Twitter Trends 2009 Vs Facebook Trends 2009

When Twitter came up with Trends of 2009, Facebook came up with Memology of 2009. I thought it will be an interesting thing to take a comparative look at both.

Before Facebook and Twitter, we had Google and Google Trend was the only way to understand what the world was thinking about. Google Trends were based on what people searched for. Of course that had its limitation, especially because you searched for what was on your mind only when you wanted to find out more about what was on your mind. Facebook and Twitter trends allow you to take a closer look at what the world is thinking because we usually talk about and share and RT what is on our mind. Search comes after we talk about it. This way I find Facebook and Twitter Trends more appealing than Google Trends, if you are going to base some of your advertising decisions based on what trends on the internet.

Again, a closer look at Twitter Trends and Facebook Memology reveals one key thing for advertisers. We are looking at two different types of markets when we are looking at Facebook and Twitter. Facebook Memology makes it sound like we are looking at a hoard of teenagers who will have to cajole their parents to buy the things they want to buy. How else can you explain FML trending only during exams and Mondays and still making it to the second rank on Memology? I think the Facebook Memology perfectly explains TechCrunch’s  stand on how Game Developers on Facebook dupe kids into using their parents’ cell phone to buy what they call Game Currency. Only games survive on Facebook because only kids use Facebook. Twitter, on the other hand, I think is about a mixed market. Every thing from Iran Election to Michael Jackson to American Idol to Harry Potter trended there. And this means you are talking about an audience that has the power to purchase and an audience that has the power to make their parents purchase at one single place, tweeting and retweeting! What more would an advertiser need?

Another interesting thing I noticed is that Twitter Trended on Facebook while Facebook Didn’t on Twitter. I am not sure if this was a purposeful omission by Twitter. If it was not a purposeful omission or filtering, guys at Facebook must be really concerned.

Open Dictionary from Macmillan

fauxtography |NOUN|the practice of creating false photographs by using software. It is a blend of 'faux' (meaning 'false') and 'photography'.The Jerusalem Post caught another fauxtography scam out of the mideast this week.

apatheist |NOUN| someone who is not interested in religion ... most apatheists are not agnostics. Because - and this is an essential point - many apatheists are believers.

technobimbo |NOUN| a girl who uses computer technology a lot but who doesn't really know much about it As a true technobimbo, I really hate the way computers can get stuck, go wrong and generally fail to explain themselves in plain English.

Heard these words? They are the new additions to Macmillan’s Open Dictionary. Well, what is the Open Dictionary? The idea is to allow users to add words that they know, with a meaning and a sentence in which the word in question is used. Anyone can add any word. Macmillan will publish the word if they can find reference to the word elsewhere. It cannot be a word used exclusively by you and your inner circle.

I don’t know how, even the word “adipoli” is there on the Open Dictionary list, as submitted by certain Dinesh Balakrishnan. As far as my knowledge goes, Adipoli is a word teenagers use in Malayalam to suggest that something is good as in “adipoli film”, “adipoli song” etc. Open Dictionary defines adipoli as follows

adipoli

adjective

excellent; used in Indian English

The concert was an adipoli performance which went deep into the hearts of everybody.

May be, soon we are going to see “adipoli” in the main Macmillan Dictionary?

Google Indic is difficult to handle!

If I have to type something in Malayalam, usually to post something on Koottam, a Social Community Network for Keralites that runs on Ning, I go straight off to Google Indic Transliteration Feature. Google Indic was a great feature from Google, as it was easy to use unlike many Transliteration Applications available online. What I loved the most about Google Indic was its ability to let me edit the text, helping me with suggestions, in case my transliteration went wrong. Where Google Indic suggested the possible words for a combination of English alphabets, it used to have an “Edit” option in the earlier version of Indic. I would enable the “Edit’ Option, start typing the word and Google Indic would then come up with possible Malayalam alphabets that could be created using a combination of English alphabets. My spelling never went wrong, as I had great control over what i wrote.

