Google: Creepy & Fantastic

I typed in "japan earthquake" in Google to find out more details about the location and the magnitudes of the recent earthquakes. Google had organized US Geological Survey data in way that told me exactly what I was looking for. As if the search engine were reading my mind.
It's what makes Google so creepy and fantastic.

A Visual Web Stroll

NYTimes graphic on risks associated with 10 different causes of death:























Google's venture into the browser business; Chrome:




















Be a teacher, find a teacher - The eBay of teaching:

Everyone deserves to be in the Credits

Movies are such a grand affair to make: lighting, makeup, production, set design, casting, assistant to the 2nd cameraman, and the list goes on. Why are we familiar with these terms? Because they're in the credits! Mind you, most of us don't watch the credits because we're really there for the big show, but it really really matters to the people involved in the making. They tell it to their family, friends and even acquaintances with a sense of pride and accomplishment. In fact, I was an extra in The Namesake for about seven seconds and its become one of those things that just gets mentioned off-hand in conversation. The notion of credits is very transferable to other arenas, especially in the work world.

No matter how hoaky, being mentioned at a picnic, a newsletter, a party, or conference has a very lasting effect on people. No one's really immune. The very best companies make use of this concept heavily in other ways as well through sophiscated-sounding titles, celebrations, and leadership opportunities (in anything; from taking charge of team projects to managing the company softball team). Whatever work efforts we're involved in, there is a beginning, a middle and an end. Focus is almost always on the first two; start-up and maintenance. Yet companies evolve just the same as TV sitcoms do. The "end" with credits and all is the shifting point to antoher theme, product or customer; think Apple, Google, Microsoft but also Johnson & Johnson, GE and Procter & Gamble.

Bottomline: Acclaim matters. Make it a part of your work and personal life. Commend yourself and others upon meeting deadlines, reaching milestones, achieving goals. Change has to be a part of the system (more on that in another post). Employees and customers continue to stay interested only if you remain interesting. Figure out how to get you and your organization there. Credit opportunistically and you'll only create more opportunities to credit.

What makes a company attractive?

Stock value? Growth rate? Philanthropic fundraising?

No. Its always the employees. And why? Because they do things like inject codes into their programs that have no intrinsic value but to entertain or put their dog in the company's founders profile as their mascot.

This makes the company a zany and fun place to work. When work is a life given, you need more than just money as a driver. An organization's social vibe affects its commercial value in the eyes of consumers and potential future employees. Personal happiness comes from interpersonal interactions.

Google Health Teaser

Google recently developed a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to test its Google Health application.

Today, Google released a few teaser screenshots!

Use-Now-Adapt-Later

"I hear and I forget. I see and I believe.
I do and I understand."
-- Confucius

On my hunt for decent (and free) project management software, I discovered the "Use-Now-Adapt-Later" principle. Google promotes this approach through its retrospectiva, a web-based software project management tool it offers as a free d'load. In the end, I went with Access 2007.

But I just the found the principle so intuitive and simple. I mean its nothing more than learning by trial-and-error. You buy a new tv or a computer, what's the first thing you do? Turn it on and start using it! Who really reads the instruction manual right away? I learned most of Excel, Access and even building a blog this way.

You always need the by-the-book folks (they're the ones who write the instruction manuals!), but to really learn and retain something, it has to be contextualized. Yet rarely do we go on an excursion or start a project without a plan. "Think before you act" is overdone. We think too much! Sometimes you just have to jump in and feel it out.

A Trend in the Mass Conscience

Google Alerts basically allows you to search for a given keyword or phrase say, "education", "the war on terror" or "justin timberlake" and sends you alert emails with a comprehensive list of links from news, blogs and the web. Its a really great way to keep track of what you're interested in or curious about.

I've had a google alert for "health care" on since the alert function began earlier this year. I'm used to getting about 5 links for every email alert I get, but recently it has grown exponentially to 10 and sometimes more than 20 links at a time. I assume this means that more people are writing about health care and more people are searching for it as well.

Unsurprising as health care is one of the hottest topics in the upcoming election, yet an unexpected discovery within the google alerts application.

Googlefficiency

Google has countless ways to make life more efficient. I'm a huge fan of Google's services: gmail, docs, calendar, reader, iGoogle, and of course Blogger to name a few. Its become so easy to organize my emails or load any document I've worked on anywhere there's internet or check out the weather in 5 different locations around the world with one click of a button. I only realize this when I see others not using the free apps Google offers. I figure they just don't know about it or they're skeptical. Well, if you fall in either of those categories, just give it a shot. Here's the link to get started: Google Apps.

gPhone

Since the iPhone came out, there's been a lot of buzz about gPhone's debut. gPhone is Google's prototype of a mobile phone that would offer user-friendly search engine capability (www.google.com, what did you expect!?). In fact, this mobile OS functionality may be its primary attraction as there seem to be very few differences between the gPhone and the iPhone.

Google's also throwing the idea of free mobile service around. You would have to watch a 10-30 second ad before making a call. Surely that's worth $0.40!

Here's the Wiki.