Google Drive: Cloud Computing for the Common Man

Google launched its cloud storage device a couple of days back, handing over a total of 5 GB free storage space for all users.

Overview

Google Drive, the latest new Google's introduction to the cloud technology, has been welcomed in a variety of ways. Many welcomed it with a smile and much enthusiasm, some were skeptic and concerned with its functionality, and others were somewhat nonchalant.

This service is available to everyone. Initially you get 5GB free storage and can upgrade to greater bytes for a fee. The amounts are fairly reasonable

5GB storage space is just about right. Eliminates the need to carry a USB/flash drive around. 

Note: If you are an already paid user of Picasa services then you automatically get 25GB (without extra fee)

Personal Take

Personally, I was rather enthusiastic when getting my mail of invitation. The enthusiasm soon died when I began to think of the other cloud services already offered by Google. This wasn't all that unique as I had perceived it to be. 

The name Google Drive, at first look, seems like something related to the automobile industry. Many of you wouldn't have guessed it would be the name of a cloud service. It is named so to symbolically suggest that soon Google Drive will be replacing your HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

Initial Thoughts

Google already offers Picasa for photosharing and storage, and Google Docs for a keeping and maintaining and sharing documents/presentations/spreadsheets/etc. Looking at all these, Google Drive seems like just an extra to these already existing cloud service. 

The fact to consider is that Google Drive is the beginning step of Google's idea to integrate all these services into one. If you have noticed, there is no separate page Google Docs available anymore. docs.google.com now redirects to drive.google.com . 

Usage

It is simple to use and very clear in its features. There are no confusing settings to go through to assign sharing aspects and the upload of files/folders is clean and fast. 

You can install a Google Drive folder to your desktop and upload files directly from desktop instead of using your browser. This is exactly like having your Ubuntu One folder or Dropbox.  But Unfortunately this feature is not available for Linux OS (yet?)

Security

Cloud Computing is a fairly new term for most people. Most of them have been reaping the benefits of this service without knowing proper term. As with all new technologies, people began to panic and skepticize and doubt them. There were a lot of security concerns with Google Drive. Mostly because of Google's Privacy Policy, one policy for all services.

Google's new policy scared most people, they thought the amount of privacy protection would decrease and google would have access you everything you do on the internet. 

This is false.

what's yours remains your's

For those of you who have not read the privacy policy, let me ensure you that your personal data will not be taken by google to be used elsewhere. The policy clearly suggest that whatever 'intellectual property' you submit/store on google will be untouched. To quote them : what In short, what belongs to you stays yours.

Sharing

The sharing feature for Google Drive is almost alike the one we had for Google Docs. You can allow selective people to view certain files and also give them permission to edit them (with the many editing options of Google Docs). In short, you chose how you want to share your data.

Google Drive allows collaboration between two people at once, so you can work on the same document with another person simultaneously. No matter how far away the other person it, you can see what changes they make instantaneously.

The files from Google Drive can be shared via Google Plus. Any photo's video's on your Drive can be easily uploaded to Google Plus. You can also allow certain apps to have access to your Drive, personally I don't recommend this.

Google has also integrated its powerful search mechanism to Google Drive. Searching for a file is made tremendously simple.

File Support

Google Drive supports many of the commonly used file extensions. It is said to support over 30 extensions, and there is a great possibility that that number will keep increasing. The service also allows you to convert certain files to make it google docs compatible.

Since it supports many common file extensions, you can open any such files on any system you like. You need not have that software that reads the certain type of file.

Final Say

This is a pretty useful service with a decent amount of free storage given. You can access, share and edit files on the go, and feel free of the fear of any physical loss of device. Because all your data will be safe. 

But do be careful and mindful of your 'file sharing' settings. This is not your personal hard drive but the Internet. Once something is out there (public), its there for ever.

Google Drive is a good service for those who constantly lose their flash drive. May it be a physical loss or a virus/malware problem. School/college students would find this service useful, and the free storage amount will be just about right.

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The Mechanics behind Google Search [Video]

Learn how Google ranks pages and works its search system

Here is Matt Cutts, from Google, explaining how Google Search works:

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Infographic: Pinterest for Retail

via

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Three Main Reasons You Are Not Getting Enough Traffic

It may be very important to know what all methods to use for proper SEO, but its is as important to know what not to.

image

Search Engine Optimization has to do with a lot more than simply having a website and dumping all sorts of information in it. There are many techniques that need to be followed in order to achieve good impression in the eyes of the search engine. 