Yesterday, Google India’s Bangalore Team announced the launch of a new and improved version of Google Indic. It looks like Google Indic is going global. They have added all sorts of features to the improved version of Google Indic from Text Formatting to Unicode Character Picker. It supports seventeen languages: Arabic,Bengali, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Persian, Punjabi,Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. It is a great tool still. However, one key feature is missing.

Google India took away the one feature that made me stick to Google Indic, making it similar to the rest of the Transliteration Applications available online. It just took away the “Edit” feature. Now, it is like I am struggling like a five year old to figure out the right English Alphabet combination to produce the desired Malayalam Equivalents. True, Google Indic gives me a Unicode Character Picker to figure out the alphabets. But it takes a pretty long time for me to figure out what goes where. The Edit Feature used to make it very easy. I just had to click on it and start typing and Google Indic used to tell me different combinations I could use. I wish Google India brought the Edit feature back to Google Indic!

Google going live

Here is a screenshot of when Google went real-time when I searched. Well, that was just the Twitter updates, running live on the Google Search Page. And according to Google, there is more to real-time search than just Twitter. With real-time search Google is promising to give us the most relevant fresh information about what we search online, from news to tweets

You also have an option to control what result appear on your search page. You can go to the Option Tab on your Google Search Page and set your search from “Anytime” to “Latest” Following screenshot shows you how the search page appears when you set your options to latest.

You can also set your options to “Updates” mode. When you set your Search Options to “Updates” mode Google will give you only the most current real-time updates like Twitter. Right now I see only Twitter running on the search page. I am not sure if that is because Twitter is popular or right now Google can get updates only from Twitter. I would love if Google could give me the live feed of the most recent happening online from any site or web service, in connection with what I am searching.

Cosmos Infomedia Scam is back!

Take a look at the two screenshots above! What do you see? Same picture. Same layout. Looks like two screenshots of the same website, don’t they? In fact, they are not. They are the screenshots of two different websites claiming to do the same thing – make you rich by letting you work from home, doing mail order.

I received an SMS from my Internet Service Provider today, which read as follows:

Earn 7 to 37000 p/m by doing 2hr paper work at home for quick details open www.cash37k.com or to get details  by post SMS your name add. Pin code on 09321123454

I wanted to find out what exactly this scheme is. And the screenshots provided above are where I ended up. In August 2008, Trendy of Trendite exposed www.Earn45k.com, a site that promised to make customers rich by doing Mail Order from home. According to Wikipedia "Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer." Trendy explained how Earn45K is a scam. Following are the reasons he provides to show how the site is a scam:

1. A Google Search will take you to forums where people discuss how they lost money because of Cosmos Infomedia

2. The contact address on the WhoIs page of the site and the actual contact address mentioned on the site is different. [A WhoIs page is where you get the details of a site’s registration.]

9 months after Trendy reported Earn45K as scam, Times of India reported that certain Aravind Ojah was arrested in connection with Earn45K Scam. That was in April 2009. Times also reported Ojah entering into tie ups with telecom companies to send out SMS to victims. I tried finding out more about Ojah and his accomplice, Mirinda. There is no trace of either of them online, except the Times of India News and Trendite Update. And then, today I received an SMS from for Internet Service Provider about Cash37k. That is eight months after the news of the arrest!

I have only one reason to believe that Cash37k is as wretched a scam as Earn45k – both the sites look the same. The difference is in the money they offer you will make and a few links that were present in the original site is missing in the new site. The new site has a link called “Refund” which is probably to dupe people who may suspect fraud. The new site, like the predecessor, pretends to quote from Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes [Banning] Act 1978 in an attempt to mislead customers.

My Favourite Chrome Extensions

I always used to wish Chrome had extensions like Firefox. But then I was thankful Chrome did not have extensions because whenever I think of Browser Extensions I remember the time it used to take Firefox to load with all those Extensions. In fact the endless loading time is one reason why I left Firefox and started using Chrome. I always had to wait for at least for 15 minutes before Firefox initialized the Extensions or Add-ons or what ever they call it and then checked for updates and was ready for me to use. That was when the lightening speed Chrome came along and I instantly fell in love with this sleek browser that saved a lot of screen real estate and loaded faster than any browser that existed on my system. However, I always secretly wished for some of the cool extensions I had on Firefox.

