lyltme-blog-blog

[lyltme-blog-blog]

What is NFC and does my phone support it?

NFC is a great technology that stands for Near Field Communication and is already available in hundreds of mobile phones. However few people know about it. Even people who have phones with NFC.

Before I go on lets just explain how NFC works. It is pretty cool!

How NFC works

I have to simplify a lot. But there are two main components here, an emitter -your phone- and receiver - called NFC tag. Below you can see some tags.

Ok, so the mobile phone creates a small magnetic field, and when it is placed near the tag, the tag "steals" power from that magnetic field and powers itself so it can send the radio signal it carries. That radio signal is understood by mobile phone.

The signal can instruct the phone to do things like opening a given website, launching an application, showing a picture, showing a text, etc. Quite complex actions can be performed this way. 

This technology is not limited to mobile phones. My credit card is NFC capable, I also have a card to pay when I take the bus that works with NFC. There are many other applications.

But lets go back to mobile phones anyway.

NFC is great but it has some problems

1- It was not invented by Apple

If it was cats, dogs and birds would support NFC and everybody would know what it does. And it would have been called AIMWD (Amazing Invisible Magic We Discovered).

2- It has not reached the masses yet 

In part this is because it is not supported by the iPhone with all its marketing power and development nirvana. Apple devices not supporting NFC might have to do with the fact that NFC is a main actor in the mobile payments war. Most NFC experts think that Apple will support NFC eventually though.

The future looks bright though, by 2017 the estimation is that two out of three mobile phones sold will support NFC. Even right now all major mobile phone manufacturers have models with NFC support.

So does your phone support NFC?

If you have an iPhone the answer is no.

If you have something else the most reliable place to find out if your model supports NFC is here: http://www.nfcworld.com/nfc-phones-list/

The list is frequently updated.

Usually you can see from your phone settings the NFC configuration and enable it if it isn't. Of course you need something to use it with since the phone is only the receiver.

Cheers.

[lyltme-blog-blog]

Jigsaw puzzles and the Lean Startup

I often think of how an entrepreneur would pitch the idea behind a jigsaw puzzle and what would be the chances of getting funded for it today.

If you think about it, the whole idea behind jigsaw puzzles is totally crazy. But the fact is that people buy them.

I can imagine how the jigsaw puzzle idea could be presented to a potential investor. Here's a potential version of that pitch.

Entrepreneur: "We take images and break them into 2000 pieces, put them in a box and then the customers need to put them back together. The re-building process can take weeks or months and some frustration from the customers. We want you to invest in our idea. Later on we'll make them 3D!" Investor: Ok so you want to get some money from your customers by selling them pain. Right.

Sounds crazy right? Ok, I wouldn't probably try to sell the idea that way. But that's actually what happens when you buy a puzzle. I could think of several reasons why someone (like me) pays for puzzles:

Escape boredom

Increase personal satisfaction or realization

Get time together with others

To feel challenged  

Experiment (masochistic) fun

But do puzzles solve a problem? Maybe my interpretation of the word Problem is too strict. I believe puzzles "Fill a Desire" more than solve a problem. Soon I'm on my way to interview customers and start getting some initial feedback about Lylt. The Lean Startup steps put a lot, if not all, of emphasis in the words Problem and Solution. You must solve a problem. To me word Problem is too strong and tragic. And I don't agree that all successful products solve a problem. I would like to substitute the word Problem with the word Desire though I understand Problem might be more straight forward and general in order to simplify things. In any case to validate a product we should focus on following the Lean process and getting to one of the first required conclusions: how many of the potential customers would pay for the product. For some it will solve a problem, for others it can be a nice to have, for others is a useless idea. Numbers should tell, go and get them!

By the way here's some nice material about the Lean Startup process: http://www.custdevframework.com/p/starting.html

[lyltme-blog-blog]

Heads up: Your browser can be identified without using cookies also

I've been writing posts for a number of blogs. I think this is the only one I have enjoyed so far because I write what I want. Not just what I think you want to read. I already wrote a "disclaimer" note in the first post.

This one is a bit technical but I'll keep it very simple. It talks about the famous website cookies and web privacy. Lately many websites have been popping up a message telling about their cookie policies. The reason behind is to comply with new cookie regulations. If you are bored or a lawyer you can read this: The UE cookie law. Don't thank me.

Cookies are great but I could show personalized ads when you visit a site without using cookies. Read more if you want to know how.

Cookies are good.

Cookies are good. They help website owners (and developers) a lot, there are many things that would be very tricky to do without them. To give you a very simple example. Imagine there is a form on a page you visit frequently and you are supposed to make a selection in one of the inputs, the website could remember the selection you usually make and have it preselected, saving you the work of doing it. That is very basic but there's complex cases where cookies help both the website owners and the website users improving a site usability.

Cookies are bad.

Wrong! Cookies can be used badly. For example have you ever noticed an ad "following you" while you browse the web? The same shoes following you even though you visited a different site, the same shoes you saw few days ago maybe because you actually looked at them but you DON'T want to look at anymore (please advertisers read it 100 times). Well that is done by using cookies.

Hint: If you find yourself in the situation that an ad is following you, just go to your browser settings and delete the cookies. The ad will stop following you.

You can be followed without cookies also

Cookie regulations are beautiful, and needed, and privacy policies are needed, and beautiful. But I can still identify your browser without using cookies and without storing any cookies on your computer.

When you visit a website your browser tells with a 94% of accuracy that it is you. Because by using javascript very interesting information can be gathered from your browser. This information can include:

The browser user agent (all browsers have one to identify themselves)

The browser language

Screen color depth

Screen resolution

Your time zone

Operating system

... well and more stuff

All that information can be compressed and encoded into a very small number, like 342354346. That number with a 94% of accuracy is only yours.