There are tonnes of methods available on what all one should do to make your site/blog SEO friendly. The problem is that, as beginners, we make an effort to apply all those tactics on to our blogs and website and expect nothing but the best to happen. We are seldom told of what all techniques suit our type of website and what don't. 

Here are three commonly practiced SEO habits that are counter productive:

1. Having a bit of everything

When it comes to having a site that is SEO friendly you must focus more on the quality than quantity. Having a site focused on a particular topic is much appreciated than having a site with a little of everything in it. Almost every beginner has made this mistake, including me.

For example, you can have a blog about Astronomy and write anything and everything related to it.  From comet behavior to asteroid composition to planetary movements. What you should not do is to have a site about Science and write an article about genetic mutations and physics theorems and then blast furnace specifications. 

These topics may come under a common heading but the inter-relation is too far fetched. Search engines get confused and won't know to which category to put your site under. Also, you may not have enough of contents of a certain category for search engines to find your site when necessity arises. 

2. Over optimizing.

There are times when we all get over enthusiastic about filling our article with keywords. Sometimes more than one. We may be totally engrossed with stuffing as many keywords as possible tend to not know when we've crossed the limit. 

This type of  'keyword overload' can be hazardous. Search engines tend to denounce these type of articles/sites. It is better that you use keywords in a limited manner and not raise a red flag among the search engines.

3. Allotting Improper and/or Repetitive Titles 

We have seen many articles that have content completely irrelevant to its titles. It is an annoying habit and thankfully,  search engines can see right through this deceptive act of yours. Do not have a title that  promises something and gives the readers something else. This practice will make your site rankings descend and have all your SEO hard work go down the drain. 

Also try not to use the same title repetitively. If you have a different content but belonging to a heading you have previously used, by all means allot a different title. It can be similar but not the same. 

Titles have a very important role to play in search engine optimization. Having a muscular title followed by a solid content can do wonders to your rankings. You need to learn to not misuse them, it is easy and tempting but it is a big No.

Online marketing takes time to perfect. Getting organised takes a little bit of time but it has to be done.  You should try and concentrate on a specific topic and add contents related to only that. 

Search engine optimizing is a timely process, the ranking increase and decrease depending on various known and unknown factors. You may not me aware of all the unknown/uncontrollable factors but can surely do something about known errors.

Here are some highly useful and simple ways to optimize your site - SEO: 4 Strategies for this Year.

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  Free SEO Report Card_Grade Your Site's SEO_1_Text Link

Infographic: The Online Customer

What retailers need to know about the Online Customer

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Instagram Fan's Fury over Facebook [Video]

Facebook recently acquired the viral photo-sharing app Instagram (here)


Many Instagram fans and users are outraged over this issue. It seems that not many like Facebook purchasing Instagram and are so offended by this fact that they have deleted their Instagram accounts and left!

The question is, why did Facebook acquire Instagram? Many debate over this issue and fear that both entities may be incorporated in future, even though Mark Zuckerberg has assured that nothing as such would happen.

This may only be a new venture by Facebook. It may want to expand its territory by diversifying and to start with, buys Instagram.

By the way Instagram went viral and attracted many users as it extended its services to Android OS, it was expected that some big firm may buy it off. We have seen this happen before with OMGPOP's 'Draw Something' (here).

Here's a video on Instagram Buyout Backlash :

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Apple, Penguin, Hachete, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster; sued by the US

The government of USA has filed a lawsuit against Apple and certain book publishers,  Penguin, Hachete, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster.

Kindle Fire, eBook reader and more.

The traditional book and reading practices have come to a point of near extinction. With the increase in technology and innovative machinery, we have changed in more ways than one. For starters, it is a rare thing nowadays for someone to send a casual letter to someone. With the introduction of emails, text messages, smartphones. we have completely digitised our ways of long distance communication.

The same change process is taking place with books. The traditional hard covered/paper backed bundles of paper have been substituted with e-books.

Books are priced based on many factors such as production, marketing, authors fee, shipping etc. But for e-books, there are very few factors to consider the price. Logically, it has to be cheaper, but it seems to be priced as equal as the traditional books. Not many are happy with this practice and definitely not the US government.