And then Chrome Extensions came along! Yes, you require a developer version of Chrome if you want to use Chrome Extensions. But then, Chrome Beta is one good way to keep in touch with the new things the browser offers and there is no harm in using it. I went around trying most of what was available on the Chrome Extension Site and finally realized a few key things about what makes a Good Browser Extension.

1. A good browser extension is not just another bookmark! Most of the Extensions we have on Chrome are simple bookmarks which, if you click on them, take you to some websites. If an extension works like a bookmark, then why do I need it?
2. A good browser extension must do what the browser can not! For example, Google has an Omnibox that lets me do both search and browsing from one place. Google also allows me to decide which search engine provides me the results I seek using Omnibox. Then, why would I need another extension that offers to help me do search with different search engines?
3. A good browser extension must enable me to do certain things without leaving the browser window! This is the major factor that decides if I like an extension or not. I like an extension that allows me to do things without disturbing my browser experience. 

Now, these are the factors based on which I have selected my current favourite Chrome Extensions.

Facebook for Google Chrome

This extension allows you to see your Facebook News  Feed, Wall and Notifications without leaving the Current Tab. One click and the extension opens a pop up that lets you read the feeds on Facebook. It also allows you to update your status or let your friend know that you liked what he or she said. My only issue with this Extension is that it does not allow me to comment on what my friends say, though the comment link is available along with the feed.

Chromed Bird

Chromed Bird allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account without leaving the Current Tab. One click and you can update your status, see your feed or @ Mentions or Direct Messages and retweet what your friends are up to. An option to create short url adds value to the extension. Initially I used to get an error message when the extension loaded. But now it works perfectly fine.

Chromepad
Chromepad is a note taking extension which I love using. I do not have to leave the browser and open a notepad if I want to take something quickly down as I am browsing. For example, I am browsing and a phone call came and I have to take down a phone number. I just have to click Chromepad open and type the number in. I don't have to even save what I type and recall it any time I want to. It is one of the cleanest and well designed Chrome Extension I have ever come across.

Google Tasks
Google Tasks allows you to recall your Google Task list without leaving your current tab. You can do everything that you do with Google Task when you open it in your Gmail or use it as a widget on iGoogle. The best thing about this extension is the fact that you can use the Google Task as liked to your account or you can use it as an extension specifically for your browser. You can also open Google Task as a seperate window.

Google Quick Scroll
Quick Scroll is Google's contribution to Chrome Extension. It works in the background, unlike most of the Extensions that appear next to the Omnibox. It helps you find what you are searching for faster and has the ability to decide if it must intervene with your search. When Quick Scroll decides to help you with your search it will appear at the bottom of the page leading you to the exact place on a web page where your key word can be found.

What do I like about Chrome Extensions?
Following are the things I like about Chrome Extensions:

1. I like Chrome Extensions because it loads as soon as it is installed. I don't have to restart the browser to see how the new Extension is working
2. I like Chrome Extensions also because they do not affect the Browser loading time.

The only thing I may not like is when third party extensions have the power to keep track of my browsing history and data.

Google's bad idea of personalizing search results!

I admire and respect Google only for one reason - they made it very easy for me to find the information I want, when I want it, as quickly as possible. If what I search for is available on the World Wide Web, Google gets it for me. I am stuck to Google ever since I started using Computer and Internet only for this reason. I won't mind even if Google takes all the other services it offers away. But I can't think of internet without Google, simply because I have learned many things after Google came along.

Search is the core of what ever Google does and they seem to be very proud about that. Personalized Search Result  is one of the key Google Search Features the company flaunts. Day before yesterday, Google announced that they are taking personalized search a step further by converting it into Personalized Search for Everyone. This is what I read on the Company Blog:

Today we're helping people get better search results by extending Personalized Search to signed-out users worldwide, and in more than forty languages. Now when you search using Google, we will be able to better provide you with the most relevant results possible.Previously, we only offered Personalized Search for signed-in users, and only when they had Web History enabled on their Google Accounts. What we're doing today is expanding Personalized Search so that we can provide it to signed-out users as well. This addition enables us to customize search results for you based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie in your browser. It's completely separate from your Google Account and Web History (which are only available to signed-in users).