Next time you visit the same site, it can calculate the number again and send it to the server, if the same number is found in the records it can decide to show you any content just for you my friend. Creating that number out of your browser is called browser fingerprinting.

Why did I write about this?

Well I don't know. Maybe to inform you that the only way you can keep your privacy while browsing the net is by following these steps:

Disable cookies

Disable javascript

Disable your laptop camera

Disconnect your computer from the internet

Do not connect any usb or external drives to you computer

Do not print anything, that can also be tracked to your printer

Switch off your computer and burn it

Do not use any credit cards, your bank account movements are also tracked

Do not walk outside because cameras are recording you

Do not take any planes because they know you are coming

Do not talk on the phone

Do not hide in the mountains, you are easily detectable since your are the only one there

Well joking. Or maybe not. Joking. I often laugh when people complain about Facebook privacy changes because at the same time the just ignore the much serious privacy issues around us.

Well at Lylt.me we don't collect browser fingerprints. There are no ads when reading your Lylt either and Lylt details are not provided to any third parties, your data is not our business, your data is yours.

But remember you and only you are responsible of what you include in your social networks and web profiles. There's a modern days saying that tells: "In free internet products, YOU are the product". Lylt.me is not free.

Cheers.

[lyltme-blog-blog]

How to find a good domain name - Scrabble to the rescue

Selecting a good domain name is not an easy task. There are plenty of articles that provide information, or try to do it, to ease the job of selecting a domain name.

This post is about how the Lylt.me name was selected. It is a mix of technical needs, taste and name availability. Keep reading to find out more.

My main requirements

Lylt.me is about people so the .me ending was also my initial target

I wanted a short domain name because Lylt accessories have the url of the mini websites inbuilt in the NFC tags, the QR code or the unique url, so having a long domain name would have a bad impact on the url lenght.

It should have some positive meaning

It should be used to address a physical object, like in "check my lylt!"

Domain search tools

Of course the easiest way to know if a domain name is free is to visit it. If it looks like an advertisement page then it is free.

There are many sites that help you search for domain names. One I like a lot is namecheck.com because at the same time you can see if the name is available with other extensions, trademark status and availability in different popular social networks.

What it takes

Trying to figure out a good name is not easy. In my case it took several weeks. Not full-time of course but you reserve some time for it and then just try to search for one. That involves using your imagination, taking note of those you like, burning the ones you don't, getting pissed off when you find the one you like but is taken and finally after many trials buying the one you like. It is a compromise at the end of the day.

Use everything you can

Short, it had to be short. It had to mean something. While searching for domain names in the past I have used from translators to check names in different languages, to websites to find synonyms.

And this time I found another useful tool. Scrabble. By accident of course. I ended up looking at every single valid word consisting of 3 and 4 letters. In a page like this scrabblefinder.com/4-letter-words I found a nice word, Lilt. Taken. With a little variation I went for Lylt. Free with the .me extension, yeah! And it means something positive "Love You Long Time", cool.

Job done

So after weeks of searching I had the domain name selected and purchased. A lengthy process that most people don't need to worry about. Specially since you can now get your mini website with your Lylt, and your domain name is actually the name you select. Piece of cake.

So here's your Lylt.

[lyltme-blog-blog]

What is Lylt.me?

Lylt.me is about putting your internet world in your hands and allowing you to share it with people you know and are physically with you.

You can easily create your mini webpages that contain anything remarkable you want to show there, like information about you, links to your favorite sites, links to your social network profiles, your favorite pictures, videos, etc.

Next time you want to show something from "your internet" to another person you can easily ask her to touch your Lylt accessory - with a NFC enabled phone - or just scan the unique QR code that your Lylt accessory includes. Your friend will be able to enjoy it on her own device.

All the content your Lylt contains, your mini website, is created in no time without having to learn to code. You can do it right form your browser and change its contents any time.

Of course this is a very brief introduction to Lylt.me but there's a lot of exciting features that will make Lylt accessories special.

[lyltme-blog-blog]

Wordpress or Tumblr as blogging platform

One of the multiple choices to make is selecting a service for this online diary.

My options from the beginning where clear, just two, Wordpress or Tumblr. I have used both in the past.

A professional blogger will probably have very different requirements. But I just need something very simple and clean to use, so I chose Tumblr.

Besides that I wanted to use my own domain name for free in the url, blog.lylt.me vs lyltme.tumblr.com. The same can be done with Wordpress but you have to pay for it - plus the Wordpress application is very noisy in my opinion, too many options, settings and screens. And theme editing is not that simple.

With tumblr there's plenty of themes you can pick from. I selected Brutal Simplicity theme by Kevin Burg. I only did some very simple changes.

The intention of this post is not to compare the two platforms, but telling about the reasons why I went with one of them. If you want a by feature comparison there's plenty of resources out there, for example this one on ghacks.net

Cheers.

[lyltme-blog-blog]

Welcome to the Lylt.me Blog

Modern blogs originated from online diaries, where ordinary people used to write about their experiences, activities or just about anything "interesting".

This is an online diary in the traditional sense. This is not a modern blog. Modern bloggers don't write anymore what they want to write, they are obsessed with what their readers want to read and write about it.

Unlike the vast majority of blogs that have exactly the same objective, this blog dares to tell that its objective is promoting lylt.me. You might or might not learn something reading the posts.

During the next posts I will write about the history and progress of Lylt.me while trying to make its posts entertaining.