Google is Everywhere

On Google's Company Overview page they list "10 Things We Know to be True". While reading through these statements its hard not to relate Google to God. One example of this is point #5, which reads:

"You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.

The world is increasingly mobile: people want access to information wherever they are, whenever they need it. We’re pioneering new technologies and offering new solutions for mobile services that help people all over the globe to do any number of tasks on their phone, from checking email and calendar events to watching videos, not to mention the several different ways to access Google search on a phone. In addition, we’re hoping to fuel greater innovation for mobile users everywhere with Android, a free, open source mobile platform. Android brings the openness that shaped the Internet to the mobile world. Not only does Android benefit consumers, who have more choice and innovative new mobile experiences, but it opens up revenue opportunities for carriers, manufacturers and developers."

 

The idea that Google is everywhere, through mobile phones and other devices, mimics the idea that God is everywhere. So how exactly is Google accomplishing this mighty task of being everywhere? Well, Google is creating many innovate devices that allows Google to go wherever you go. In there company statement they refer to the mobility of the Android, but that is only one of the many devices they have/ are creating. To complement the android phone companies, such as Sony, have created a smartwatch.

 This smartwatch syncs with the android phone and allows you access to the weather app, text messages, even your emails! They advertise this device as "having all the important things in life on your wrist."

Sony Smartwatch 1

Sony Smartwatch 2

Another device that Google has created that goes even a step further than the smartwatch is Google Glass. This gadget is a computer that is built into the frames of a pair of glasses. While wearing google glass wherever you go, you have instant access to the web, a camera, text messages, your calendar, and the list goes on. 

Google Glass

 And Google doesn't stop here. They have even created a new concept called Project Loon that will enable everyone to have internet access anywhere in the world. Which means that these devices will work anywhere in the world, which means that you will have access the all of the information available on the internet ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

Project Loon

So by comparing the idea that God is everywhere to the idea that Google is everywhere, lays the foundation that Google is God.

Good Enough is Good Enough

Moving onto the google portion of this class we have started to read I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59. This book gives a personal behind the scenes tour of Douglas Edwards' experience with Google from its start-up beginnings. Douglas Edwards was the first director of marketing and brand management for Google and wrote this book because we was "the word guy". While most of Google's employees were engineers, he had a background in English. So, from his perspective, he was the only one that really could write this book because everyone else were engineers.

Rather than detailing the history of Google from 1999-2005 (the times Edwards worked at Google), Edwards gives the account of his personal story. He includes his own emotions and explains the personality of the company and the people that built it, including the creators Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Above is a picture of the two creators of Google, Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin (right).

While reading this book, you can't help but to compare it to the book of Steve Jobs written by Walter Issacson. It is interesting to compare Google and the creators of this company, to Apple and its creator, Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was a perfectionist. He prided himself in delivering the highest quality products. He never released anything that was less than 110% ready. However, Edwards describes the philosophy of Google as "Good enough is good enough." He goes on to explain, "In those five words [Urs Holzle] encapsulated a philosophy for solving problems, cutting through complexity, and embracing failure." (pg. 128)

While both Apple and Google only hire people that can contribute to their A-teams, the inner workings of the companies couldn't be more different. In opposition to the hierarchical work atmosphere of Apple, Edwards describes the work atmosphere of Google in the terms of Larry's Rules.

Larry's Rules of Order

• Don’t delegate: Do everything you can yourself to make things go faster.

• Don’t get in the way if you’re not adding value. Let the people actually doing the work talk to each other while you go do something else. Don’t be a bureaucrat.

• Ideas are more important than age. Just because someone is a junior doesn’t mean they don’t deserve respect and cooperation.

• The worst thing you can do is stop someone from doing something by saying “No. Period.” If you say no, you have to help them find a better way to get it done.

(pg. 123)

To simplify these rules, Edwards sums up the goals of Google to be "Efficiency, Frugality, Integrity" (pg. xiv). He describes Google as a "Don't talk. Do." kind of culture (pg. xv) He explains, "we shouldn't do things the way we had in the past. We shouldn’t copy other companies. We shouldn’t expect to be informed about our strategy, if in fact there was one. We were independent actors, building a cohesive team of nonconformists. I thought I understood: I needed to identify problems and solve them. And so I did.”

It's interesting to compare the differences of the inner-workings of both these companies because in the end these two companies share many similarities of success and innovation. Both companies are based on the foundation of idealism, have CEO's that strive to accomplish such ideas, and work with an A-team of intelligent employees.

Imgur: an online community or enclave?

https://voicethread.com/share/5428152/

Above is the link to my slideshow with voice narration. Below is a written version of the voice narration.

Hello, my name is Shea Davis. I would like to introduce you to imgur, a photo sharing site, in a new light by incorporating the concepts developed by Robert Bellah in his book called Habits of the Heart.

In Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah defines the difference between a community and lifestyle enclave. A community is an inclusive group of people that are “socially, economically, or culturally similar.” It is based on the interdependence of the public and the private life of every individual. In contrast to a community, a lifestyle enclave is an exclusive group of people who share similar interests and hobbies. This type of social group separates the working public life and the private home life.

In Bellah’s own words, “We might consider the lifestyle enclave an appropriate form of collective support in an otherwise radically individualizing society. Or, to put it somewhat differently, since the purpose of individuation has always been linked to the ability to find others who reflect and affirm one’s selfhood, perhaps the lifestyle enclave is the necessary social form of private life in a society such as ours.”(pg 76)

However, Bellah goes on to say “…most groups in America today [probably] embody an element of community as well as an element of lifestyle enclave.” (pg. 76) So for the duration of this short video, it is up to you to decide if imgur represents a community, an enclave, or maybe intertwines some elements of both.

To start off, What is imgur? Well according to the imgur frequently asked questions page, imgur is described as a simple way to share images on the internet. “Imgur can be used to share pictures with friends, as well as post images on message boards and blogs… [And] best of all, imgur is completely free.” (imgur.com/faq)

According to urbandictionary.com, “Imgur is a semi-popular internet picture sharing site. The userhood of Imgur is considered much more emotional and understanding than most of the internet, though sometimes people tend to go there and get “karma points” by sharing a pic and claiming they have adopted an abandoned animal or something. Usually Imgur is full of pictures of cute animals, memes, and sometimes you can actually see funny pictures too.” In a second definition of imgur on urbandictionary, it is described as “the greatest image site. Full of all the wonders and magic of the interwebs.” This definition goes on to include a disclosure sentence stating, “Be forewarned, time has been known to quicken in this realm,” which any imgurian would immediately confirm this.

So when you first are directed to the imgur homepage, you see something that looks like this. On the left you have a collection of the highest scoring pictures of the day and on the right you have a list of the highest scoring comments of the day. You can browse through all of these images by clicking on the individual pictures that draw in your interest, or you can navigate through all of the pictures by clicking on the first photo and then using the arrow button to continue onto the following image.

Here is an example of an image that drew in my interest. The title reads, “My local rescue has a program called Book Buddies where kids read to sheltered cats to sooth them.” On the actual webpage the image appears at the top of the page and then you can scroll down to read the comments posted below the picture. I have included a few comments to give you an idea of the imgur atmosphere. Commenters pride themselves to be more witty than any other social website, so that’s how you end up reading comment after comment of witty puns, such as “this idea is purrrfect.”

In addition to comments, users are able to interact by using a voting system. Before I mentioned a scoring system for photos and comments. Users do this by upvoting pictures and comments they like or downvoting pictures and comments they don’t like. Underneath every photo and on the left side of every comment you will see an up arrow and a down arrow. The number of upvotes then translates into points that you will see at the top of every comment or bottom of every picture.

Upvotes are iconicized by a green up arrow (while downvotes are iconicized with a red down arrow). However, imgur users typically only focus on the upvotes.

While it is difficult to articulate the personality of imgur users, this is one example of their humor. These are just a few examples of how imgurians have incorporated the green upvote icon into various pictures and memes. But this icon has become a symbol for imgur, so when you come across that little green arrow, now you will understand where it comes from.

Up until now, it may seem like imgur is an online community where people with different interests and humor can post (FOR FREE) their own images and gifs. However, when you look at the demographics of the imgur community, you realize that the majority of the community are young adult males with some, if not all, of their college education. So this makes me think that if the same type of people are coming together with the common interest/ hobby of picture sharing, than imgur is really more of a lifestyle enclave. But then again maybe it is most accurate to describe imgur in Bellah’s words and say that imgur “embod[ies] an element of community as well as an element of lifestyle enclave.”

Google as a Medium

 "Already Google.com, still in beta, was answering 10,000 search queries each day. The press began to take notice of the upstart website with the relevant search results, and articles extolling Google appeared in USA TODAY and Le Monde. That December, PC Magazine named Google one of its Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines for 1998. Google was moving up in the world." – Google Milestones.

In today's world, we have access to more information than we know what to do with. With the internet at our disposal, we are able to get any and all information about any topic. Since the invention of google, we are able to find information faster and easier than ever before. While there is some debate on whether or not google is making us 'stupid', I think that google is helping us to become more educated and even more curious. 

When I find myself with a question, the first place I turn to is google. Within minutes I am able to find the answer and become more educated on the topic at hand. Often times when I do find the answer, it leads me to ask another question and my curiosity blossoms. I use google at least once everyday, if not more and on top of using the google search, I also use other google apps such as google maps and gmail. So to say that google hasn't affected my life would be a colossal lie. Without realizing it until now, google has become ingrained into my daily life.

Together in Loneliness

Nowadays technology is everywhere. Slowly we have become more and more dependent on all of our gadgets and gizmos. However, have you ever taken a moment to stop and think how technology is effecting our social interactions and relationships? Well the video below presents a number of thought-provoking points about how conversations are merely becoming connections and how we are all becoming lonely together.

