Apparently it is an interface testing project by Google (the results I got were very similar to standard Google results). I kind of liked the way the search results were displayed, and how it is easier to see blog and images results separately. The windows on the right help keep result sources well sorted out.
Check it!
The magazine has been launched by Rabia Gharib, (there is no stopping this lady). I have yet to meet her, but for someone I have never met, I am very impressed with her work and the wide range of things she keeps pulling off. My good friend, Mr. Umair Naeem happens to be the Editor of CIO Pakistan, I will look forward to getting free copies from him (he is yet unaware of the free copy deal).
Over all its a great thing to have, good quality publication on the IT Business side of things. Good luck to the CIO Pakistan team, and great job on another step in the right direction.
They claim to be Three times bigger than Google, bigger in terms of the pages they index. It's been set up by ex-Google employees, and they have a very easy to use home page (a good learning from the Google vs. Yahoo days). With $33 million dollar in investment, they seem to be on track to actually challenge Google (if that's possible).
Now I support the underdog any day, I like Firefox over IE, I'd support the Mac over Windows, I love it when the small guy takes a hit and the giant. In all such cases, the underdog must have a better product, just limited marketing budgets. But so far, the little test run i did on Cuil hasn't been very impressive. I really would like someone to take a hit at Google, make things interesting. But I dont know if Cuil will do that with their current product.
Cuil does have a an interesting recommended search menu, rather cool how images are blended in the search results, but over all, it just doesn't get the results. They have a great privacy stance, but unfortunately most people aren't as bothered by Google storing your data (or aren't aware of it). the user want the results they are looking for, in a faster better and more relevant manner. I tried searching my name, and got nothing, Google has 3 whole pages. Call me self obsessed, but if I cant find myself on Cuil, i am sticking to Google.
But anyhow, Cuil is worth a look.
He has now retired from a full time role at Microsoft, the worlds first software company. His departure got plenty of media coverage, especially on the Internet. At this point, as he heads to the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, what most are looking at is the legacy of Bill Gates.
I feel his legacy has been well summarized by an article in the Time Magazine entitled "Bill Gates: PC Genius, Internet Fool". The life and work of Bill Gates has been documented in a series of article and interviews all listed at Microsoft's PressPass.
What's interesting however, is if this is the end of Bill and Microsoft, a thought that the TIME story ends with:
"...Maybe we'll see Gates return, a Nobel in his pocket, ready to wrestle with the Web once again."
P.S. Another one from BBC worth reading "The hits and misses of Microsoft"
We do business very differently thanks to Email. We interact very differently thanks to IM and Facebook. We defiantly look for information very differently thanks to Google. And as these evolve to become a part of our life, the kind of information we look for seems to be changing as well.
You would imagine somethings are just common knowledge. Why would you need to look it up on Google? Well, if your part of the Web Enabled generation, nothing is too common too not be Googled. Take for instance, 29 year old, Neil Entwistle.
Allegedly, he wanted to kill his wife, using a knife. Classic stabbing to death process from what I gather. However, no harm in Googleing it just to make sure he has the the basic down.
As CNN reports:
"A police detective testified Tuesday that a laptop computer taken from the home of a British man accused of killing his wife and 9-month-old daughter was used to search online for "how to kill with a knife" four days before the slayings."
"Prosecutors, however, sought to indicate that Entwistle was planning to kill his wife and child, saying he researched methods of murder and suicide in the days before he fatally shot them."
So turns how, the Google search helped and Neil found out that Shooting to death is a better method, allegedly!
It isn't official yet, the guys at Guinness records at still working on it, but Firefox was downloaded at 9000 copies a minute for the first few hours. A total of 8 million copies downloaded in just 24 hours.
WOW!
I'm glad to have been able to play my part, I even made a post about this (see below) and added the rather funky 'download day' badge to my blog. So did a lot of other people from Pakistan. Some even got into a slight argument on who did a post on this first. However, Pakistan didn't really make much of a contribution at the end of the day. To the over all downloads we contributed just under 8000 downloads, that's 0.1% of the share (even the UAE did better). oh well, we prefer 50 rupee DVDs as our source of software I guess.
But any how, even if you haven't yet gotten this award winning browser yet, its time you do. Firefox has a pretty neat new site as well, worth a look, and some great tips and tricks for the Firefoxers out there.
Don't be Evil, Use Firefox!
So check out the new Firefox, and take the pledge to take part in the Download Day 2008 World Record attempt.
Dont be Evil, Use Firefox!
