Alternatively called revolutionary and creepy, Google Glass has cyberspace up – up in arms and up for it. Hate it or like it, you can’t ignore it.
There are social, privacy and etiquette implications. Not surprisingly, places where privacy is paramount (such as dive bars), have banned Google Glass. This makes headlines because…nobody knows!
And then there are positive applications such as surgeons monitoring indicators without having to look away. This makes headlines because…nobody knows!
Nobody knows what will happen to Google Glass.
You can’t even put it in any one slot. Is it technology? Is it fashion? Is it vanity? Is it utility? Is it the first attempt at mass wearables? Is it the advent of the cyborgs? It doesn’t end.
The best way to think about Glass is by closing your eyes.
If the downsides are mostly about inappropriate use or privacy concerns, the assumption is that wearers will never take them off. Given that it is easy to take off, it is is easy to see that people will just adapt and remove them at inappropriate places.
The question is: what utility can it provide?
Consumer uses are highlighted by Google. However, I feel specific work applications will come up as developers and organizations re-imagine the possibilities. You can use live-streaming for experience-sharing among friends, or field support personnel can use live-streaming to transmit a malfunctioning machine’s innards to an expert. You are an augmented human being with capability to see additional relevant information to the task at hand.
How can custom software development be impacted? One idea: a constantly recording Glass app with N-recent-minutes recording will mean that testers always have access to what they just saw – elusive bugs which cannot be reproduced will always be captured.
Every industry will have ideas of its own on what Glass can do for them. If Glass can make nurses more accurate, real-estate agents more responsive, students more attentive – you will use them.
Will you look uber cool or downright stupid wearing them? Will you care, if it helps you do things better and faster?
My first day at Mindfire and I already have an inferiority complex that all my peers, colleagues are Adobe certified. I have the experience in the same technology but not the certification. Which one is better? Or is there a better one? Or we need both? Not able to answer the question, first I decided to live in my comfort zone, with what I have and “prove myself with quality work”. But the second day again went with the same dilemma, looking at sample resumes that titled Adobe certified, in our company’s format.
Hmmm, I have the experience and knowledge, then why this hesitation of taking the examination for certifications? Well, these days when development platforms have syntax “help” and there is “Google maharaj”(Google GOD) for rescue, maybe I didn’t trust my knowledge enough and fear of not clearing the exam stood by me.I was still in two minds as I went back home, where my daughter was going to learn skating. As soon as she wore her skating shoes, she fell badly and my elder daughter said “Diya, get up! Dar ke agey jeet hai (popular advert slogan, which in English roughly means “to achieve victory, you have to defeat fear within you“) With a smile I realized this was my moment of learning from my kids, and decided to flush my fear and go for the certification. Hands-on experience certifies that I have the working knowledge to face a variety of tasks, which may or may not have training programs as prerequisites. At the same time, the certification itself would exhibit a determination and dedication to learn and improve.
A credential alone doesn’t guarantee real-world job skills, but in shortlisting and selection process, it increases the odds that the person is competent. With an ever-growing IT market, companies know competitive advantages help clinch deals and technology certified employees can be selling points. Following are some benefits of an academic credential, that I realized once I decided to take the certification and thought of sharing it with people like me who are still fighting to venture out of their comfort zone.
Broadens your knowledge scale: Preparing for the certification forces you to fill the gaps in your knowledge. There are some theories which you haven’t used in the actual projects and hence may not have detailed understanding of – the exam forces you to know these thoroughly.
Shows you the difference between your perception and reality of your knowledge. There were so many concepts that you know superficially but preparing for the certification makes them clear.
Earns respect of your peers: When my colleague had mentioned that he is Adobe certified, my first reaction was “Wow man!” – it makes you stand out of the crowd.
Having said this, I just don’t want to pass the exam with the easy means available, but by increasing my knowledge base. There are people who see certificates as badges to adorn on resumes – They are real assets only if you get them by working hard for them and are superficial if you have grabbed them through easier means.
Google+ may not be turning out the “Facebook-Killer” many predicted it to be, but as of yet it has been sailing smoothly. Providing API for developers was the next logical step and sure enough,yesterday it released Google+ API. Be it Facebook,Twitter or even Foursquare, nearly all successful social services provide development platform to facilitate developers build apps which eventually contributes to the success of the service. In fact Google is one of the earliest providers of Web APIs such as Search APIs,Google Maps API. This would definitely provide a boost to the 3-month old project which is now beginning to see decline in popularity after a period of rapid growth.
A voice buzzed near me. The pitch of the voice was high, and i could feel that it must be piercing through the walls into the green playground outside. The voice grew muffled – ” What i am to do with this kid! He just does not ……… ” I could not hear anymore..
But this story is not about Rehaan or his mom. It is about me.
I never talk to myself. I just give Gyaan. I am not intelligent. I am just efficient. But because i am efficient, i just am not able to get any rest. Who am I? I am Google. Google Search. I would have helped you so many number of times but sorry i dont know your name since you have not logged in. If you want, just click Sign in and say Hello. But yes, even though you will just tell me your userName, i will come to know about all your secrets because you know i am very good in archival of history. But dont be scared. I dont tell anyone – I am very secure and based on how you treat me or use me, i help you get to your results better with this archival based on your preferences.