This short video is based off a TED Talk given by Sherry Turkle. Her talk below goes into more depth on the specific mechanisms that are creating loneliness amongst so many Americans. She touches upon not only how we have gotten to this point, but she even goes on to explain the steps we need to take to reverse this social impediment.

I wanted to blog about this because I feel that the real first step we all need to take is to open up our eyes to the situation. While I had briefly thought about this situation in the past, it wasn't until I watched these videos that I fully understood the magnitude of this social problem. And whether people admit it or not, I believe we have all experienced the feeling of being lonely together.

I joke with my roommates that they are always scrolling (which we have termed for when you are looking through your facebook news feed, or twitter statuses, etc. and only giving half your attention to the other people in the room). But the truth is, it's not just them who are always on their phones or computers. When I go to dinner in the campus center, sometimes I see whole tables that are all sitting with each other but none of them are talking to each other. Instead, they are all on their phones.

I think that innovation in technology is wonderful. I'm grateful that I have gotten to grow up in a time of computers. However, I feel that we need to better know how to integrate technology into our lives in a way that can fully maximize its potential to help us reach our goals.

Community on the Web- IMGUR

Nowadays there are a number of online platforms which form different communities that are used daily on a daily basis to share thoughts, pictures, ideas. To name a few are twitter, facebook, reddit, instagram, pinterest etc.

 

Twitter

 Facebook

 Reddit

 Instagram

Pinterest

Personally I have always thought there is too much overlap with many of these platforms. For example, on facebook you can post statuses, so I've never really understood the need for twitter (although my roommates would argue against me). Again, you can post pictures on facebook too, so why have instagram? Especially since instagram photos are now directly loaded to facebook. Anyways, up till this past year the only online community I ever really participated with was facebook (not counting the pre-facebook days of myspace). However, last year my roommate out in Hawaii was an avid fan of an image sharing site called Imgur (pronounced image-ur, although the pronunciation im-gur is starting to gain more popularity).

Imgur

At first I just thought this is was another normal image sharing site that people could post to. However, this online community is anything but normal! Like other sites Imgur is all about sharing pictures, memes, gifs, however, unlike many other picture sharing sites, the Imgur community comments and votes on pictures/ picture-stories with creative and pun-filled comments. There's a real positive attitude of imgur users that really shows through in many posts and comments. Once you read a few touching posts and look through the comments, you can really tell the users of Imgur share a true sense of community and really do support each other to strive to be better and happier.

 

Imgur quickly climbed to be one of the most popular online communities and is continuing to grow every day. To get a better idea of who is involved with the Imgur community check out these interesting statistics!

Signing off,

A recently converted Imgurian

What is Success in America?

Many people in America today would define success in terms of money or power. What type of car you drive, or what kind of job you have. And while I can understand these measures of success, I can also easily argue against them. Just because you have a high income and you might be a CEO of a company are you successful if you are unhappy? And while I won't get into another spiel about how the goal of life is to find one's happiness, I do want to point out that one person's view of success might be very different from the next. However, for this blog post I will stick to the typical measures of success, such as money and education and ponder how one obtains such success.

When I think of how to describe America in terms of all of the people who live here, the only accurate way I can describe it is as a melting pot of different cultures and races. And although many groups seem to compete with each other within the US, and although there are many stereotypes of different cultures and races, the truth is that there is no one group that is more successful from the next. A great article titled "What Drives Success?" was published this past week in the New York Times. It talks about what traits a person, or a group of people, must have in order to be successful. More specifically the authors, Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, of this article claim that there are three specific traits that drive success: a superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.

"In isolation, each of these three qualities would be insufficient. Alone, a superiority complex is a recipe for complacency; mere insecurity could be crippling; impulse control can produce asceticism. Only in combination do these qualities generate drive and what Tocqueville called the “longing to rise.”"

 The authors argue that although a superiority complex and insecurity might contradict each other, its the unstable combination that generates the drive to be successful, "
a chip on the shoulder, a goading need to prove oneself." When you add the ability to resist impulse, then you find a person that will put aside instant gratification in order to pursue their future, or long-term success. 

While the authors makes a very persuasive argument, I think the most profound idea that the authors point out is that although a person, or group of people, may gain success, if they don't keep a balance of these three traits, than they can easily fall out of such success. A Ted Talk given by Richard St. John supports this point and simply explains the mechanics of success within a couple of minutes. 

 I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the easiest way to measure success is whether or not a person achieved the goal or dream they set for themselves. However, what this article points out, is that we can't just be satisfied with achieving just a single goal. Instead once we are successful in obtaining such dream, we need to pursue another dream or set another goal for ourselves. So if we all must constantly strive to be successful, even when we have reached our goal or dream, than isn't the biggest success in the journey of personal development? Aren't we all striving to become better individuals? Then why isn't that how we measure success?

Signing off,

Seeker of Success