thefutureissimple
Monday, July 31, 2006
Hey Google - Prep the OCR, this SPAM is getting a little out of control
That's right, despite GMail's phenomenal spam filter the spammers have found a new way to circumvent our filters and get in our faces. The tactic is simple, lots of seemingly normal text with some picture attachments.
The fact of the matter however, is that these messages are working within the rules of the spam filter to make it into your inbox, and should you end-up opening the message and 'display the images' you will find yourself staring at some advertisement for viagra, cialias or some other unsolicited message.
Thus, I see one quick (though perhaps not quite so easy) solution - enable OCR capabilities on the images coming into one's mailbox.... the ratio of text to image is significantly higher than most, if not all other, images being received - so simply seeing that there is a considerable amount of text in the images should provide an important first clue.
After this step, should the image not have passed the initial test, then do a full OCR scan to see exactly what words are contained within the images - this should also help a lot.
That being said, I do continue to give kudos to the G-Men (and G-Women) for keeping my spam down to a minimum. ¶ 7/31/2006 07:47:00 AM 0 comments
The fact of the matter however, is that these messages are working within the rules of the spam filter to make it into your inbox, and should you end-up opening the message and 'display the images' you will find yourself staring at some advertisement for viagra, cialias or some other unsolicited message.
Thus, I see one quick (though perhaps not quite so easy) solution - enable OCR capabilities on the images coming into one's mailbox.... the ratio of text to image is significantly higher than most, if not all other, images being received - so simply seeing that there is a considerable amount of text in the images should provide an important first clue.
After this step, should the image not have passed the initial test, then do a full OCR scan to see exactly what words are contained within the images - this should also help a lot.
That being said, I do continue to give kudos to the G-Men (and G-Women) for keeping my spam down to a minimum. ¶ 7/31/2006 07:47:00 AM 0 comments
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Google to the Rescue
Here is something new that Google is pushing... something that I am proud to see them do, "Google Accessible Search"
I think this is an excellent addition to the web, as I know that there are many great sites that usability wise simply don't make the cut. The over use of FLASH, images, Java and other junk can indeed do wonders for the look of a site, but in the end may be alienating many of its users. So I really think it is a great move forward for online accessibility and the complete democratization of internet content. Furthermore, this is one of those projects that is right in line with the mission of Google, to organize the worlds information AND make it accessible to all!
Go Google Go! ¶ 7/22/2006 03:28:00 PM 0 comments
Accessible Search adds a small twist to the familiar Google search: In addition to finding the most relevant results as measured by Google's search algorithms, it further sorts results based on the simplicity of their page layouts. (Simplicity, of course, is subjective in this context.) When users search from the http://labs.google.com/accessible site, they'll receive results that are prioritized based on their usability.
View the entire blog post:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/finding-easy-to-read-web-content_20.html
I think this is an excellent addition to the web, as I know that there are many great sites that usability wise simply don't make the cut. The over use of FLASH, images, Java and other junk can indeed do wonders for the look of a site, but in the end may be alienating many of its users. So I really think it is a great move forward for online accessibility and the complete democratization of internet content. Furthermore, this is one of those projects that is right in line with the mission of Google, to organize the worlds information AND make it accessible to all!
Go Google Go! ¶ 7/22/2006 03:28:00 PM 0 comments
Friday, July 21, 2006
Off Shore Out Sourcing - When a dollar is not a dollar
Having worked outside the US for what now seems forever, I keep hearing that I must be saving a fortune on the cost of labor compared to the US. Logically it makes 100% sense as the cost of labor in the Dominican Republic is considerably less than that in the US. Unfortunately, so is the level of experience, commitment and professionalism.
For the sake of argument, lets say that a US website designer will cost you about US$50/hour while a DR designer with (supposedly) similar experience will cost you US$25/hour. So far it looks like the argument holds up nicely right? Wrong. One must take into account that the level of experience is significantly disparate - ten years of working in a top advertising agency in US is NOT equal to 10 years of work in a top DR agency, so of the bat we have a considerable difference in the quality of the work being done.
Next we need to take into account that the amount of time being spent on the work is a huge factor. One hour of work by a US designer will yield you approximately the same as three hours of work of a DR designer.
So all other things being equal, lets say we require work on a project that should be approximately 4 hours of US style work. With the US designer, you would end up paying about US$200, while for the same results it would probably take the DR designer a good 12 hours, bringing the total to US$300.