I like the idea of Google trying everything they can to get me the best result possible. However from the way Google explains the new Personalization Feature with an example, I think it is such a Bad Idea and a total waste of Google's time and computer resources. Following is how Google explains their way of Personalization:

For example, since I always search for [recipes] and often click on results from epicurious.com, Google might rank epicurious.com higher on the results page the next time I look for recipes. Other times, when I'm looking for news about Cornell University's sports teams, I search for [big red]. Because I frequently click on www.cornellbigred.com, Google might show me this result first, instead of the Big Red soda company or others.

Let me give you another example. When I search for Scocial Networking using Google, let us say I come across Facebook. I visit Facebook and I like it. Now, I visit the site a couple of times using Google. My problem is, if Google is going to put that result on the top just because I visited Facebook  couple of times from Google, then what about the other Social Networking Services? What if some one comes up with something better than Facebook and just because Google has put my favorite Facebook first the new guy gets pushed to the second page where I never go? I say pushed back because  the first ten results on the page are going to be in the order of my clicking frequency.

Lets not talk about Facebook. Let us say I want to know more about Social Networking. Google gets me ten great articles on the first page. I like all of them and I keep going back to read them. What if a new guy comes up with something better on Social Networking? How will I know, if Google puts where I go often first?

Is not Google reducing their Search Engine into a Bookmarking Engine by adding this sort of Personalization where what you click often appears first? I thought Google's way of intelligently understanding what I look for should mean much more than that!

[I have no issues with them using information on what I search to help advertisers target me. Since they give me the search result for free, they might as well make some money out of the advertisers using information about what I do on their site.]

Update: I was just thinking - what if Google puts the list of sites I click often when I search something just below the space available in that corner where they put sponsored links? How useful it will be if they do that, if the sites I have already visited are separated from the sites I have not!

Google is out to demolish the outcome of Babel

"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4).

God came down and confused the language of men - you know the Story of Tower of Babel. That is how Bible tries to explain the existence of different languages. Since the Tower of Babel, we have thousands of languages and as many cultures. We had no clue what was happening in different cultures and languages across the world. Today, Google integrated their Translation feature into their Search Engine and from today on we can look up what people are writing in other languages too.

Google says this is just to help people who travel out of their country. But I think this means a lot to even others. Now, I hope to look up and see what other languages has got to say about the doubt I want to clear using Google.

Now, next time you go to Google, click on "Show Option" and add as many languages as you would like to the Search result. Google will pick the translated results for you and you can know what people in other languages think about your topic. I hope God won't come down this time and confuse Google!

Image from Google Blog

Career Consultant Spammers!

I am sure you are a member of one of these Indian Job Sites and you get hundreds of mails intimating you about openings at various Organizations and Companies. And I am sure you have applied many a times if you are interested in the position on offer, sending your updated detailed resume. But my question is, how many of you have really got a call back for an interview applying for these jobs that are intimated from Job Sites by consulting agencies?

My experience is I have got a call back for interview only if the mail came directly from the Organization. I have never got a call back from the Recruiting Agencies that are abundant online, even if my profile suited the position they have advertised right to the last word. How do I know my resume suited the position right to the last word? I know because I know my job, I know what you require to do my job.

So I was telling you about the mails that come from Organizations and Agencies, intimating you about a vacant job. And I think we are so caught up talking about spams and scams in other areas like Social Networks that Career Spammers go unnoticed. Even I never noticed untill I received a call to my Unofficial Phone Number, which I leave only for recruiters and some very close friends, from some Agency from Mumbai that was trying to sell me a CD that had something to do with my profession. How did they know my number? How did they know what I was doing? I am pretty sure on of the Consulting Agency or an Organization to which I had sent my resume sold it to them. I went back and looked at the mails, in a hope to find a common pattern to figure out fake Consulting Agencies who are out there to sell my details to some thugs.