I was cleaning out some stuff and came across some material from my MBA course work. Going through some of the articles and case studies I thought was worth keeping, I came across Peter Drucker's "The Theory of The Business". I remember how simple and insightful I had found it to be when I first read it. I love it when business models and theory's simplify the obvious and state it in such elegant and simple manner. A great piece of work on business strategy.
Here is how Drucker defines the Theory of the Business, it has three parts:
1. Assumptions about the environment of the organization; society, its structure, the market, the customer and technology
2. Assumptions about the specific mission of the organization.
3. Assumptions about the core competencies needed to accomplish the mission.
How valid the Theory is determines how successful the business strategy will be. Four parameters determine the success, (a) how close the assumptions fit reality, (b) the assumptions in all three areas fit one another, (c) everyone in the organization understands and works towards the fulfillment of the theory, (d) the theory of the business has to be tested constantly.
The Theory of the Business, is your basic understanding of your business.
"Unexpected failure is as much a warning as unexpected success and should be taken as seriously as a 60-year-old man's first minor heart attack" - Peter F. Drucker, 1994 Harvard Business Review
A great talk by Seth Godin entitled 'All Marketers are Liars', the talk is about Permission Marketing, a concept Seth came up with. This was hosted by Google and is one of my favorite marketing videos on youtube. Some great concepts to challenge the classic marketing mindset.
As reference, I mentioned a personal Permission Marketing case in a previous post
There are limitations to making informed decisions regarding things too far into the future. It is limited by the fact that just too many variables, both known and unknown, play into the equation to make a well calculated prediction. Basically, the event is off the horizon, beyond sight and therefore impossible to predict accurately.
What makes me ramble on about this is a news item I recently read on Yahoo News regarding obsolete Gasoline Pumps in the US, the Y2K equivalent of mechanical machines.
here is an extract from the new item:
"Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials.
Many of the same pumps can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale, preventing owners of some SUVs, vans, trucks and tractor-trailers to fill their tanks all the way"
If you have a look at Gasoline prices, back in the 50's when most of these pumps were installed, no one could have predicted retails price of a gallon to cross $3.99. No one could have imagined a tank full of gasoline crossing the $99.99 mark. It wasn't short sightedness, or stupidity, but informed decisions made on available data (there was no OPEC, no Iran-Iraq conflict, no Iraq war, no Chinese economic boom).
If that can happen with Gas stations (over a span of 50 or so years), when it comes to technology, we play in a world of exponential change and insanely fast development. Which means, people who make 'informed decision' live to be proven wrong. Some are unlucky enough to have their intelligent guesses put on record.
for example,
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Thomas Watson
Chairman, IBM
1943
“There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home.”
Ken Olsen
Founder, Digital Equipment Corp.
1977
Which brings us to the question of being able to predict not 50 years, but just 5 years down the road. So we question, had Google really set out to do, what they ended up doing? are Facebook and Linkedin visionaries or just plain lucky. And just how long will businesses in the tech world be able to stay on top.
If you step back and look at business valuation from the investor or share holder's point of view, you see how closely related these aspects of business really are.
Who better to explain investment than Mr. Warren Buffett himself.
This is a video of Warren Buffett's talk to the MBA class at University of Florida.
As with any transaction, you only make the payment when you feel the deal makes sense to you. The same goes for paying attention, you don’t go around making attention payments for something you don’t want. Enter Seth Godin and Permission Marketing.
A recent experience worth sharing on the success of permission marketing has to do with my involvement in setting up Pakistan.Alltop.com.
Here's how it went down...
Step 1:
I contacted Guy Kawasaki regarding Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, thinking that would be great stuff to make a post about. It did make a great post.
Now lets keep in mind I contacted him, and not the other way around.
Step 2:
He replies, short and sweet, hence enhancing his brand equity. He also adds links to Alltop.com a new venture by his company.
Step 3:
I already know about Alltop, but this time Guy (or his standard signature) directs me there. Since I contacted him, I am clearly the target market
Step 4:
I revisit Alltop, notice the new GEO section, with a China.Alltop.com link. Now I want one for Pakistan.
Step 5:
I email Guy and ask for a Pakistan section on Alltop
Step 6:
Guys says sure, if you want one, build the feed list for me, and ill put it up
Step 7:
I comply
Step 8:
Alltop Pakistan goes live
Conclusion:
Win-Win. Alltop get a new section added, I get what I wanted. All thanks to brilliantly handled permission marketing. Was nice dealing with the Nononina team, other than the part where they got my spellings wrong on the acknowledgments section "Atif Kahn".
Would Spam from Alltop have had the same effect? I think not!