But as I've found, all things are not equal, and my experience has shown me that the quality of the US designer will far out shine that of the DR designer, which means that while working with the DR designer, you will also need to undergo various rounds of revisions and refinements.... adding to the already higher cost. Lets be optimistic and say that it takes the DR designer only another 4 hours... now your up at US$400.
Now factor in the competitive nature of the market and the cost of time/money, and your talking about the difference of almost a week for one designer versus the other. This is time that makes a huge difference in terms of 'wowing' the client.
If on the other hand you are on a tight deadline, you only have one option - to sacrifice the quality of the work, which I imagine explains a lot of the over all quality of advertising in third world countries.
Thus, when examining the possibility of outsourcing, there is a lot more than cost per hour to take into account. In many cases, the difference is so dramatic that for the cost of one US hour, you can hire (depending on the country) 3 to 5 people, and still come out ahead - but this hardly seems practical.
I've always been of the mind that the top dollars should go to the top people, not spread around many mediocre or incompetent folks. While much argument could be made on both sides of the argument, I know that I am right.
So, if you are an EXPERIENCED graphic designer or web developer that would like to lower your cost of living and increase your NET income, and move to a sunny and warm Caribbean paradise, please let me know - the life you save could be mine, and the benefits shared!
UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that there are plenty of exceptions to what I have posted above, as well as having been pointed out that generalizations do not hold true as there are many inept people in the US as there are in the DR - or any other third world country. I would thus like to point out that this is not based on anything other than my experience in working in both countries, and that I concede that there are many excellent people in the DR, some of which I have had the pleasure of working with. Unfortunately, finding, attracting and keeping these great people is FAR more difficult than it is in the US - especially when you do not live in one of the TWO main cities.
I will no doubt be further exploring this topic and its various angles as I continue to try to succeed in creating the very best Integrated Marketing and Technology company in the Caribbean.
¶ 7/21/2006 11:37:00 AM 2 comments
For the sake of argument, lets say that a US website designer will cost you about US$50/hour while a DR designer with (supposedly) similar experience will cost you US$25/hour. So far it looks like the argument holds up nicely right? Wrong. One must take into account that the level of experience is significantly disparate - ten years of working in a top advertising agency in US is NOT equal to 10 years of work in a top DR agency, so of the bat we have a considerable difference in the quality of the work being done.
Next we need to take into account that the amount of time being spent on the work is a huge factor. One hour of work by a US designer will yield you approximately the same as three hours of work of a DR designer.
So all other things being equal, lets say we require work on a project that should be approximately 4 hours of US style work. With the US designer, you would end up paying about US$200, while for the same results it would probably take the DR designer a good 12 hours, bringing the total to US$300.
But as I've found, all things are not equal, and my experience has shown me that the quality of the US designer will far out shine that of the DR designer, which means that while working with the DR designer, you will also need to undergo various rounds of revisions and refinements.... adding to the already higher cost. Lets be optimistic and say that it takes the DR designer only another 4 hours... now your up at US$400.
Now factor in the competitive nature of the market and the cost of time/money, and your talking about the difference of almost a week for one designer versus the other. This is time that makes a huge difference in terms of 'wowing' the client.
If on the other hand you are on a tight deadline, you only have one option - to sacrifice the quality of the work, which I imagine explains a lot of the over all quality of advertising in third world countries.
Thus, when examining the possibility of outsourcing, there is a lot more than cost per hour to take into account. In many cases, the difference is so dramatic that for the cost of one US hour, you can hire (depending on the country) 3 to 5 people, and still come out ahead - but this hardly seems practical.
I've always been of the mind that the top dollars should go to the top people, not spread around many mediocre or incompetent folks. While much argument could be made on both sides of the argument, I know that I am right.
So, if you are an EXPERIENCED graphic designer or web developer that would like to lower your cost of living and increase your NET income, and move to a sunny and warm Caribbean paradise, please let me know - the life you save could be mine, and the benefits shared!
UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that there are plenty of exceptions to what I have posted above, as well as having been pointed out that generalizations do not hold true as there are many inept people in the US as there are in the DR - or any other third world country. I would thus like to point out that this is not based on anything other than my experience in working in both countries, and that I concede that there are many excellent people in the DR, some of which I have had the pleasure of working with. Unfortunately, finding, attracting and keeping these great people is FAR more difficult than it is in the US - especially when you do not live in one of the TWO main cities.
I will no doubt be further exploring this topic and its various angles as I continue to try to succeed in creating the very best Integrated Marketing and Technology company in the Caribbean.
¶ 7/21/2006 11:37:00 AM 2 comments
