Byron is…
Google
Facebook
Twitter
CrunchBase
LinkedInGoogle takes over my life.
Google oh Google
I use your products too much
Virtual Byron?
Google has been all over the news in recent days due to their huge amount of products coming out, Namely Google Music and Google Navigation, the new maps app on Android 2.0
Folks who know me and see my computer at any time during the day will see that my entire life is basically utilizing things that are made by Google.
So a huge list of what things I use is probably too boring for you to read, but it’s just interesting to see how much information, time, and effort i have invested in Google. I’m sure they could create a clone of me, learning my interests from GChat and Google Reader, my voice from Google Voice, my friends from GChat and Gmail, what things I have to do from Calendar and Gmail, and the work I am doing on Docs and Wave. I guess it’s a little scary to see that they have so much information about me, but i guess when you’re good, you’re good. All I know is, whatever Google comes out with next, I’m sure I’ll be one of the first on the bandwagon.
If a huge list of things is really what you want to see, It’s below. The graphic below eases you into it by showing the various products I am currently using in order of how often I feel i use them. After is the fatty list that mentions some of the things I use them for. Got any suggestions or questions? Let me know, I am always reachable! (on Google talk and Gmail)
Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/byroncheng
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- GMail. This is the big daddy of Google products. I use this to aggregate my personal, Northwestern, and TechCrunch email. It’s sorted into various categories, and I try to utilize some pseudo form of Inbox Zero that John turned me on to (ask me for details)
- Google Talk. I use the program when I am at home, and GChat when I’m not. It’s gotten more popular, and IM is always useful
- iGoogle. Currently my home page, it holds various useful at a glance info, including North by Northwestern, CNN, BBC, and the Weather. I’ve also got Google Voice (and Latitude for kicks)
- Google Reader. Simple RSS feed reader that channels all the information I will ever need about technology (and food) to me directly. Yeah, TechCrunch says that RSS is dead (I agree, it’s really slow compared to twitter) but it works when I’m not always connected.
- Google Calendar. I organize my life around this. Probably the most critical to my mental health – I need to know what i am doing.
- YouTube. Biggest time sink in the world. And I love it.
- Google Voice. One of the newer guys in the party, Google Voice got a lot of press for being rejected from the App Store. Was really useful when I had no cell signal in Slivka, but with the addition of cell phone repeaters, was not as useful. It’s there as a stopgap measure if i get a new phone number
- Google Wave. Probably the most cutting edge and WAY demanded ( get @ replies asking for invites still), I’m using Google Wave for some work with TechCrunch. It’s also being used for other collaborative work.
- Google Docs. Was really useful before I discovered Dropbox (link) but now used for more info distribution.
- Google Chrome. Something that will soon become an OS. It’s my browser of choice for work on my 2133 because Firefox sometimes slows it down a bit too much.
- Google Analytics. The product I started using the most recently. It’s what I use to track my views and clickthroughs on this page.
- Goog-411. Use it on the road all the time to find out information of my destination. Great when I’m late for a dinner reservation – I just get connected to the restaurant and push it back.
- Google Maps. Although I had some problems with nonexistent addresses before, it’s gotten better. I’m sure if i pick up and Android phone I’ll definitely take advantage of its increased capabilities.
- Google Apps. U.Northwestern runs on this. I go to NU and have an @u email. That’s about it.
Here! Have a listen.
Here are some new tracks
Unreleased and brand new songs
Here! Have a listen
Some songs that have come across my radar via various sources. Just as a beware, I don’t know how this post will appear in Facebook or in Xanga, so feel free to click through to the permalink (http://www.calvyno.com/byroncheng/2009/10/here-have-a-listen/). Also I am not using imeem this time, so full tracks!
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Britney Spears – 3. As the title so cleverly puts it, it is about three-somes and such. It really isn’t as fun as Circus was (overall). I imagine that it will end up as the first single that is eclipsed by the second, the way Circus took over Womanizer.
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Fall Out Boy – Alpha Dog. If anyone listened to “Citizens for a New Administration”, the Fall Out Boy mixtape that came out before Folie a Deux, this song was one of the openers, though the lyrics were “Welcome to the New Administration” instead of “Welcome to the New Deja Vu” which is quite disorienting for me (but how ironic the words become). Good song.
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Jason DeRulo – Whatcha Say. Wrote about this last time. Still a good song, samples from Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek while making the song mainstream ready. Hope people appreciate the sample.
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John Mayer – Heartbreak Warfare. Pulls out John Mayer’s great vocals but is backed against a full band. It reminds me of the old stuff that he did. I’m really happy to hear some new stuff coming out.
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Lady Gaga – Bad Romance. Keeps the Lady Gaga beat going, and clearly has her voice in it. The rambling bit in the beginning is oddly addicting to sing. Not sure how it will chart, but it _is_ the first single, so can’t be too bad.