The tech giant Apple is considered here due to an alleged theory that Apple chiefs and publishers, Penguin, Hachete, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, met on a series of occasions to discuss about certain business matters concerning the e book pricing.

"The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is suing the technology giant for allegedly breaching antitrust laws with five major book publishers – HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin Group, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster.

According to DoJ filings lodged in a Manhattan Court, in September 2008 and January 2009 the chief executives of the five publishers met for a series of dinners in a private room at an upmarket New York restaurant, where they are alleged to have discussed "business matters". " Via 

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Ebook guides and tutorials:

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3 Google Plus Extensions to Optimize Marketing

Google Plus has come up with many resources to increase to help with your marketing tactics; Be it Business-to-Consumer or Business-to-Business.

Google Plus is a marketers galore. It has many means of helping businesses promote their brand as well attracting potential leads. Google Plus has always given a professional look to its features and it takes business connections seriously.  There are many Google Plus marketing apps to consider. Out of the lot, here are 3 awesome apps that will boost your online visibility.

1. Google Plus Badge.

These are the most basic add-on's for your blog/website. Blogger itself gives you an option of adding a GooglePlus badge to your site.

Go to Blogger layout , 'add a gadget', and brows under the 'Basics' tab adding the blogger badge.

Even the '+1' Button would do you great favors in helping your page get top priority by Google search.

For other websites/blogs there are many ways in which you could get a GooglePlus Badge. One of the way is to get it from Google Plus itself. Go to this Link and Google Plus will guide your way through creating a badge for your page.

Other Apps that help with Google Plus widgets:

• http://gplusapi.appspot.com/
• http://widgetsplus.com/

These apps help you with customizing the number of posts you want to appear on your site as well as other Google Plus page related statistics.

via WidgetPlus.com

2. Chrome Extensions 

It isn't a hidden fact that Google has a soft spot for all its products. So, when looking for extra fittings that help sharing of an information on multiple platforms, that too in incorporated with Google Plus, Chrome is a must have Web Browser.

Chrome is a simple but effective browser to have, no hassle. It may not be aesthetically extraordinaire, but it runs light and fast, and comes with many useful apps or 'extensions' (or Add On's, as you'd call it on Firefox).

• Facebook for Google Plus :

This is an extension where you can incorporate your Facebook Stream within your Google Plus page. This extension adds an extra tab in your Google Plus navigation bar for Facebook Streams. All you have to do is connect Facebook to your G+ through this extension.

This tab will help you keep control of your Google Plus Page as well as Facebook. A highly time saving extension.
-Link

• Extended Share for Google Plus

This application enables you to share any Google Plus update on multiple platforms. Twitter, Tumblr, Pintrest, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. You can choose as many networks as you like, there is a wide range of options to chose from.
- Link

3. Adding Notable People  

There are many directories online that shortlist a lot of Google Plus personalities. Google plus, like Twitter, is a goldmine of professional people. Maybe not as big as twitter but it is a good place to network with professional individuals, especially when it comes to the field of social media marketing, technology professionals, bloggers and alike.

You can start searching for these professionals through Google Plus search itself. Simply type what whom you wish to locate (person or profession) into the search bar and browse through the results.

This is one way of connecting There are also some dedicated sites for this purpose.

- Unofficial Google Plus Recommended Users:

This website is dedicated to listing many people of interest and also pages that may intrigue you. There is a wide range of topics to chose from and you'd be surprised to find so many useful contacts all in one place.
-Link

- Plus Clout:

"PlusClout is the measurement of influence a user has on Google+. It is a number between 0 and 100."

This is another useful site to look for potential networking. It follows a +1 method for ranking its users, a concept similar to Google Plus.
- Link

These maybe only a few tips, but they are indeed very useful in managing your Google Plus page efficiently as well as getting better page ranks. The more visibility there is to your page, the better the margin of success. 

Marketers nowadays are way too interested in Google Plus. There is huge potential in using this platform for the purpose of branding. Read more about this on this LINK

Infographic: Facebook Marketing Strategies

An Infograph on how to engage more through Facebook and get more out of Facebook Marketing.

Via

Facebook Buys Instagram for $1b

One of the most viral mobile photo-sharing app, Instagram has been acquired by Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

This has indeed been a surprising/shocking news. Almost no one had expected this, but yet some of us may not be surprised that Instagram would be acquired by a third party, but by Mark Zuckerberg??