What did I figure out? Let me tell you:

• Check if the mail is sent from a Yahoo or Gmail ID than a Company ID. Any decent Company these days will have an email address of their own. 
• If they have an email address of their own, see if they have a website in the same address. If they have a website address in the same name, visit the website. See if the profile of the Company as mentioned in the mail and what you see on the website has reasonable connections. For example your mail may claim that the Company deals with Software Testing. If you visit the Website of the Company, you will find that the it is not about a Company at all. The website will be about some IT related conference that happened in 2006.  So check if the Company Profile on the mail matches with the Company Profile on the Website.
• Check for phone numbers. A serious recruiter will leave a phone number for you to contact. Any Tom Dick and Harry can create an email address. They can not have a valid phone number if they are fake. And a phone number is more traceable than an email address. Go ahead and see if there is a phone number. Also make sure that the phone number in the mail matches with the phone number on the website. A decent company will mention all the public contact numbers mentioned on the website in their mail. Think twice before sending your CV,  if only a cell phone number is mentioned. A valid landline number is your key to make sure that the company exists and has an address. 
• It is not enough you check for phone numbers. Call the number given and find out if you are calling to the same person as mentioned in the mail. Sometimes they can give you all the right numbers and still dupe you. So call and find out. Especially because your resume contains all valid data about you and it is a good tool for social engineering. 
• See if the mail is rational. Sometimes spammers can cut and paste from different mails to avoid hardwork. If it is an authentic company about an authentic job, the mail will have logical connection from beginning till end. Some of these offers may talk about totally unrealistic and unrelated skills in an attempt to sound professional. For example, the other day I got a mail from a Company looking for a Soft Skill Trainer who had knowledge of Hardware and Networking. I know Soft Skill Trainers, who train call centre people. I have never come across a Soft Skill Trainer who has knowledge of Hardware and Networking. And that is the job of a Tech Trainer and not a Soft Skill Trainer. You know your job. So check the mail and see if the skills mentioned in the mail sounds familiar and have some sort of connection. 
• See if the mail is clear about Soft Skills and Hard Skills and Qualifications and mentions them separately. Good recruiters know the hard skills required for the job and mentions them clearly and separately. Check and make sure that what you see is not a list of randomly picked skill sets to make it sound professional. 

But you don't have to bother replying to these mails from Career Sites at all. If you are really hunting for a job,  I have a few advices for you to avoid getting fooled:

1. Go to the company website directly and apply directly to the company instead of trusting Career Sites. Most of the Organizations advertise their job openings in their websites. 
2. Buy a news paper one of these days when they have a Job Advertisement Suppliment. Most of the good companies advertise directly through the news papers. 

If you do this, you can be at least happy that people are not duping you, manipulating your need to get a job.

Safe Social Networking: Orkut is safer than Facebook

I am amazed at the speed at which Facebook is catching up in India, pushing Orkut to the background. Well, I am generalizing based on my personal experience and not based on any research. I see many of my friends becoming more active on Facebook and less active on Orkut. I see bloggers in an eternal struggle to add more friends so that they can share their links with as many people as possible. I see Indian Companies coming up with Fan Pages on a daily basis. You are right, we do that because Facebook has a lot many more Social Networking options than Orkut.

I am on Facebook for the last five month or so. I kind of liked Facebook for their cute colour and fonts, layout and interactive networking options. I felt Facebook looks classy and more social networking than Orkut. I wondered why, Google, with all their mastery of building a brand was neglecting Orkut. If Google made up its mind, it could have taken Orkut way beyond what is is now. But I have never seen Orkut move beyond what it was a year or two ago, except for the new interface they recently launched. I was all the time wondering why!

Untill I read Dennis Yu and his how to spam Facebook like a pro.According to him, many of  the games, the quizes and the other applications that keep popping up while you are on Facebook are aimed at doing three things:

• Installing a spyware or a tracking cookie on your computer which will later open a back door from your computer to smuggle out information
• Trick you into giving up your email address and phone number
• Trick you into giving up your or your friend's profile information

Now I think I know why Google is keeping Orkut simple. It is just about social networking and nothing else.