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One Republic – Secrets. Oh. My. God. I heard this song and just thought “This is totally One Republic”. And it is a GREAT song. Starts with the cello again, and then goes into Tedder’s insane vocals. Is this the One Republic formula for winning songs? Whatever it is, it is AWESOME.
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Rihanna – Russian Roulette. A new song from Rihanna (first after the assault i guess). I’m a bit surprised that is it so dark – normally the first single back is the fast, upbeat dance track, and the second is the slow ballad. This one is the slow song, kind of dark. Not bad.
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Ryan Tedder – Halo. Ryan Tedder gets to things written about him today. If you were unaware, he wrote Halo for Beyonce (and repeated the background for Kelly Clarkson’s Already Gone – though he says that isn’t true). Regardless, it was a great hook, and here we get to hear his demo for Halo. It’s got an interesting bridge in the middle (but personally I’d say Beyonce carries this song better than Tedder. And Mike Posner’s version isn’t half bad either)
That’s all for now. If you want anything, ask me for it! Or we can talk about music, because I love it.
Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/byroncheng
A history of Byron (on/around 10/11)
A combination
of guilt and other feelings
make me want to write
I don’t know what I’m really expecting from this year. But, just for fun, here’s some stuff I’ve put up in previous years. Let’s go backwards and see what things were like. Apologies, I know that reading stuff about me isn’t all that interesting, but I think sometimes it’s the easiest way to ease back into things. Also, sorry about the length – I don’t really want to write super long stuff, but sometimes it just happens.
its snowing and pretty =]
Oh Freshman year. That was parents weekend, and my mom came to visit me at NU. It was the first snow of the year – and it was one of the prettiest things I had ever seen. Fluffy snow, floating from the sky. My mom was at a cafe that day while I was in class, and she told me about how she saw it start to snow and stop snowing, and how it melted away when she left. Oh how that gives absolutely no indication of what winter is really like in Chicago
An old animation I found. It was someone’s Xanga profile picture, and I downloaded it.
10/11/05 (multiple posts in a day, oh high school)
Byron currently wants to read….
Jennifer Government and Syrup by Max Barry. i heard they were good, I’ve read a bit of Jennifer Government, if anyone sees those let me know? =)
Well that’s something I’ve gone and done. They are both quite interesting books – both look at American corporate culture and draw them to the extremes to make us realize how insane we are. They bring up some interesting concepts – I wonder if i would be able to understand/appreciate those better now.
im getting shafted in my sciences….chem is murder cuz seran is grading me hard….not really i just suck at studying…im pulling physics off okay also…..
im SO lucky cuz i have a b in both classes and in both classes my quiz avg is like a d….so yeah XD and test in chem is like c and phys is b- but lucky me a lot of the grade is labs and hw…..so *phew*
science bowl today…we kick “bum” so to speak……lol we are number in ALL OF CALIFORNIA who took the qualification thingy so far!! WOOOOOOOT lol (too bad there were only two teams who did today lol)
21/30 so yeah……
so anyways, youth group people?
Basically to preface this, I was kind of one of those asians back in HS. You know what I mean. Explanation for the first bit – I was taking Chem AP and Physics Honors at the same time. Probably one of the more stupid things I did in high school – I got destroyed by both of them (But then again, that’s just like college. Guess things haven’t changed). Additionally yes, I was on one of the science bowl teams my school made. We basically made it through the qualifiers and then got cut the first round because none of us actually knew anything. Good times.
That last statement was regarding a previous post. My mom wanted me to join youth group that year. I didn’t want to, but I asked my friends what they thought. Not really anybody told me anything. Now, 6 years later, I go to LIFE group and learn new things. I guess in another 6 years we can see which way this goes
…i have a strange feeling im phasing out of this world…..unnoticed…….it started as an AIM thing, then into a guild…..into choir……and how its high school…..just watch…i’ll leave and no one will notice….
I was a really emo kid my sophomore and junior year. Things were going badly with all my friends because people just started not talking to me. There were radical shifts in friend groups (this upheaval occurred multiple times actually – basically annually in high school). I apparently was also trying to figure out who to ask to the Homecoming Dance. Previous posts included a lot of really dark thoughts and me just trying to get someone to listen to me. High school bad times indeed (also I ended up not going to the dance)
So it appears that I’ve grown and changed in some aspects, but I’m still the same in others. I still have massive friend upheavals, hate academics, and have stress related depression (to a degree, I guess). Perhaps I just like my emo tendencies, since they were a central part of my personality back then. At least I write with correct grammar and such.
Again, we’ll see what happens in another 6 years. I’ll hopefully not be in school anymore.
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