To quote Mr. Zuckerberg:

"For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.
We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people."

Facebook has bought Instagram for $1 billion (in cash and in Facebook stock). The deal is said to be sealed by the end of the first quarter of 2012. This venture is expected to rise the status of Facebook's valuation as it is to soon go public.

"This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together." Says Mr. Zuckerberg (via Facebook update)

Instagram had been a sucessful iPhone app, then released itself to Android users just about a week ago (link). This is can be seen as the second big 'app' buy of the year, since 'Draw Something'.

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• More about Instagram - click here

Top Five iPhone 5 Rumors

iPhone 5, the most revered and anticipated phone in recent times. 

image source

This phone has kindled so much expectations and eagerness that some people go overboard with their imagination. We have all been fascinated with Apple's tremendous efforts to introduce the impossible. From the first iPhone release, to the latest  innovative iPad 3, Apple never seize's to enhance in terms of new technology and innovation.

A short while ago, we all expected the release of iPhone 5. But we were given the iPhone 4S instead. Even though disappointed, the iPhone fanatics started to expect more out of the upcoming iPhone 5. Many rumors were spread of what all new features would be present in iPhone 5. Some were utterly ridiculous whereas there were some believable, although only rumors. Here are the top 5 iPhone 5 rumors we have collected. Even though they are likely to happen, there is no guarantee in these info.

1. The iPhone 5 would have a Quad Core processor. This is highly speculated, but we should also consider that such a change so soon, just after the iPhone 4s, is less likely to happen.

2. The iPhone would release  in June 2012. This has to be the most common iPhone 5 rumor we've all heard.

3. Apple would be introducing NFC (near-field communication) in the new iPhone. Possible, but it is more likely that Apple would create a similar technology and call it by a different name.

4. The iPhone 5 screen would host a High Definition retina-display. Giving the iPhone a picture quality of more highly pix-elated display that it actually has. Also, iPhone 5 might come with a bigger/wider screen.

5. There is a possibility that the new iPhone would not be named iPhone 5, Since it would be the 6th iPhone Apple have made. So, there will never be an iPhone 5??

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Defender Case for iPhone 3G/3GS 

Active Directory: Global and Universal Groups

Active Directory is a network directory created by Microsoft. It is mainly used for the Windows domain servers and systems. Like all other directories, Active Directory also follows a hierarchy of security groups. They are as follows:

Domain - A collection of security principals that share a central database (in this case, the active directory). It is a set of rules of authentication by which each entity will be identified by. 

• Universal Groups - Mostly used to grant permissions to multiple domains for the usage of resources in a Forest. They can:
• Can allow members from any domain in the Forest
• Can add Global groups of any domain from the same Forest as the Universal Group
• Can allow other Universal Groups of the same Forest. (meaning, a Universal group can give permissions to another universal group, as a whole. But the other Universal group must belong to the same Forest)
• Can be converted to 
• domain local or 
• Global group (as long as its not a member of another Universal Group)

• Global Groups - Allows management of users within the same domain.  
• Can grant permissions to users of the same 'Parent Group' 
• Can add Global groups of the same domain as the same 'Parent group'
• Can be converted to an Universal group as long as it not a member of another Global Group

• Local Groups -Allows management of resources on a computer. 
• Domain Local: this can be created on a domain controller.
• Cannot be members of any other group
• Can  grant permission to users, Global groups and Universal groups of ANY DOMAIN from the Same Forest.
• Can be converted to an Universal Group (as long as no other domain local groups exist as members)
• Machine Local : security scope is limited to that machine. Can include any user/group from the same Forest.

Domain - A collection of security principals that share a central database (in this case, the active directory). It is a set of rules of authentication by which each entity will be identified by. 

To understand them better you can view the whole security groups as a Venn Diagram. Think of the Forest as the Universal Set, and everything will fall in place.

How to use Embedded Tweets

Learn how to use Embedded Tweets and increase the visibility of your tweets.

Embedded  tweets are the new thing nowadays. It is used by almost every online marketer as a means of generating more communication for a tweet. It is a very creative way of exporting a tweet or a twitter conversation to another article. Be it a blog or a newspaper material or an email.

Embedded Tweets are nothing but having a tweet or a twitter conversation embedded on another media. By embedding tweets you can achieve feedback from people even out of twitter. Not everyone whom we want to interact are there on twitter, so this method helps us to engage those audiences as well.

