I need to relax.

My wife reminded me that what is important is that the people I work with enjoy what I can do for them and that I continue to develop as an individual without the pressure to be as good as everyone on the Internet. I often forget that these folks are great at what they do and that what each one of them does is diverse and specific. People rarely blog about their shortcomings – about topics that they’re not proficient in. They talk about their successes, their passions and what cool things they’re doing.

So anytime I’m down in a funk, that I feel like no one would hire me and that I’m some sort of goober, I just need to remember that even thought the Internet can bring so much information to my fingertips that it does nothing to filter – to remind me that I need to take things in one at a time. Admire these things I see and hear, enjoy them, but ultimately be at peace with who I am and where I’m going.