I am Google Search
When i was born, I dont remember much of the exact date – (Please – No need to search Me for this) but my parents were very happy. I did not look as beautiful as i look today and I was small and was barely able to walk, let alone search. My dad told me, “Google, Dont worry. You are my most beautiful child. A day will come when everyone in the world will know you and you will be praised by everyone alike”. I had only learnt to listen to it and think it being daddyish love.
I had heard stories when i was playing with text searches, I often heard daddy talk over the phone to someone – “So what if Altavista can do …. ?” I would look at dad and think if I can help him but i could not- I was just a kid. At times in the middle of the night, i would wake up when someone typed something and i counted that to my memory. I dont know how but dad always used to come running to me to see the hit counter of mine. And this continued for days, months and years.
When I was about a year old, one day my dad drove me into a house where i had to “Live”. Dad told me that everyone calls this house as the Internet explorer. I cried a lot since i was going to be live for the first time but dad said you will manage it just fine. At times when i fell sick, dad used to come and repair me. But i was not allowed in the garage home anymore. Dad said i am grownup now and have to live with the IE. I recall one day when someone came and typed Altavista on my face and I showed him a few results. The guy just shouted – ” Man, I dont believe this.. Altavista is just gone.. There is nothing getting returned from this. I could know that something happened to the other search engine.
From then on, i could see myself getting sick very much very often. I would often be taken to the garage home and dad and his friends would give me medicines. I never cried – I was a brave boy and dad told me that you would be one of the finest gentleman of all time. I believed him and took all the medicines which he gave me. Some of them I could not bear and i crashed out! Some i gave random results out but then dad loved me so much. Only when i was stable, he would take me to Internet Explorer house.
I was getting more and more loved by all people who came to this house. Everyone came to this house, met me always, typed on me and i gave them good results and slowly people loved me more. In IE, there were a few friends which i made. There was one called Lycos, he did similar things as i did but still i liked him somehow. And people did like him too. Then Dad said, “Google – From today you dont have to climb the stairs to go upstairs if someone calls you. I have made a Google Search Toolbar and pasted it in front of the house – IE. So users will find it easier to find you and then you will have to answer them. Will you get tired son? ”
I said, “No Dad. I love to work. I will be the best search engine. I will fulfill your dreams to the best of my abilities”. Dad said nothing. He just smiled.
Blogger-Picasa
I dont remember how many years went by. But in a couple of years, i had so many of friends, and brothers and sisters which dad sent to my IE house. There was this guy called Picasa, who captured photos of everything whenever someone smiled, he used to archive that photo. Then there were the google office kids – Google Docs and Google Calendar. Someone told me that you dont know – dont go by their looks, they are trying to do something on cloud which much older people are doing on the desktop clients. To this i would always feel, “Well, Yeah – Its all inside me but i will know only when someone searches me! ” Couple of years back – Dad brought home two guys into IE saying they will be my companions – One guy – God he talked so much.. He just kept on talking and talking. His name was Blogger. Then i later knew – my dad adopted him. Then there was this cool hunk – You Tube. Picasa was always jealous of him because youtube showed the exact emotions, exact video that just photographs. But I was cool with everyone because everyone loved me.
Years later, Dad took us all into a new house altogether. We all love it. It is our own house. We call it the Google Chrome. Till today we also go to the older house of ours IE and at times to the garage home too but we all love chrome. We also have a marketplace where we meet other people belonging to the Chrome app store or Google app store. All these new members too love me. I am the darling of all – I am google search. Today I remember what Dad used to say..
Son, You are the most beautiful of all searches. You have to work hard and always keep focussed. You cant complain for the pain which you will have to suffer in the interim period. You cant cry out loud. Learn to be patient. Dont worry if you cant be the cynosure of all eyes overnight. A day will come when all your efforts will pay off. A day will come when the entire world will just love you like anything. And i could know that this is the day which dad was talking about. I love you Dad.
“…… Where are you hiding?!!” Rehaan’s mom’s voice slowly faded in. She stood near my world. Started at my world’s screen and the screensaver and said,” God, the laptop has been on all this time!” and switched me off.
I was not scared.
I knew that this is the time to take a power nap to get ready for more efficient searches when my world sees the new sunshine! After all, I have to live my dad’s dream and make him proud.
As most of you would be aware Facebook’s promised awesomeness turned out to be a one-to-one video chatting feature. Now is that really innovative ? It is something that has already been introduced since almost a decade by companies now vanished. Of the barely surviving companies, ICQ introduced video chatting in 2007. In fact, for some inexplicable reason, I always feel ICQ was precursor of Twitter in a way. Going back to video-chatting, the much-touted Google+ Hangout feature isn’t the first group video chat either. I remember at least one service, ICU , which had similar features, then Yahoo Messenger + Public Chat + Group are so similar to the phenomenon that is now termed as Social Networking.
From the looks of it, Google‘s latest foray into social web, in the form of +1 button might end up with same fate as its predecessors. In case you are unaware,it is the button at the top with +1 caption which according to Google official blog is digital shorthand for “this is pretty cool” is the search engine giant’s reply to Facebook “Like”. The fact that Google replies with a sentence like “this is pretty cool” to Facebook’s four letter “Like” may give us a rare insight on the mindset prevalent within Google’s team. The 2 character button itself may conform to the Web 2.0 trends,the descriptive sentence makes one wonder if they have embraced Web 2.0 with all their hearts or are just going along with the tide. This would also explain why Google continues to fail in getting a foothold in Social Web. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself 😛 the pertinent to ask at this point of time is whether +1 is really going to be successful or not.
