This is good to note about google

Some interesting facts came out:

1. The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn't know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. Infact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.
2. Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early user tests they noted people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked 'Whats up?' to which they replied "We are waiting for the rest of it". To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to act as a crude end of page marker.
3. One of the biggest leap in search usage came about when they introduced their much improved spell checker giving birth to the "Did you mean..." feature. This instantly doubled their traffic, but they had some interesting discussions on how best to place that information, as most people simply tuned that out. But they discovered the placement at the bottom of the results was the most effective area.
4. The infamous "I feel lucky" is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.
5. Orkut is very popular in Brazil. Orkut was the brainchild of a very intelligent Google engineer who was pretty much given free reign to run with it, without having to go through the normal Google UI procedures, hence the reason it doesn't look or feel like a Google application. They are looking at improving Orkut to cope with the loads it places on the system.
6. Google makes changes small-and-often. They will sometimes trial a particular feature with a set of users from a given network subnet; for example Excite@Home users often get to see new features. They aren't told of this, just presented with the new UI and observed how they use it.
7. Google has the largest network of translators in the world
They use the 20% / 5% rules. If at least 20% of people use a feature, then it will be included. At least 5% of people need to use a particular search preference before it will make it into the 'Advanced Preferences'.
8. They have found in user testing, that a small number of people are very typical of the larger user base. They run labs continually and always monitoring how people use a page of results.
9. The name 'Google' was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for 'Googol'
10. Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.
11. They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn't emailing a blackhole.
Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut are both examples of projects that grew from this working model.
This wasn't a technical talk so no information regarding any infrastructure was presented however they did note that they have a mantra of aiming to give back each page with in 500ms, rendered.
12. Quote: Give Users What They Want When They Want It
Quote: Integrate Sensibly

Future of Opeartions Research

Thomas L. Magnanti, the dean of engineering at MIT and previously the codirector of the institute's Operations Research Center, is optimistic about the field's future. Until recently, most O.R. scholars worked either in business schools, where the field is usually called management science, or in departments of O.R. or industrial engineering. Now, he says, departments like mechanical engineering and electrical engineering are hiring O.R. specialists.

Magnanti calls O.R. "a liberal education in a technological world." Just as a classical education once prepared students for a wide range of endeavors, from theology and science to diplomacy and warfare, he argues, so the habits and tools of O.R. are widely applicable to contemporary problems.

"You can do finance today, manufacturing tomorrow, telecommunications the day after. You can move from field to field and make contributions that have impact on all those fields," says Magnanti. "We do health care. We do criminal justice. You name it, we do it."

Cheapest Business to start

I amlways want to begin some thing of my own. Some times people who are having skills are always being laid back by saying that it is really expensive . i dont deny this. But at the same time you can really make the worth of it with in very short time.

Think about google . When it started it was just a bunch of pages and look at the amazing growth and revenue it brings now. Start small and build it . Atleast in the web there is nothing much to loose . This is the cheapest business u can find in the entire globe.. Let me wuote this from Mark Jen and Ram shriram

For $8, Any one can buy a domain name. For $4 / month, You can host a site with PHP/MySQL. In a few minutes, Any one can put up a blog, bulletin board, picture sharing site, etc. In a few days, I can host up a new application that provides people with revolutionary services. And right after that, you can publish API endpoints that others can hook onto to extend your work. Take a look at Flickr… beautiful. Though Yahoo was reallu clever in buying the same.

Rise my friends be an Entrepreneur.......

Business everything is fair

Laloo Prasad Yadav talks to his son.

Laloo: I want you to marry a girl of my choice
Son : "I want to choose my own bride".
Laloo : "But the girl is Ambani's daughter."
Son : "Well, in that case...... Yes"

Next Laloo approaches Mukesh Ambani

Laloo : "I have a husband for your daughter."
Ambani : "But my daughter is too young to marry."
Laloo : "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Ambani : "Ah, in that case.....Yes"

Finally Laloo goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Laloo : "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President :"But I already have more vice-presidents than I need."
Laloo : "But this young man is Ambani's son-in-law."
President : "Ah, in that case.......Yes."

This is how business is done

Soft Skills Add Zeroes to your paycheck

Success is 1per cent hard work and 99 per cent public relation. All of us know this but never knew this will strike the technology professionals also. And if you thought this is just one of the tips management gurus give, here are the facts.

Many technology companies actually have the position of a business analyst for someone who is a combination of a technology professional and a business manager. A technically qualified person with a decent management experience and understanding of how to drive technology to attain business goals can become a business analyst in a tech company.

"You can be from any industry but you definitely require a sound and deep knowledge of that industry, network within the industry and also have above average communication skills.

With that, if you are also a top people’s person you automatically become a hot cake for the recruiters! Recruiting you would be big news for the software company. Your appointment will appear even in press the next day and you still can get away saying, ‘Java for me is an island for reclusive holidaying’.”

Why great B Schools hardly mould great entrepreneurs

There is a lot of doughts in my mind. As by reading many articles and speaking to many people. I am always confused about two things. Is B school is the right thing who is having an entrepreneur skills. I read from many places that B schools while teach the complexities behind any problem and help us to think in a logical way than think with more of guts. I some how is forced to the belief that, it is the logical way which included lot of analysis and cross examination prevents people from taking the bold decision

I read an article in international psyhology that too much analysis will not end up in right decison .Some times we should be trained to work based on the instincts rather than digging and crunching the number theory and postulates.Is this the problem happening in B schools, Too much emphaisis on the number. Few months before I thought I was the only guy who think like this way. But I was happy to see that many Harvard MBAS like Aparna Piramal things like me. That's what tempted me to wtite this one.

I certainly assure that a B school educations is really good and teach u a lot more .I know that experience matters and its really hard a combination to find people with Good acads accompanies with good experience because the age we joining a company is not enough to develop both the skills and people cant be shining in one field if he is concentrating in the other one...

The author is Vijay chandran can be reached at vijayvijay@gmail. Vijays page .

Is Hell exothermic or endothermic

Is Hell exothermic or endothermic
The Thermodynamics of Hell..... citing one of Dr. Schlambaugh's final testquestions for his final exam of 1997. Dr. Schlambaugh is known forasking questions on his finals like: "Why do airplanes fly?" In May1997, the "Momentum, Heat, and mass Transfer II" final exam questionwas: "Is Hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer withproof." Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs usingBoyle's Law or some variant. One student, however wrote thefollowing:First, we postulate that if souls exist, they must have some mass. Ifthey do, then a mole of souls also must have a mass. So, at what rateare souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I thinkwe can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it does not leave.Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering Hell, let'slook at the different religions that exist in the world today. Somereligions say that if you are not a member of their religion, youwill go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions,and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can projectthat all people and all souls go to Hell. With the birth and deathrates what they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell toincrease exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change in thevolume of Hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperatureand pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of thesouls and volume needs to stay constant.A1 So, if Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at whichsouls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell willincrease until all Hell breaks loose.A2 Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increasein souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop and Hellfreezes over.So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by TheresaBanyan during freshman year, that 'It'll be a cold day in Hell beforeI sleep with you,' and taking into account that I still have notsucceeded in having sexual relations with her, then A2 cannot be true;Thus,Hell is exothermic."The student got the only A.