Google Buzz

After months of inactivity, I finally decided to disable buzz. Sorry but I’m no longer on Buzz.

Reducing number of news streams helps me to focus on things which are relevant and important. By disabling buzz I reduced my social focus to Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook. I also reduced people I follow in Twitter. Last few months I was overloaded with few things and could not read as much I used to.

I’m not a big fan of Facebook, so I will be mainly using my twitter account for updates. And those updates will be automatically added to my Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. So if you’re interested, Twitter will be my main source for updates. Follow me @ludmal

Let's make the web faster

This is very useful for web developers, Tips and Tricks to improve web application performance. (obviously from Google) http://code.google.com/speed/articles/

Ludmal.net in Chrome store

I just submitted ludmal.net to chrome web store. You can install it from here and please don't forget to leave a comment. :-)

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clcenpmkmbdaglnanmdcginkhmhphdog

Why moving to Cloud?

Internet is everywhere and literally it is impossible to survive without internet. Moving to cloud is a smart decision I've made. I have all my documents, photos & projects on Dropbox and I have access to those with my Mac, Office PC and iPhone whenever, wherever required. But while I encourage my friends to move in to the cloud, there are some frequently asked questions. Have a look at them and my answers.


Question: What is the guarantee that my data wont be lost?
Answer: Well, what is the guarantee that your hard disk wont break or your laptop wont get stolen?


Question: Is my data secure? 
Answer: Is your data secure today anyway? what happens if somebody steal your laptop or  hack to your computer. The best practice is not to save any of the confidential data on laptops or personal computers. (Credit Card, Bank account or Passwords)


Question: But I need internet to access to cloud?
Answer: You don't have to connect to internet 24/7 to access your data. For example www.dropbox.com provide an easy way to sync your local folders with their cloud service. So online or offline you will have access to your data.


Question: Why should I move to cloud?
Answer:

• how many times you wanted to send your resume or a document but had to wait until you go home and access your home PC? 
• how many times do you take backups or photos or docs?
• what happens if your hard disk burnt or someone steal your laptop?
• what if you want to share a document with your friend and work with him/her collaboratively?
• how much hassle to go through if you want to re-install your PC?
• how hard is to find a photo of your last vacation?
• how many times do you send emails just to access a file on the go?

By answering to the above questions, if you already feel unsecured or unorganized then move in to The Cloud. 

Email me if you need any assistance or consultation on how to setup your working environment. 

Read my other relevant posts;

http://www.ludmal.net/2010/11/anywhere-anytime-on-any-device.html

http://www.ludmal.net/2010/12/how-to-manage-your-code.html

http://www.ludmal.net/2010/12/transformation.html

Install drop box - http://db.tt/2fpKw7n

Gmail – the best example for iteration perfection

When Gmail initially released back in 2004, it was just a simple email system. By giving more storage and Ajax request processing technique made Gmail to gain attention from the users. But Gmail lack most of the functionalities which other email systems provided back then, such as folders or labels.

But today, Gmail is probably the best Web Application on the internet. Throughout the years Google engineers made the Gmail perfect by adding features— at least every month.

As developers, we typically experience the “Add More Features” syndrome. Rather than releasing to the market quickly we keep adding and adding more features to our app, eventually we loose the interest and the product was never released.

Release your app quickly to the market and also release features more often. Through development and release iterations makes your app perfect overtime.

The important of the Web browser

I could estimate that 90 percent of everything I do on a computer is now in a web browser. Coding is the only thing I don’t do using the browser. But for an example, my wife only uses the Web browser, and she’s a typical everyday computer user.

Web browse is the mostly used program in the recent years with the internet evolution and it is the most important software program of all. Since the focus has been on to the Browser—Google has made a wise decision to release a Computer Operating System (OS) which only focuses on the web browser. Most probably you can see an early preview of their OS in next few weeks.

So it's time now to seriously think about the cloud computing. 

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 ?

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

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

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

Google Wave future

I was anxiously waited for Google wave invitation from its initial preview release. When I finally got one, I wasn't really impressed with it. The only thing interested to me was the UI. Though they mentioned that the email system is outdated they must have been realized by now how hard is to kill the old email system.-- "Email" is the mostly used feature in Internet followed by "Search". I'm not criticizing it, but I feel Wave is too early. However, it's future is still a mystery.

Microsoft vs Google

This is interesting.. I just did a search in google trends. www.google.com/trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of microsoft company/google company in all years. Learn more

microsoft company, google company

Google Chrome extensions

Recently I've installed some of the Google Chrome extensions and I love It! specially the extensions like Google Tasks, Reader, Gmail & Chrome Touch. I personally like Google chrome because of its simplicity and performance.

In order to install chrome extensions, you must install chrome developer version. This isn't a very stable version but I haven't seen any bugs yet.

1. Installing Chrome Developer Version

a. Download and install the Chrome developer channel from the following location.

http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?extra=betachannel

b. Then click on the "About Google Chrome" window, once it's fully updated, restart the browser. You're now running Chrome Developer version.

2. Installing Chrome Extensions.

At this point, all set to install the Chrome extensions. You can download the extensions from the following site. Just follow the installation instructions and are you're done.

http://www.chromeextensions.org

You can even check out the installed extensions by selecting Tools > Extensions as shown in the following screen capture.

Few cool Chrome Extensions:

http://www.chromeextensions.org/alerts-updates/gmail-checker/
http://www.chromeextensions.org/alerts-updates/google-reader-checker/
http://www.chromeextensions.org/appearance-functioning/chrometouch/
http://www.chromeextensions.org/appearance-functioning/smoothscroll/
http://www.chromeextensions.org/utilities/google-notepad/

Hope this helps!

www.twitter.com/ludmal - I've been using twitter for quick updates on Technology stuff, please follow me if you're interested.

Google Wave Invitations!

Got some google wave invites, If anybody interested please send me an email (ludmal@gmail.com).

I love google Chrome, but where is google Toolbar ?

I love google chrome for its simplicity and fast browsing. But still couldn't figure out how to use google toolbar. All of my bookmarks are in google, any idea on how to use google bookmarks in Chrome ?