New Google Logo ?

New Google Search page from Gmail - Click on the "Search Web" Button

Is Google too powerful ?

How we eat, dress and work determines our quality of life. Similarly, how we use internet too will determine our behavior and the quality of life. Internet can be considered as a third generation utility—considering 1^st Gen is Air/Fire/Water and 2^nd Gen is Electricity. Living without Internet is almost inevitable. At least 80% of the internet users are using Google search. This ultimately gave them massive amount of valuable data. What do they do with it—Google is analyzing the entire world. They want to know everything about us.

This can be too much power to a singular source—Google. They were able to generate reports in minutes if not in hours almost on any activity in the world. . For example have look at this flu trend worldwide. I spent 2/3 of my time on internet, and Google can easily generate a report on my behavior for the past 7-8 years—in-fact they can say which time period I’ve been most productive and vice versa. However, analyzing a single person’s behavior could be less important to them when they can analyze data for a entire country.

Is Google too powerful ?

The Fine Line

Recently I’ve been thinking about the purpose of life and read some books from Dr.Deepak Chopra. I might be too young to evaluate the process of life but for the past 30 years I have gained an immense amount of experience. I’m a quick learner in nature, and I guess that helped me to judge and evaluate the life at least to some extent.

Most of us look at our past sheepishly. But it is never too late to identify, correct and move on. Life is a process—we should optimize the process as we move on. I’ve been analyzing my own activity in the past, positive or negative is secondary however. So I came up with the following diagram. A person’s activity is directly proportional to the outcome, regardless of its negative or positive behavior. For example more active people get frequent outcomes in life, and less active people get less outcomes. But we all need to find the fine line, although it’s arguable in some cases. These ideas are not representing any religion believes or teachings. It is merely an effort to understand the process of life and to optimize it so that we all can live it to the fullest.

For people who think this is irrelevant or just a waste of time—please ignore, but for others please find the following references. What is exciting in life if you do not explore.

Reference:

The seven spiritual laws of success

Life After death: the burden of proof.

Quantum healing: exploring the frontiers of mind/body medicine

Buddha: A story of enlightenment.

Google Buzz

I've been using Google Buzz quite frequently and I'm very impressed with it. Since I'm a big fan of Gmail, integrating buzz with Gmail is a smart move from Google. Follow me on Google Buzz if you're interested.

http://www.google.com/profiles/ludmal

Why Unrealistic Goals are better than Realistic Goals?

It is first quarter of the year and goal setting is imminent for most of us. Most people tend to set the possible and realistic goals for the whole year. Why not setting Unrealistic goals quarterly—sounds impossible?

The importance of goal setting is always considered as a successful strategy for personal development. Accomplishments of goals are arguable and should discuss in separate thread however. This is a merely an effort to illustrate which is more important—Realistic Goals or Unrealistic Goals. Realistic goals settings can be seen as a major culprit to unleash your ability. Even though it is viable for some cases but for most cases it can be a killer of your ability or capability. How many times we have achieved something which we never thought of possible—there are plenty of examples for me personally. We must stretch, expand or broaden our ability to accomplish things. The only way to do is to set unrealistic goals. Achieving 70% of the unrealistic/impossible goals are far better than achieving 100% of the realistic goals. Moreover setting goals for a shorter period of time seems to be more efficient than a longer period. There is a high probability of forgetting or ignoring goals which are set for longer period of time. More importantly we should expect amazing results by achieving goals and not just “results”. Also, don’t forget to reward yourself once you achieve a certain goal.

We are only limited by our thoughts—by keeping this in mind start your own goal setting now, but make it unrealistic/impossible and for short period of time.

Dictionary - Google extensions

I found this Google extension very useful – Google Dictionary

Update your Google chrome to get extensions and bookmark sync.

In addition to blogging, I've been also using twitter for quick technology updates. Follow me if you are interested. www.twitter.com/ludmal

Windows 7

I've been using Windows 2003 quite happily for the past 6 years. But realized it was 7 years old OS and the technology has developed immensely. Despite the terrible experience with Windows Vista I finally decided to install Windows 7. It has been one month after Windows 7 installation and I'm very impressed – the startup/loading time has improved significantly and smoothness of the applications is amazing.

This is what I was expected from an OS. Most of us were desperately waited for an OS to replace Windows XP/2003 – Microsoft’s Windows 7 must be the choice for them. Needless to say I’m upgrading my wife’s laptop and my desktop PC to Windows 7. For those who are still waiting to install Windows 7 – Don’t wait anymore!

Power of Intention

Intention – an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions. This is the general meaning of the Intention. But for most of us intention is just another word. While we live a mediocre life we tend to forget what is the actual meaning of Intent or Intention. We are limited by our thoughts and our intentions.

Intention is all around us, it is just like gravity. Thanks to Sir Isaac Newton we know that the gravity exists, but what about Intention – the following example will give you a simple idea about the intention.

Have you ever tried to recall a name or place? The harder you try to recall the name the farther it goes away. Once you give up the try and after some time just out of the blue you will remember the name or the place you tried to recall earlier; that is the power of intension. We need use the intention to fulfill our desires. To see the power of intention try to do the following exercise.

Write down a specific goal you want to achieve, and then carry that paper with you all the time. Read it at least three to four times a day, especially before Meditation or Prayer. Also read it as soon as you wake up in the morning. When you pray or meditate you create intentions – nevertheless the power of Meditation and Prayer has to be discussed in a separate post. By reading your goal frequently, you create an intention. And another powerful yet very difficult thing to do is to relinquish your attachment to the outcome. What does this means – you intent to achieve a certain goal, but you release your attachment to the outcome. Just like the name or place recalling example, let the universe handle your intention; therefore don’t worry about the outcome. When you worry about the outcome, you create stress & anxiety. Trust the power of the universe; believe that everything in this world is as it should be.

When the time is right your intentions will be fulfilled. If it is not, then surrender to the outcome. Eventually, everything will be as it should be.

What happens if Google shut down their operations in China?

Don’t be evil – informal Google’s company motto. Despite the massive Internet user base in China Google has warned them, that they will stop all of their operations in China. What does this mean to Chinese users? No Google search, no Gmail, no Google Apps and None of the other Google applications. It is like “No Internet” for me at all . At least 90% of my Internet time I spend on Google products. I use Gmail, Google Reader, Google docs, Google Apps, Google Analytics and Google News to name few. So without Google I have nothing to do on the Internet except following my friends on Facebook.

Google as a company evolved immensely in a very short period of time. Their products are very useful and neat. I personally benefits enormously from their products and it is true for most of the Internet users worldwide. China will surely have a considerable impact on their economic growth if Google decided to stop their operations. As an emerging nation China should not be isolated from the rest of the world (Internet World). For me personally, I can't imagine Internet without Google.

Read more

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G0K620100117