The new twitter interface comes with a lot of facilities that many of us are yet to discover. Of course, not all of us are into the habit of probing and tinkering with anything/everything new.  Embedded tweets are one of them. Many of us are not aware of this feature provided by twitter.

Here's how:

1. Choose a conversation and click  'open' it is located on the top right corner of a tweet. Once you've done that you'll see something like this :

this is an example tweet

2. Then you click on the 'Details' option (see mouse pointer on above image).  You will only see this option after opening the tweet.

Once you've clicked 'Details', a new window will open with all the details of the tweet. 

3. Click on 'Embed this Tweet' Pic Below:

once again, this option is only available after clicking 'details' option.

4.  After clicking 'Embed this Tweet' you'll see this:

Chose how you want your embedded tweet to look, adjust the positioning, and copy paste the code on your blog/article.  

If you have Javascrpt enabled, then you'll see a tweet box just like the on you see on twitter, else you will only see something like this :

This app solves an annoyance for all of us in the tech industry: the real world - on.mash.to/HkbimY
— Pete Cashmore (@mashable) April 7, 2012

5. Another option for you would be to just share the link. This link will take you exactly to the particular tweet with all its details. Click this link to see the example :  Link

It is the exact link you see in the below image:

Now its your turn to use embedded tweets in creative ways and get more out of your tweets and twitter conversations.

Beware: Mac Malware Trojan, Flashback [video]

Flashback, the latest malware affecting more than 600000 devices has been threatening Mac users worldwide. More than half of the affected devices is said to be in the USA.

This malware is said to be a Trojan-horse that exploits loop holes in Java and streams user information, like passwords log-ins, to a third party. This simply happens as the user visits any malicious site. The virus simply gives third party access to your system.

It came disguised as a flash player update and affected more than half the Mac's in the US.

Here's a video explaining it better :

Flashback is not exactly a Trojan horse, it is a downloadable app that opens access to your computer and let the thief grab anything he/she likes. 

Those who have accidentally acquired this malware are suggested to turn off their Java to avoid damage. 

Apple has also released 'fix's' to cope with this issue, more on that on - SlashGear

Infographic: The Brain of Blogger

An amusing infograph of how a Blogger's brain works.  The troubles are too real! I bet many can relate to it. (click image to enlarge)

source 

Why Consider Social Media Outsourcing?

Why Social Media Outsourcing is a better option.

Businesses and Social Media have now an intimate relationship as a person and their social network. It has increased B2C interaction and narrowed the gap between the business and community. Not only B2C, social media also strengthens B2B relations and increases productivity. (B2B social media infographic)

Putting up a social media presence is time consuming. One needs to spend about 6 to 10 hours a day managing social sites/pages.  Be it a Facebook page, Google Plus, Twitter, LinkedIn, a blog or even YouTube, there is a considerable amount of effort and time needed to construct a professional social media presence. If you think starting is very time consuming, then maintaining the pages needs almost equal amount of time. People don't just flock on to your site/page, they need to be caught in the web. And to do that, you need to spin a web.

Spinning the web isn't all that easy either. You need someone with the knowledge and expertise to do this job well. You should know which social networks you should be a part of. Social media sites, each have a unique way of functioning and different types of audience. There is a considerable amount of time that needs to be spent just to learn the social media tactics relevant for your business. 

Social Media Outsourcing is a growing phenomena. Businesses are encouraged to opt for this instead of trying to build social media presence with their own limited staff, lacking appropriate knowledge. 

You cannot manage your social media page with already present staff due to the amount of time that is needed to input. They won't be able to cope with or be willing to spend extra hours on social media management.

Not everyone can be expected to know everything related to social media. Marketers in the field of Social Media Marketing are specialist who do work only related to the field and do not diversify. You need specialist who will produce optimum results give you a successful social media presence. 

Outsourcing your social media marketing is the best solution to this problem, especially for small businesses. And hiring new personnel for this job wont be so monetarily wise.  You must also keep in mind that not all outsourcing agency's will be able to provide optimum results. 

Consult a good social media agency to take care of your web presence and fan management. It not only makes sense to outsource, but is also more productive since these people know what they are doing and know how to do it best. 

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Social Media Infographics:

• Social Media Vs Search Media
• State of Social Media in Small Businesses 
• Branding in the Social Media Age
• ROI of Social Media
• How Social is B2B