Alternative mobile messaging platform

 * SIGNAL *

"Please signal me the photo you took just now." 

"I have signalled the pdf file to your phone a short while ago." 

The above sample sentences could become normal everyday use in the foreseeable future, just like 'whatsapp', a tradename that evolved into an informal verb and noun due to popular usage. A new mobile messaging app called Signal is touted as the safer alternative to WhatsApp, after the latter announced that subscriber usage data would be shared with its parent company, Facebook. This has raised serious concerns about privacy and sparked active debate in the Internet community.

I have subscribed to Signal, an app that counts Elon Musk (the Tesla electric car maker) as one of its proponents. Downloaded it yesterday, gave permission to access my phonebook and forgot about it for the night. This afternoon, I received notification that a number of my contacts are on Signal too. I sent a short greeting to some of them, just to check connectivity. Most of them have replied. Our Signals are up and running. As of 5pm today, 56 persons on my contact list have installed Signal. That's pretty fast, I think.

Am I worried about my WhatsApp usage? Not at the moment. I feel the risk is greater using Facebook (someone cloned my FB account last year). 

Would Signal be a better and bigger messaging platform than WhatsApp? Obviously, it is too early to tell. But perhaps the point here is not about being better or bigger. It is sufficient for Signal to be a reliable and trusted product for it to gain a significant number of users to remain viable. It may seem impossible to reach or overtake the immensely huge subscriber numbers of WhatsApp and I'm sure that is not the intention of Signal's developers. Nonetheless, strange things have happened in the IT industry.

Many years ago, Lotus 1-2-3 was the default spreadsheet application. I used it extensively in my line of work and even bought a thick book to learn more about the software's capability. I became so good at it to the stage that I could write macros to short-cut a number of routine steps. But then a guy named Bill Gates created the Windows operating system and his team at Microsoft invented Excel. The spreadsheet domain has a new king. Lotus 1-2-3 is now a fading memory. 

Ok friends... I'll catch up with you on Signal, if you're on it already.

A signal for change

Social networking for photographers

My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix compact bought in 2003. It boasted a `healthy' resolution 3.2 megapixels and cost me an excess of RM1k, a real princely sum at the time. Although not quite top-of-the line, I was fairly pleased with its performance. It was easy to use and produced quality photos. With that camera, I had an enjoyable time taking tons and tons of pictures, both for personal and work use.

After about 6 years of dedication, the camera finally gave up on me. By that time, there was no point in getting it repaired because obviously there were better (and cheaper) products in the market. I bought a Canon Powershot compact as a replacement. Although this camera has a higher pixel count, I somehow felt that my old Nikon gave more vibrant photographs. This fired the urge to upgrade to an entry-level DSLR a year later.

With the large collection of digital photos that I have, it therefore make sense for me to share or store them online, doesn't it? Well, not quite for me. Internet connection those days was real slow and memory storage at a premium. Home internet connection was only available via the pioneer ISP called Jaring (which I sadly heard, has closed shop) at a mere 14.4 bits/sec. High-speed internet was only available at business premises or at cyber-cafes. Uploading a single photo would take an agonizing few minutes.

The first photo-sharing website that I used was Photobucket. I can't remember how many pictures I uploaded to that site but I don't think it was that many. Probably ten to twenty files arranged in a few albums. I am not sure of the quantity because I no longer have access to the site, having abandoned my account many years ago. I'm certain the account is obsolete but Photobucket itself is still alive and kicking.

Later on, I found out that many of my photographer friends use Flickr (owned by Yahoo). When Google became an established IT company, they provided Picasa as a direct competitor to Flickr. Even so, I was not moved to be a user of either of the two most popular photo sites. I prefer to share my photos sparingly as part of my blog posts.

When mobile computing came into the mainstream with the use of smartphones, Instagram became the hot app for photo-sharing. Still, I have not been drawn to ride on that bandwagon, at least not for that particular app. But yesterday, things changed a bit...

I was browsing through fellow blogger Pak Adib's pages (Adib Noh - The Reader) when I chanced upon an old entry where he mentioned that some of his photos are on sale at Getty Images via a new photo-sharing app. I got to know of Pak Adib from the Sentraal Station FB blogger's group and noted that he is a keen photographer. He has uploaded a number of his photos in his blog and very good photos they are.

The app recommended by Pak Adib is called EyeEm. It works primarily for mobile smartphones (both Android and IOS) but there is also a desktop version. I had a look at the app and viewed some of Pak Adib's already extensive collection of photos on show. I have been bitten. I soon signed up for an account and started to upload some photographs, just as a start. I now have the app running both on mobile and desktop.

To my photographer (both serious and casual) friends, do have a peek at this site. If you decide to join, feel free to have a look at my profile. Just search for https://www.eyeem.com/u/oldstock or Fadhil Isma. Perhaps then, we could follow each other.

Port of Tanjung Pelepas at dusk. A similar pic can be seen at EyeEm.