Dr. CK Lin | Productivity. Innovation. Entrepreneur Profiles

Managing Your Social Life via Apps

So you have your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Myspace.

Do you check them all every day?

Are there some sites you end up neglecting?

With the help of social aggregators, you can manage your social life more effectively.

The following aggregators have been designed to do just that:
• Atomkeep: designed to sync all your profile information among multiple social networks.
• Digsby: involves instant messaging, e-mail, and social networks. It integrates social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and LinkedIn with a newsfeed and alerts.
• FriendBinder: Works by adding all your social networks on your FriendBinder profile and all updates appear. You can also update your Twitter and Facebook statuses as well.
• FriendFeed: From Netflix to Twitter, this social network site allows you to receive updates from a large number of sites, and also lets you subscribe to other users’ feeds.
The verdict according to CNET? FriendFeed and FriendBinder are the top two social aggregate picks.

The overall concept is great, manage all your social profiles in one spot, communicate better, etc.

However is it too much? Are social networking aggregators too overwhelming?

Some say yes, others swear by them.

Worst case, manually manage your social profiles, however now there are alternative solutions.

Secret Messages via Infrared Fuses

Researchers have officially created an information-dense fuse that sends a message as it burns.

Made from dots of lithium, rubidium, and cesium laid on a line of fast-burning nitrocellulose, these elements convey a form of chemical Morse code.

Chemist David Walt of Tufts University states that “if somebody is stranded in an unfriendly environment, they may need to communicate without attention-drawing electromagnetic frequencies.”

Check out the article to learn more, see what’s in store for this future innovative tool.

Still Hope for Start-Ups

If you do not get funding for your tech start-up, you will not succeed.

So the legend goes.

But according to a new study from North Carolina State University, shows that if a product is successful, it will in turn secure “sufficient amounts of capital.”

How do you enable this sort of product success?

Dr. David Townsend states that “undercapitalized ventures need to engage in management strategies focused on reducing their costs.”

While management is no doubt an intrical part of any successful company, the study argues that it is not the MOST important aspect of a venture company.

Granted, you do need a team to sell and market your product, your content can be great, but if no one’s there to circulate it, then what?

However perhaps this study has a point. We rely on marketing to sell our product, our content, etc.

But do we rely on marketing too much? Shouldn’t a good product simply sell itself?

This is what the study is arguing in terms of undercapitalized venture start-ups.

But a lot of this seems to hold true in other fields as well.

I Procrastinate Too Much- How can I do it productively?

It’s Thursday! Which means it’s almost Friday, which means it’s almost the weekend, which means you are almost doing your work.

Here’s a video that explains how the phrase “productive procrastination” is not oxymoronic.

Let’s face it people love to procrastinate.

And contrary to popular belief… grad students are people too.

From ESPN to celebrity gossip, YOUTUBE and Comedy Central, we have a million and one ways to procrastinate.

So, the real question is: How can we procrastinate productively?

How can we move forward with our research, still pass the time, but not waste it?

There really is no better way to procrastinate productively, than to hear the musings of other scientists. Try the following Read the rest of this entry »

Best Places to Work Determined by Level of Job Security

What are a scientist’s priorities in the workplace?

According to the Best Places to Work in Industry, top concerns are “room for intellectual and career development, a family-friendly environment, and less hierarchy.”

With job security, scientists are able to continue their research goals, and maintain connections with the rest of the scientific world.

Thus, being able to freely research and stay connected to the rest of the scientific community go hand-in-hand with job security.

The overall message is that when researchers don’t have to worry about being laid-off, they can focus on actually doing their job, and doing it well.

Companies like Pioneer Hi-Bred also are known for their “casual, flat organizational structure” that allows researchers themselves to approach chief scientific officers with questions or suggestions, there’s no chain of command to go through.

With these kind of benefits, it’s no wonder that scientists have one of the best jobs in the current economic conditions.

So, those of you pursuing your PhDs, keep on hacking and your hard work will pay off: leading you to a secure and satisfying job.